GAME MISCONDUCT (The Dartmouth Cobras) (12 page)

“Oh.” She traced the embroidered details of the Cobra emblem on her chest and mentally shelved a rude comeback. She’d almost forgotten her father and Paul were planning to destroy more than just her future. “I’m sorry—I didn’t know until—”

“Right.” Sloan met Max’s glare and returned it. “Forgive me if I’m skeptical about the innocent act, but princess here lives the sweet life because her father’s a cold, calculating son of a bitch. He probably brags about who he’ll screw over next while their cook serves supper.”

“Unless I’m with Paul, my father doesn’t waste time having supper with me.” Oriana shook off Max’s comforting touch and strode across the room to face Sloan. She jabbed a finger into his big chest, poking the cobra on his T-shirt in the eye. “And you’re one of the highest paid players in the league, so don’t you dare look down on me because my family has money. That doesn’t change who I am.”
Or what I can do for you
. She smiled grimly. “All I want to do is finish school and be a doctor. All you want to do is play hockey with the team you love. We’ll both get what we want if—”

“If?” The bitterness faded from Sloan’s face. He grabbed her wrist to stop her poking and jerked her against him. “Are you really gonna go through with this?”

Oriana arched her neck so she could meet his eyes. “
This?
I’m not sure what you mean. I’ve got all the evidence I need.”

“And suddenly everything Max wanted is okay.”

“Is that why you hate me?”

The silence of the room was so thick, every inhale like air sucked in through a stopped-up straw. One of the men cleared his throat. The springs of the sofa creaked.

“I don’t hate you. I just don’t buy the complete 180.” Sloan’s grip loosened, and his thumb stroked her knuckles. He tilted her chin up with a finger so he could look in her eyes. “And are we playing this game again? You know exactly what I mean.”

Dark green. His eyes weren’t black like she’d first thought; they were a deep, dark green. Oriana’s mouth went dry. She had to swallow a few times before she could get a word out. “I will tell my father that if he cuts me off or sends you to the minors, the security footage goes straight to the press.”

“I appreciate that.” His hand slid up to her cheek, and his thumb caressed her bottom lip. “And coming here with us will certainly help.” He gave her a soft smile. “But that doesn’t explain why you haven’t left yet.”

Oh, God. Do I have to spell it out?
“I don’t want to go home. Paul will be there.”

“The offer of another room stands.”

Cool air skittered down her spine as someone moved up behind her, lifting her hair and smoothing it over one shoulder. The familiar ice and ocean scent soothed her as Max whispered, “Let me handle him.” His tongue stroked the curve of her ear, leaving moisture which warmed with his breath, but chilled as he moved away. She shivered and he rubbed her arms briefly before he put his hand on the small of her back and guided her to the armchair beside the sofa. “Make yourself comfortable.”

“You’re cutting us out of decisions that include us all again, Perron,” Dominik said from behind her as she sat. She glanced up at him when he braced his hands on the back of the chair. “We assumed you took some private time to satisfy the woman, but you haven’t, have you?”

The woman?
When had she become “the woman?”

“Well, we . . .” Max ran his tongue over his teeth, head cocked as though seriously considering his next words. “Oriana had some things to think over.”

“Did she now?” Dominik caught her chin in his hand and leaned over her. “How’s that working out for you, little one?”

She had to close her eyes to block out the intensity of his regard. But she couldn’t stop the truth from passing her lips. “It’s not.”

“Shall I take a guess as to why?”

Mouth dry, she nodded.

“Your man has figured out what you need, but he’s letting you take the next step because he doesn’t want to scare you off.” He combed his fingers into her hair and tugged. “I don’t think you scare that easy, Oriana.”

The way he said her name, like he knew exactly what his voice did to her—maybe “the woman” would be better. “The woman” didn’t make her skin recall the way his hot breath had caressed her. And he didn’t think she scared that easy? Well, she was pretty damn afraid of what she’d let him do if he asked in
that
tone.

The edges of Dominik’s lips drew up slowly. “Well now—”

“Assuming you’re right, Mason—” Max walked around the chair until he was in her line of sight and stopped right behind Dominik “—what do you suggest?”

“Why don’t you start with giving her some space?” T.J. asked.

“Perhaps . . .” Dominik straightened and folded his arms over his chest. “Do you want some space, pet?”

Pet?
She rubbed her arms as goose bumps rose. What normal woman would be okay with being called “Pet?” Or be turned on by all the implications of that word.
Maybe I’m not normal.
All right, then, she should tell them what she wanted. But how? She couldn’t very well just strip and say, “Take me, boys.”

Or could she?

“So what’s it going to be, Oriana?” Sloan asked.

Her palm itched to find something to throw at him. Why couldn’t the man give her a minute to think?

“We can start by . . .”
Damn.
She had no clue. And no matter how deeply she inhaled, she couldn’t seem to get
enough
air. Not a good sign. She wouldn’t have much fun if she passed out.

“Why don’t we watch a movie?” Tyler popped his head out from the first bedroom off the sitting room. “I’ve got some good ones—”

“No one’s in the mood for Disney, little man.” Max grinned at Tyler’s scowl. “I don’t suppose you have any grown-up movies?”

“Hey, I’ve got fucking porn if that’s what you want.”

“Are you even old enough to watch porn?”

Uck, men!
She rolled her eyes, but the light exchange seemed to make the air a little more breathable. Smacking the arms of the chair, she stood. “A movie would be great. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Max caught her wrist. “Anything you want, love. Don’t be shy.”

He’s
so
not talking about the movie.

“Anything?”
What would you think of a game of Yahtzee?
“What exactly do you mean by
anything
?”

“Anything, anybody. There are five men here, Oriana.” He paused as though to let her absorb his words. “Take your pick.”

Shouldn’t you pick?

The fact that he wasn’t making the choice for her thrilled and scared her all at once. The possibilities were overwhelming.

Keep it simple. Don’t pick a man. Pick a movie.

“No chick flicks!” Sloan called out as she joined Tyler in the bedroom.

No kidding.
She giggled when Tyler stuck his middle finger up in Sloan’s general direction.

“Ignore those jerks. We’ll watch whatever you want.” Tyler pushedup the gray bed skirt and pulled out a suitcase. He flipped open the lid and sat back on his heels.

The entire suitcase was crammed with DVDs. She knelt beside him and scanned the titles, all in alphabetical order.

“Wow, this is quite a collection. Do you cart this with you to all the games?”

“Yeah, I’d go nuts if I didn’t. On the road, I watch them on my PVP while the guys are watching sports.” He pulled a slim black video player out of the top flap of the suitcase. “My mom bought me this and my own TV/DVD combo when she heard that I’d be staying with Max and sharing a room.” He ducked his head and blushed. “She fusses over me a lot, but she’s a good woman.”

Oriana smiled. He might be all man, but he was adorable. And embarrassed. She looked at the movies and selected one.

“
Slap Shot
? I haven’t seen this in so long.” She paused. “But if you don’t like watching sports—”

“It’s not that. I just don’t watch anything but hockey.
Slap Shot
is one of my favorites.” He cocked his head. “You like it?”

“Like it? Seriously?” She cleared her throat and did her best Denis Lemieux impersonation. “‘You do that, you go to the box, you know. Two minutes, by yourself, you know, and you feel shame, you know. And then you get free.’”

Tyler burst out laughing. “Hey, that was pretty good!”

Cheeks blazing, Oriana wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “I practiced a lot when I was little. My uncle loved my impersonations.”

“You’re a really cool chick, you know that?” He reached out and smoothed a few strands of hair off her cheek. “I meant to thank you for trying to distract Sloan.”

Distract Sloan? Oh! The bouncy bunny at the forum!
“It didn’t work.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He inched closer. She didn’t move. “Thank you anyway.”

“You’re welcome.” She whispered as his lips touched hers.

His kiss was tender, sweet, like her first kiss in the tree house with the boy next door—she couldn’t have been more than seven. But then Tyler pulled her against him, and the kiss changed. Silken, wet, hot, and not the least bit childish. He urged her lips apart, tasting her with teasing little dips of his tongue. Her heartbeat quickened as every spark of lust triggered that night ignited like gunpowder in her veins. His fingers grazed her belly, and her muscles twitched.

“Oriana.”

Please don’t stop.
She whimpered when Tyler’s lips left hers.

Then she realized Tyler hadn’t spoken. Her gaze shot to the door.

Sloan clucked his tongue. “Naughty girl, taking advantage of the kid like that.”

“Fuck off, Sloan.” Tyler flattened his hand on her stomach and nuzzled her neck. “Perron said she could have anything she wanted.”

Anything. Yes.
Her eyes drifted shut, and she tried to forget Sloan, standing there, watching. Impossible. Her thoughts drifted to him joining her and Tyler on the floor, and her head spun.

“You guys coming?” Max called from the other room.

Suddenly, her blood ran cold. She scrambled away from Tyler and hauled in a lungful of air, praying it would clear her head. What if Max had come instead of Sloan?

He wants to watch.

But he couldn’t see anything from the other room.

“Come on, Oriana.” Sloan held out his hand. “Don’t overthink things. No one’s gonna be mad.”

“Are you sure?” She let him help her to her feet, hoping he was right.

“Yes, but if you’re worried, we’ll keep this between the three of us.” He touched her bottom lip and grinned when she shivered. “Your lips are a little red, but it’s dark in the other room. No one will notice.”

She peeked past him. The only light in the sitting room spilled out from the open bathroom door and the faint flash from the TV. She could hear the men talking quietly amongst themselves. Max’s rich laugh rang out, and she felt every taut muscle in her body relax.

Maybe they wouldn’t notice. They seemed pretty distracted.

Sloan circled her palm with the rough pad of his thumb. “There’s a lock on the door if you want to stay in here with me and Tyler.”

“Good idea.” Tyler hopped to his feet and darted to the door.

A big, black hand smacked the door before Tyler could pull it shut.

“Not really,” Dominik said, pushing the door open. “I’d hate to have to kick the door in.”

“A little excessive, Mason.” Sloan’s low tone held a hint of danger.

Dominik didn’t appear intimidated. “You think so? Why don’t we ask the only man here who really knows her?”

As though he’d been called, Max came up behind Dominik. His narrowed eyes went from Oriana to Tyler, then fixed on Sloan. “What the hell’s going on in here?”

“Nothing. Mason’s just paranoid.” Sloan’s shoulder hit Dominik’s as he stormed out of the room.

With a gruff sound in his throat, Dominik lunged for Sloan. Oriana leapt forward and grabbed his arm.

“Please don’t. This is my fault. I didn’t think—”

Halfway across the sitting room, Sloan stopped and turned slowly. “Do you honestly believe either me or Vanek would have done anything to hurt you?”

“Of course not!” She didn’t, she really didn’t. But she should have considered how easily things could have gotten out of hand.

Sloan stared at her, swallowed, then nodded. “Right. Look, the rest of you have fun. I’m out.”

“Chill, Callahan.” Max shook his head and raked his fingers through his wavy blond hair. “This is getting a lot more complicated than it needs to be.” He stepped forward and took Oriana’s hands between his. “I thought taking things slow would be a good idea, but I was wrong.”

“You were?” She closed her eyes as he slid his hands up her arms, bunching the sleeves of the jersey to stroke sensitive flesh. “But this is so . . .”

“Oriana.” Max tapped her nose and smiled when she looked at him. “I meant what I said. You will take what you want. Do you understand?”

No.
“Yes.”

“Good.” He laced his fingers behind her neck and rested his forehead on hers. “So how do you want to do this?”

How? Umm . . .
Faintly, she heard her Bon Jovi ringtone coming from the sitting room.

“I should get that.” She scrambled around the men and grabbed her book bag from where she’d dumped it beside the sofa. After fishing out her phone, she held it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“You sound out of breath. Am I interrupting anything?” Tim sounded amused.

“No,” Oriana said, keeping her back to the men, perfectly happy pretending they weren’t there waiting. “What’s up?”

“Silver called me. She thought you might have forgotten the evidence you worked so hard to obtain.” He sighed. “I’m in the bar down the street from Max’s place. I had a feeling you’d still be with them, but—”

“I’ll meet you in the bar.” She pressed “end” and dropped her phone on the sofa. Sitting on the floor, she pulled on her boots and glanced at Max who’d come up beside her. “I’ll be right back.”

Max frowned. “I’ll come with you.”

“No!” She stood and held on to the arm of the sofa while her legs adjusted to the height of her boot heels. “I need to . . . I won’t be long.”