Talk Hockey to Me (Bears Hockey #3) - Kelly Jamieson Page 0,14

players. I could be biased because Hunter was a friend, but on some level I knew it wasn’t that.

“Frozen Four this weekend,” Hunter comments. “For you.”

“Yeah.” I suck in a breath and make a terrified face.

He laughs.

“Then for you guys in two weeks.”

“Yep.”

No pressure at all. Finals, scouts, and a NCAA Division I Ice Hockey Tournament. No big deal. “We got this,” I tell him confidently.

He meets my eyes with a half-smile. “We definitely do.”

It was a great year for Bayard hockey. The women won our championship, and two weeks later, so did the men. Hunter won the Hoby Baker award, which is given to the top men’s player. It was an incredible high—the championships, the award, the celebrations, graduating from college. Those are some of the best memories of my life.

To celebrate, a bunch of us went on a trip to Cancun before we headed off in all different directions, some of us for the summer, some for the rest of our lives—four days of sun, surf and tequila. It was like a dream, with the sunshine and sand and palm trees. After so much stress, we all needed to let loose. Luckily, we were staying in an all-adult singles place that had a reputation for great partying, so our noisy beach volleyball games, all-night dancing and drinking, and nursing painful hangovers beneath sunglasses and hats while sipping Bloody Marys next to the pool didn’t cause any real problems.

During the day there were pool parties involving suds and inflatable pineapples and flamingoes, beer pong, and hobbie cat and windsurfing lessons. There were even topless optional areas, and after enough drinks, all of us girls daringly shed our bikini tops. The sun on my bare boobs felt glorious.

The vibe shifted when the guys joined us. I think the other girls enjoyed the fact that they’d shocked the boys, who gamely tried to pretend everything was normal. I was only conscious of Hunter. I stretched out on my lounge chair, but from behind my big sunglasses I kept glancing his way. Except he wore sunglasses too so I couldn’t see if he was looking at me.

But I knew he was. I just knew. I felt it. I felt the sizzle over my skin, the weight of his gaze on me like a touch.

When we decided to play volleyball in the pool, we put our tops back on.

At night we danced at parties with pumping music by DJs and live musicians, often still in our swimsuits, downing tropical cocktails and shots.

While we were there, Hunter was on his phone constantly. Everyone kept bugging him to put it away, and a few times he disappeared to take a call. He didn’t say what was going on, but I had my suspicions.

On our second last night, my roommate Harley, one of my closest friends from the team, disappeared with Hunter’s roommate Kyle. They weren’t the only ones who’d hooked up on the trip. We were all healthy, fit, and ready to blow off steam. Danny and Heather hooked up, Bingo and Gina, Harv and Nerida.

Hunter and I did shots with the others in the bar, danced together, me in my black bikini top, flowered sarong knotted below my navel, and silver sandals. Hunter’s black pants sat low on his hips, narrow suspenders someone had given him attached to them and stretched over his bare torso. It would have been a ridiculous look, but Hunter had a spectacular chest and shoulders, broad and muscled, tapering down to his six-pack abs, and besides, everyone there was dressed in over-the-top, revealing outfits. I’d never seen him so loose and playful, his smile open and easy as he boogied down.

Everyone else had paired up, so Hunter and I moved together and started grinding to a throbbing tune. We were both laughing…trying to be as outrageous as we could, but with each other it was hilarious.

Until it wasn’t.

The music changed to a slower tempo and we turned to face each other. I draped my arms over his shoulders, a little breathless from dancing and laughing, and he clasped my hips. Our eyes met. Our feet barely moved. Heat washed down through me. The air around us buzzed with awareness, and my heart thudded in my chest.

We moved to ‘Ride It’ by Regard. Then ‘Bad Thing.’ He looked at my mouth and my breath stalled in my chest. Desire swirled inside me, thick and hot, settling into an ache between my legs. Our gazes caught and held as we swayed