Cage's Misconduct (NHL Scorpions #3) (2 page)

“Pretty confident there, aren’t you, Dalton?” Yay me! My voice sounded perfectly normal.

“Always. Shall we go?”

Well, at least he was honest, right? “I’ll take you home, but I won’t be staying. Got it?”

“Whatever you say, beautiful.”

Cage

An entire month had passed since that fateful night when I first laid eyes on Karen. To my surprise and annoyance, I couldn’t seem to go a full day without thinking about her. And the bigger surprise was that I hadn’t slept with anyone in that entire thirty days. Thirty!

“What’s up with you?” My little brother Jaden was on the phone with me, and I guess I wasn’t talking enough for him.

“What do you mean?” I was currently mesmerized by the white caps breaking over and over in the ocean. I couldn’t say it was the first time that happened either. From my vantage point on the deck of my beach cottage, I could hear the gentle slap of each wave as it hit the shore. If I let it, that sound could lull me to sleep.

“You’re never this quiet. Tell me about all the new hotties you’ve been doing.”

Without fail, one of the first things Jaden asked me about when I called home was all the women he saw me pictured with on the Internet. Being the poster child for party boys everywhere, I consistently provide fodder for the paparazzi. And they capitalized on it—a lot.

“I really haven’t been dating that much, Sport.”

Jaden’s snort of disbelief was loud in my ear. “Yeah, right. Come on, give me some deets. I’m at a critical age. I need to get better at this stuff.”

Whoa. That got my attention. Jaden was only sixteen! Get better? “What do you mean get better? At what stuff, exactly?”

“Oh, come on, Dalton. You were younger than me the first time you did it.”

I did not know what to say to that. Yeah, I was an asshole when I was younger. It was different for me. I wasn’t sure why it was different, it just was. So I went with an intelligent standby response. “Huh?”

Jaden cracked up on the other end of the line. “I’m just fucking with you. I’m still a virgin. But I really want to change that. So, when I come out there this summer, can you get me a hooker or something?”

I spit out my beer at the thought. Alcohol abuse at its best. “Hell no, I’m not getting you a hooker! What is wrong with you?” I wiped my chin as he continued to snicker.

“Nothing. Give me a break. I had to try. Just yanking your chain. When are you coming home to visit? Are we going to see you on Friday when you play the Stars?” And that quickly he was on to another subject. The mind of a teenager was a mysterious thing. Crisis temporarily averted.

“You bet. Tell Mom I’ll be spending the night, okay? We have a day off after the game, so I don’t have to be back here until Sunday.” I was one of the few Americans on the team, having grown up in Dallas, Texas. My mother and brother still lived there, but God only knew where our father was. He’d been gone since I was eleven, taking off just before Jaden was born. Fuck him. Mom was always great at being both mother and father.

“Will do. Well, I guess I should go finish my homework. See you in a few days.”

“Okay. Love you, Jaden.” Jaden was one of only two people I truly cared about. And yeah, maybe I didn’t open my heart up to many people, but my little brother and my ma owned big pieces of it.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Uh, uh. Say it.” I knew Jaden loved me, but I needed to hear it. Every time.

“Love you too, Dalton.” There were only a handful of people who called me Dalton instead of Cage. Actually, it was pretty much just Jaden and Ma. Well, Karen LaGrange now, too. She’d called me Dalton, and I have to say, I liked the sound of my given name tumbling from her lips.

Great. Now I was back to thinking about her again. Ah, it was going to be a long, lonely night.

The arena in Dallas was loud with chants of “Let’s go Dallas.” We were on fire. I watched from my crease as our captain took off on a breakaway. He skated the puck straight down the ice toward Dallas’ defenders. I thought there was no way he was going to get past Wyeth. Oh, how wrong I was. He executed a beautiful deke and narrowly slipped by both d-men. Now it was just him and the net minder. Keith dropped his shoulder, he shot…he scored! What a beauty! We were now up by four goals.

We went on to win the game with a score of five to nothing. It was my second consecutive shutout, and I was flying high.

“Fuck yeah, boys! Two shutouts. Two!” Already halfway down the tunnel to the locker room, I turned back toward the ice, giving the general area a one finger wave. “Suck it, Stars!”

“Humble as always, Booker.” Lambert high-fived me as Matt Johnson, one of our defensemen, whacked my pad with his stick.

“Nice game, Cage.”

“Thanks, man. I thought Shane was going to get me in the end there. That fucker seems to score on me every game. But not tonight!” I continued into the locker room, yelling and high-fiving everyone I came into contact with.

After I showered and dressed, I stopped outside to sign some autographs for the fans waiting at the fence line in the parking lot. It never got old for me. I didn’t think I’d ever become one of the guys who eventually shied away from giving the fans a bit of my time. Maybe it was because it fed my ego. Whatever the reason, I didn’t mind spending a few minutes with them.

“Great game, Cage! I’m going to be a goalie someday too.” A boy about seven years old held out his ‘Booker’ jersey for me to sign, jumping up and down in his excitement. “I’m going to be number one!”

“I’ll bet you will be.” I felt the need to slip in a public service message so I added, “Make sure you eat all your veggies and get plenty of sleep, you hear? We hockey players need to take care of our bodies.” I glanced up and gave the kid’s mother a wink, doing a double-take when she licked her lips and ran a hand lightly over her breasts, which were perilously close to popping out of her top. It was pretty obvious she was there for the taking.

My cock didn’t immediately stand to attention, which in itself was somewhat disconcerting. All it used to take was a bit of bare skin peeking out here or there and my favorite organ was off to the races. Now, all of the sudden, my brain cut my cock off at the pass and said, ‘nah, not tonight’?

So…what? Twenty-seven was the magic number? I was only twenty-seven years old, and the chick of the day was losing its allure? That was some scary shit right there. It got me thinking that it might be a good idea to take what she was offering, you know, just to see how I felt afterward. Maybe my equipment was just a little rusty from disuse. Don’t forget what I said. I’d gone without for
thirty
days.

Before I could approach the woman with one of my many come-on lines, she took the lead while her son was busy getting autographs from some of the other players.

“I’m dropping my son off at his father’s after this, Booker. I’m hoping that look in your eyes means you might be interested in getting together later?”

I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth, pretending to give it some serious thought while I lowered my head, cocking it to the side to look at her. I let my hair fall into my eyes, then let my lip go with a soft pop. She pressed her thighs together, and I felt a smile tug at my mouth. This was not my first rodeo.

“I guess that depends on exactly what you’re looking for.” One thing I didn’t do was lead women on. I may be a bit of a man whore, but I was an honest man whore.

“You’re going to make me say it?” She glanced over to make sure her son was still occupied and brushed her red fingernails over her breasts again. My eyes made sure to follow the path. Finally, my cock caught up, and I figured I was good to go.

I took a step closer to her, whispering in her ear as I signed yet another jersey, making sure my lips just skimmed her skin. “I want to hear you say it.”

“Jesus.” Her nipples were straining against the front of her one-size-too-small tank top. A bit showy for my tastes, but hell, I only wanted her for some quick sex anyway. “I’m inviting you over to have sex. Nothing more.”

“Then I’m definitely interested.”

Even though she had just told me she was only interested in sex herself, her frown plainly said she was offended by my words. I held in my eye roll and didn’t even shake my head. Women. “I don’t mean any disrespect; I’m just not looking for a relationship right now. It’s only fair you know that up front.”

Her pride at her own self worth repaired, she replied, “Fair enough. I guess I should introduce myself.”

I didn’t really care what her name was. Most likely wouldn’t remember it anyway. “Not necessary. Just write down your address for me.”

The idea of the anonymity seemed to excite her. Her finger traced the muscles in my arm as she asked, “If you don’t know my name, what will you scream out when you come?”

“I’m not a screamer, so that’s not an issue.” Sex was fun, awesome even, but I don’t think I’d ever been so far gone that I felt the need to bellow a woman’s name out when I came.

“Well I am. If you do your job right. Of course, I already know your name, so we’re good.”

I took the scrap of paper with her address on it. “See you in an hour.”

“I can’t wait.”

***

Good God, I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of that woman’s apartment. The whole idea was a terrible mistake. She’d already screamed my name out twice, so I knew my job was officially done, but my condom was still pitifully empty—it was starting to concern me.

I was thinking too much.
Just do her
. I redoubled my efforts, earning me fingernails in my ass cheeks. Shutting my eyes, I let myself think of Karen. I pictured her tits that were bigger than a handful, and her lavish, wide hips that I could easily imagine digging my fingers into. She wasn’t one of those ‘fashionably skinny’ women (not that I mind those kind—I love all kinds of women). Her luxurious curves made her body a veritable fantasy land. It was working. My cock grew harder as I continued to pump inside the woman under me. I kept thinking about Karen until my orgasm sprang up on me, and I finally completed what I went there to do. “Karen!”
Shit.

Her fingernails immediately left my ass. I guess her name wasn’t Karen. Whoops, my mistake. Plus there was the discomfiting fact that I actually had bellowed out a name when I came.

“Um, my name’s not Karen.”

I went with the playing dumb card. “Oh, sorry. I thought you said it was.”

“No, it’s Janet, but that’s okay.” She ran her hands over my chest to my abs, looking down to where we were still joined. “That was incredible, Cage. I think we really worked well together here.”

Fucking great. Here we go. “Yeah, thanks.” I pushed myself up and went into the adjoining bathroom to dispose of the thankfully soiled condom. My steps faltered a bit at the look on the woman’s face as I strode back into the room in search of my clothes.

“I know I said I just wanted sex, but now that I know how great we are together, maybe you want to try dating me?”

The hope etched in her slightly widened eyes and the tiny upward tilt of her lips was troubling. I thought I’d been abundantly clear back at the rink. “No. I’m sorry. I’m not looking for a relationship, but thank you for a nice evening.”

“Nice? Are you fucking kidding me?” Apparently the word ‘nice’ was now an insult. “I gave you everything I had. Hell, I even faked the second orgasm to try to bring you to yours. Nice? Get out.”

Worked for me. I had no problem following her orders since I was mostly dressed and making my way to the door anyway. Without another word, I let myself out, breathing a sigh of relief. What a fucking mistake.

Karen

I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to returning to San Diego for another visit. A nice long visit this time, too. I was overjoyed to be leaving the cold behind to bask in the warm southern California sun. From the research I’d done, I figured I had almost six months to enjoy it before the U.S. kicked my butt back to Canada. That gave me about five months to look online for a new school to work for in the fall. To me, it was a win/win situation, even though leaving home for so long was a little daunting, but at least I’d have my big brother there, even if he was a little—who am I kidding?—
unbearably
protective.

“Are you sure you have everything you need, sweetheart?” My mother was delighted that I had decided to take some time off before finding another job, but she was still having a hard time letting go. At least she and my future step-father would have the house to themselves now. They deserved that. Especially my mother. She’d lived a hard life. A lonely one, and I think that maybe Samuel was her reward for getting her life in order.

My mother was actually the one who pushed me toward the idea of taking a break after my school redistricted me. I had gone from high school directly into college, but I had worked part-time too. I wasn’t sure if I was just burned out or if I didn’t know what I wanted to receive my degree in, but about halfway through my third year I quit school. When I finally figured out what I wanted to do, I went back to college and graduated at the age of twenty-four. So even though it took me a while to commit, when I finally found my calling in life—teaching children with special needs—I buckled down and completed my education.

Losing my job at Fairweather’s School for Children after only a few years of teaching there was devastating, but they were forced to make layoffs, so that was that. I was a firm believer in everything happening for a reason, and since Jody offered to rent me a place for my stay, and I had a brand new niece to meet, I jumped at the chance to make the trek to the States again.

“Yes, Mom. The place Jody rented for me is fully furnished.” He had tried talking me into staying with him and Lacey, but they had a two week-old baby in the house now. To add to that, Lacey’s mother was there visiting from Vancouver for a couple of weeks to help Lacey with baby Adeline, so they sure didn’t need another house guest.