Edge (23 page)

My options were limited, but I wouldn’t relent quietly. I bided my time, organizing my new office, and eventually, as I knew he would, my dad wandered in.

“I meant to call you, but this all happened very quickly,” he said sheepishly.

I held my tongue, fighting back the profanities I wanted to scream at him. The rolls of bandages I was loading into a cabinet suddenly became fascinating as I focused all my attention on them.

“Can I come by and see Kyler at your new place?” he asked.

“We haven’t moved in yet. You’re welcome to come by my boyfriend’s place – that’s where we’re staying. Or will I be fired if I go home with him?”

“Adella …” He sighed, already sounding exasperated. “Relationships between players and staff are a bad idea for everyone. I’ve been coaching a hell of a long time, and I know a thing or two.”

“You bring crazy to a whole new level!” I rounded on him angrily. “You just can’t let me be happy, can you? How dare you come here and order us around?”

“I’m the coach of this team. That’s my job.”

“Drop the façade, Dad.” My voice was laced with sarcasm.

“I won’t have you speaking to me this way, as a member of my staff or as my daughter,” he said, his tone cool and level.

“In that case, how can I help you, sir? Because if you’ve got no business with me, I’d like to get back to work.”

He pointed a finger at me, a storm of darkness brewing in his eyes. “I’m looking out for you and Kyler, Adella. The last thing you need is to get knocked up by another hockey player.”

His words stung. “You think so little of me, Dad.”

“No, it’s just the opposite. I think very little of
him
. His father lost everything from chasing women and drinking. I’ve asked around, and Luke’s quite the ladies man.”

“Oh, really? Since when? Since he met me?” My tone was defensive on Luke’s behalf because I knew down to my bones that he wasn’t messing around on me.

“That’s only been a couple months. Be smart, Adella. Don’t waste all you have to offer on a hockey player who’s probably slept with hundreds of women.”

His hair was silvery gray now, but his harsh, judgmental tone was the same one I’d been listening to for two decades. I was tired.

“I haven’t been with anyone since John, Dad. Only Luke. It took five years for me to think anyone was worth taking a chance on.” I sank down to my exam table with defeat. “And now my own father is here trying to sabotage it and embarrass us both in the process. It’s crushing, to be honest with you. Why can’t you just support me?”

“I do.” His voice was impassioned now, and he moved to stand in front of me. “You deserve better than him, Adella.”

“Better than the man who makes me happier than I’ve ever been.” I shook my head. “You’ve been lobbying for six years for me to be with John, and we both know what kind of man he turned out to me.”

He cringed, making the lines on his face stand out. “I didn’t think he was capable of that.”

“Luke is good to me, Dad. And to Kyler. We’re taking it slow with him, but Kyler really likes him. It feels so good to have someone in my life who wants to be with both of us.”

“Charm is a Hudson trait,” Dad said bitterly. “His father never had trouble getting women to fall for him, either.”

Like always, he wasn’t listening. I might as well have been talking to the walls of my empty office. “I have work to do, Dad.”

He nodded and left. A knot of worry formed in my throat. How long would Luke put up with this song and dance? My Dad wouldn’t let up, and with his capability to assign us a full-time babysitter, we’d never be able to have a normal relationship.

My fears about us not staying together were already coming to call, only it wasn’t even Luke’s fault. My own father had become my worst enemy.

Luke

We were on a road trip in Indy, and I had a shadow. Everywhere I went, one of our assistant coaches, Isaac, was on my heels. I was trying to sneak away for dinner with Dell when finally I turned and confronted him.

Though he was 20 feet away, he was watching me like a fucking private eye.

“You need something, man?” I asked him.

He looked from side to side. “Who, me?”

“Yeah, you. You’ve been up my ass since we left the airport.”

He looked down at the floor. “Sorry, man. Coach Price told me to keep an eye on you.”

I shook my head with disgust. “You’re my babysitter now?”

“Look, he told me it’s my job to enforce the no fraternizing rule, and that I’m the one who’s gonna get in trouble if anyone breaks it.” Isaac sighed deeply. “Sorry.”

“Just head up to your room and we’ll both agree that you followed me out to a bar where I ate a fucking cheeseburger by myself.”

“Is that really what you’re doing?”

I glared at him. “What do you think?”

He raised his hands in the air. “I’m a hockey coach, so stalking’s not my thing. I’m just doing my job.”

“How long have we known each other?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “And you’re gonna throw me under the bus for having dinner with my girlfriend?”

“I’m not fucking with Butch Price. I need my job.”

So this was how it was now. Butch had me and Dell under his thumb, and he planned to remind us of it constantly.

“Fine.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m going to my room.”

I was walking and pulling my phone out to text Dell when I felt Isaac’s presence behind me. I turned and gave him a questioning look.

“You’re following me there? I’m not a fucking liar, Isaac.”

He looked away. “Ah, actually, I’m staying in your room.”

“What the fuck?” I demanded. “I room with Ryke.”

“I’ll take the couch.”

“Yeah, well you’re sure as hell not sharing a bed with either of us.” I blew out a breath, disgusted. “You planning to follow me into the bathroom and shake my dick off when I piss?”

His expression was just as pissed off as mine now. “Look, I don’t like this, either. I’m still your coach. Respect me and I’ll respect you.”

“Sorry, man. I know this isn’t your fault.” I considered the options. “How about if we all three go out for dinner? Have you eaten?”

He thought about it. “Not yet. Yeah, we can do that.”

“If you repeat any of the lovey shit I say to Dell I’ll kick your ass.”

He raised his hands in mock surrender. “I’ll just be eating and looking at my phone. I won’t even listen.”

I nodded. “She’s meeting me down the hall. Let’s go.”

He followed, and Dell seemed to understand what was going on when he showed up with me. Isaac kept to himself as promised, but there was an undercurrent of tension throughout dinner. Butch was flexing his muscle, and there wasn’t much any of us could do about it.

Dell and I were right back where we started – not allowed to touch each other. Only it was much harder now that I knew what I was missing.

I spit out my mouth guard and tipped a water bottle to my upturned face, letting the water flow over me. My muscles pulsed from the intensity of the workout I’d just had. Price was fucking with me in front of the entire team now. He’d made an example of me, running me back and forth down the rink in an extra-long practice.

We needed to get faster, he said, and he’d made me skate up and down, scoring on every pass, until I shaved a full five seconds off the time it took me to do it.

Ryke met my eyes sympathetically. I was exhausted. All I wanted was to climb into bed. I didn’t even have the strength left for a shower. But damned if I’d sit down and give Price the satisfaction of knowing it.

“Well done,” he said, clapping me on my sweat-soaked shoulder.

“Thanks, Coach.” I forced the sarcasm I felt to stay out of my voice. He was playing a stupid game – we had a day game tomorrow and this was supposed to be a light practice so we could conserve energy for it.

“You must be tired. You can cut out early and hit the shower if you want.”

I lowered my brows and grinned with amusement. “No, I’m good. That felt great.”

He just looked at me silently for a couple seconds. “You’re good?”

“Hell, yeah. Let’s shave a couple more seconds off. I’m in great shape, I could do this all day.”

I heard a snicker from the guys behind him, who had all taken a knee. Price just pursed his lips and nodded.

“Great,” he said. “I’ll have Isaac keep timing you while we continue with practice.”

I smiled, though I wanted nothing more than to lay down right on the ice and rest right now.

“Wait a minute.” Everyone turned toward the sound of Dell’s voice. She’d risen from the end of the bench. “I’d like to look at his knee in the locker room. I think I saw him straining toward the end.”

“Do you need to stop for that?” Price asked, turning back to me with his arms crossed. We all knew this wasn’t about my knee. He wanted to see if I’d let Dell save me from his onslaught. And of course, he was making me decide in front of the entire team.

I shrugged. “I feel great. I’m ready for more.”

The corners of his lips curved up in a smile. “Good.”

“I’m the trainer,” Dell said firmly. “And I hope you’ll defer to my judgment on this one, Coach.”

Price toyed with the shining silver whistle around his neck. “Absolutely. This is your area, Adella. Take him back to the locker room.”

I didn’t look at him, knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep a smirk off my face right now. Yeah, my girlfriend had just saved my ass, but she’d also just put him in his place in front of all the guys. It was the first time we’d seen anyone put him in his place.

I followed Dell to the tunnel, admiring her round, tight ass in a pair of form fitted gray pants.

We walked into the locker room and she met my gaze. “Go shower first. Then meet me in my office.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a sensual note in her voice. Other than stolen kisses, we hadn’t touched each other in almost two weeks thanks to Price’s edict. We were both paranoid he was having our apartments watched. He had no right to govern our personal lives this way, but we both knew he had control over us. He could have her transferred somewhere else if he caught us together.

I unlaced my skates in record time and hurried through a shower, washing away the sweat that covered every inch of my body. I wrapped a towel around my waist and used another one to dry off on the way to her office.

Before I was all the way through the door, she had her hand on the handle. She pulled me inside and closed it, turning the lock on the handle.

“I need to take a very thorough look at you,” she said, reaching for the back of my neck.

I dove for her, wrapping her into my arms and lifting her feet from the floor. All thoughts of fatigue faded as my cock hardened in an instant.

Her fingertips caressed my shoulders and back, wove into my hair and tugged on it. My towel hit the floor and I started working her clothes off.

“We’ll have to be quick,” she said, her green eyes bright with arousal. “I want you so much, Luke.”

Her skin flushed and my balls tightened. Damned if this didn’t make the two week wait worth it. She was down to her black panties, and I turned her to face her exam table. Her hands landed on it and she gasped loudly.

I grabbed the panties with both hands and ripped through them, shoving my cock in her from behind before the shredded fabric had hit the floor.

“Oh, my God,” Dell whispered. “Yes.”

She bent down, her chest to the exam table, and I held her there with a firm hand on her back. I wrapped my other hand around her hip, thrusting in and out at a punishing pace. She was trying to be quiet, so all I got from her was a desperate sounding panting.

Fuck, it was good. She was tight and wet and perfect. I looked down at the round, pink puckered hole I hadn’t had yet. Damn, I wanted it bad, but we didn’t have time right now. Instead I ran a fingertip around it, feeling her pussy clench around my cock.

The paper on the exam table ripped as she pulled on it. She was close. I loved knowing her body so well that I could tell exactly when she was about to come.

I pulled one of her shoulders up and she stood so her back was to my chest. She leaned against me, still panting, and I ran two fingertips over her swollen clit. I bent to kiss her, but her lips fell open when I thrust myself deep inside her.

“Luke,” she whispered into my mouth.

“Come for me.” My low command pushed her over the edge, and I felt the force of her orgasm. With one last grind of my hips against her, I came with a force that made me groan long and deep.

“That was amazing,” she said, pulling away to find her clothes and get dressed again. “I’m so sorry it’s been so long.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, but we were supposed to be together more once I moved here. You must feel a little cheated.”

She wouldn’t look at me. I furrowed my brow as I wrapped my towel back around my hips and she busied herself getting dressed.

“Hey.” When I spoke, she glanced up at me. “It’s not your fault your dad’s being a prick. Believe me, I get it. We’re together, that’s all that matters. Don’t doubt me, okay?”

She nodded, and the tears that pooled in her eyes tore at my heart.

A brisk knock on her door made her jump. She pulled her shirt on in a frenzy and I sat down on the table.

“It’s just me,” Isaac said through the door right before she unlocked it and pulled it open.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked.

“You know, just checking on you.”

“We’re good,” Dell said. “I’m planning to ice his knee. No more practice for him today.”

Isaac nodded and headed back through the locker room. Dell came over to the table and I wrapped my arms around her.

“Is Sadie bringing Kyler by?” I asked.

“Yeah. He’s hanging out for a while because I have paperwork to finish for the front office.”

“Why don’t I take him out for ice cream or something?”

She smiled. “He’d like that, if you don’t mind.”

“I like hanging out with him. I need to find out how the throw down between him and the kid who said soccer’s cooler than hockey turned out.”

“Five-year-old problems,” she said, shaking her head. “If only they were all so simple.”