Scoring Lacey (17 page)

He stroked her pussy as he pushed up her tank top and lowered his mouth to her breast. “Come with me, baby. Come with me.”

Holy hell. She nodded and he gave one last slow, caress over her damp sex then he was up. He dragged her to her feet while she pulled up her pants. His walk consisted of going up the stairs to the spare room and shutting the door.

He pinned her against it as he kissed her hungrily. His hands pushed at her pants then palmed her ass with one hand. “You smell of ice and sweat and pizza.” He lowered his face to her neck as he inhaled. “Fucking in you
now
.”

He spun her away from the door and dropped her onto the bed, wrenching the pants down and away. A hiss escaped him as he leaned down and licked her pussy, making her arch on the bed. Her hands gripped the top. “Leave it. Fucking leave it on.” He flipped her onto her stomach and settled his weight on her. He rocked his cock against her ass as he bit her shoulder.

Holy hell.

Her hands fisted on the bedspread, the bed muffling her moan as two hundred pounds of hard, aroused male rubbed against her. What was he like after a playoff game?

The thought made moisture spill from her pussy.

“Want to come in you,” he whispered in her ear as he caressed her hips, her thighs. “God you smell so goddamn good, Lacey.”

He smelled pretty damn good himself. A little sweatier from wearing his pads, with a tinge of leather blending in. “Oh God, Shayne.” She pressed her face into the bed as he rubbed against her ass. He eased off long enough to open his jeans and then with a low, hungry growl he was thrusting into her. She cried out as he filled her.

“Oh fuck, yes.” He lifted her hips, then began to do exactly what he said he was going to do. He pounded hard into her, his fingers bruising her hips. He felt huge as he pumped hard into her. Thumbs rubbed back and forth over her ass. She wished she could see him like this.

She could only hold onto the bed as her orgasm crashed violently through her. A savage sound came from him as he slammed one final time into her and shuddered as he came.

They collapsed onto the bed and he eased out, rolling her onto her back so he could kiss her. He stood up, yanked his shirt off and flung it aside. He battled his jeans and underwear, paused long enough to tug off the condom he had put on, then he was on her again.

“I love this,” he growled as his fingers dragged over the letters on her chest. “Love it.” He lowered his head and bit her nipple through her top. “Love me on your tits.” He rested his chin on her breast and looked at her, his eyes gleaming with arousal. “Going to fuck your tits. Then I’m going to come in your mouth.” He traced her mouth that parted at his words. “Two inches. Then I’m going to fuck your ass again because it drives me crazy. Then after I fill that luscious ass with my come, I’m going to take this pretty pussy and make it mine.”

She blinked. “Okay.” She dragged him up and kissed him, swallowing his laugh, his moan and then he did exactly what he promised to do.

God, she loved hockey.

Lacey looked up as Shannon sat beside her. Her friend looked tired. And sad. “What’s wrong?”

Shannon shook her head. Danny was on the ice looking starry eyed as Shayne was showing him how to hold his balance in the goal. “Shayne Donnelly?”

Lacey nodded. “Shayne Donnelly.” The night after the hockey game, he had stayed at her house. His goalie equipment was spread out in her garage. Her daughter even seemed okay with his being there. Her life had become severely weird.

And she was running out of time.

Thursday, inevitable fucking Thursday, was racing towards her like a slap shot and she wasn’t sure she was going to survive. Shannon had called, a little embarrassed to ask if Shayne would spend some time with Danny on the ice. Lacey lifted her camera and zoomed in as Danny was shown how to hold the goalie stick. Somehow word had gotten out that Shayne Donnelly was on the ice and he was gathering a crowd.

Whatever he was telling Danny, the kid was paying close attention. Lacey looked at Shannon then rubbed her arm. “You look...” she searched for the right word. She hadn’t seen her friend this sad since Don had died. It was a little scary. “You look lost, Non. What’s going on?’

Shannon lowered her head to Lacey’s shoulder. “I messed up. I
fucked
up and it’s a mess. It hurts.”

“You can tell me, Non.”

“No, Lace, you’re the last person I can tell.”

Lacey hugged her, worried at what had happened. “When you’re ready to tell me, you know where I am.” She rested her cheek on Shannon’s head and watched as Shayne half slid to the bucket of tennis balls. No skates for this lesson apparently. Even Danny wasn’t wearing them. “I’m in love with him,” Lacey admitted, her vision blurring briefly as Shayne began to roll balls at Danny. The wide blade of his goal stick slid to his foot then the middle then the other foot. Learning the weight of the stick. Her dad had done that with Shayne. Danny’s other arm was sticking out to the side to help hold his balance. God, they were cute.

“Shit,” Shannon whispered and lifted her head. “Lacey...”

“And in two days he’s leaving. It hurts to know in two days he’s leaving.” Thursday at two-something. She swallowed and watched him straighten and look at her. She bit her lips to keep them from quivering even as she lifted her camera and caught his picture. Did he know she was sitting on this cold bench, her heart aching because in forty-eight hours he was gone?

“What’s going to happen?” Now Shannon was hugging her, a familiar arm wrapped around her.

“He goes to Houston. I stay in Granville. Nothing,” she whispered as she looked up at the lights. “Nothing. God, look at him. He’s thirty in November, Non.
Thirty.
I’ve known him since he was four and...” she swallowed as she wiped her eyes. “And he’s got so much of my heart it scares me. How did this happen?”

“Does his age matter?”

“No. Sometimes he seems older than me.” She fidgeted with her camera, needing to do something with her hands. “He and Carm sit in the backyard and have these long talks. He understands her so much. All that pain from the divorce. He gets it because his mom left and he knows all about raging pain from his dad. He doesn’t tell me what they talk about it. Private, he says. When he goes,” she watched him bounce a ball on the ice as he continued his lesson with Danny, “he’s going to break my daughter’s heart.”

“Her mom’s too.”

“Yeah.” Across the ice, she saw Todd watching, his arms folded on the boards. It was still not good between them. Had the family game helped? Only until they had gotten off the ice. “I broke them,” she whispered.

Shayne bounced the ball again and she half expected him to turn and heave it at Todd. He didn’t. His attention was on the lesson.

“Who?”

She nodded her chin at her brother. “He’s so mad at Shayne. God, he’s mad. I don’t know if Shayne coming to my place made things better or worse.”

“Todd’s tough.”

Lacey knew that for the lie it was. Todd looked at them and Lacey lifted her hand to her ear, mimicking a phone then pointed at Shayne. Her brother pushed away from his slouch and she watched him walk around the boards. He stopped behind the goal and knocked on the Plexiglas. When Shayne looked up, Todd lifted his left elbow then continued. Shayne bounced the ball then said something to Danny. His elbow lifted and Lacey felt something like relief mow through her.

Todd nodded at her as he slipped out the door. Okay. She sighed. “Okay,” she whispered. Maybe they weren’t as broken as she thought. “I’m going to be right back.” She handed over her camera and scampered down the bleachers and chased her brother.

“Todd!”

He paused at his truck, digging out his keys. She jogged towards him and hugged him.

“What was that for?”

“You needed one,” she answered as an arm wrapped around her. Oh God, he looked lost. She had hurt her brother. “Come to dinner tonight.”

“What?”

“You. Come over for dinner. This is stupid. He’s your best friend.”

Todd rested his head against hers as he tugged on her hair. “And you’re my best sister who in a few days is going to be crying because he’s gone.”

And she would have everyone’s shoulders to cry on while Shayne’s had no one. “He needs you, Toddy.” She kissed his cheek. “Five o’clock. The only answer is yes.” She hugged him harder because he was her best brother who was hurting now. “Five,” she repeated then let him escape. She returned to the rink and Shayne looked up as she walked in.

She smiled at him because to not smile at him was impossible. She climbed the bench seats until she reached Shannon who was leaning forward, her elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm. “You should come over for supper tonight.”

“What?”

“You and Danny. I think you have a goalie, baby.”

“He looks good, doesn’t he?” She smiled as she watched her son. “Are you matchmaking with my son, Lacey?”

Lacey grinned as she leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees. “Me? Would I do that?”

“You’re a Magerin,” Shannon snorted. “Fuck, yes you would do that. Yeah we’ll come. Danny, hit the lockers.”

“Moooom!”

Lacey watched Shayne bounce his ball on the ice again, grinning. He flicked his wrist and tossed the ball at the bucket. It missed and bounced across the ice. Todd’s words came back to her “
He can’t shoot for shit.
”

“But talk to my brother about teaching Danny to shoot,” Lacey said as Shannon gathered up her things. “Five?”

“We’ll be there.”

Lacey watched as Shayne retrieved the neon green ball. He half slid and half pushed himself to the bucket then the boards. He lifted Danny over then rested his arms on the wood and looked at her. She raised her eyebrows and let them fall.

“Bad, bad girl,” he said as he handed the bucket to Danny then walked toward the main gate.

“What did I do?”

“I dunno. Let’s go think of something.”

She laughed as he stepped off the ice then she took the hand he held out. “You are a bad, bad man, Shayne Donnelly.”

“Yes,” he said as he lowered his mouth to her ear, “and I was just on the ice.”

Her heart gave a little thump as his hand squeezed hers. His eyebrows rose and fell in a much more effective manner than hers. “I love hockey,” she sighed as he pulled her through the entrance and out into the parking lot.

Shayne pulled her to her car. A man on a mission to get her horizontal as soon as possible. She leaned against his back. “If you make it to the playoffs, I’m going to every single game.”

He jerked to halt then spun around. A hand caught the back of her head and he kissed her while his other hand grabbed her ass and drew her into him. “Incentive. Me likey. Let’s get naked, Magerin.”

“Yes, Donnelly. Let’s.”

“Aw, you cheated,” Carmen said as she glared at Garth. The tall skinny kid blinked innocently and focused his attention on the video game. Muttering to herself, Carmen focused on the television screen.

“Should I tell her how to win?” Shayne murmured in Lacey’s ear.

“Shut up. That’s my kid.”

“You’re right.” He caressed her stomach. “She’ll figure it out soon enough.” He laughed at her look of horror. God, she was fun. She sat on his lap, watching the three kids on the couch. Danny was trying to tell Carmen what to do to advance. He bounced on the couch and told Carmen to shoot. Somehow dinner had become a group event and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

“Door was,” Todd walked in and came to a grinding halt, “open.”

“Bad, bad girl,” Shayne muttered in her ear as he looked at his friend.

“Hi, Uncle Todd,” Carmen said without looking away from the game.

“Hey, Carm.” He stared at Shayne and Shayne wondered at the etiquette of having a friend’s sister on one’s lap.

Didn’t he deserve a warning? He rested his chin on Lacey’s shoulder, staring at her. She blushed and traced the seam on the armchair. “I’m going to check on the meat.” He stood up and tossed her onto the cushion at the same time. Bracing his hand on the back of the chair he leaned over her. “What are you doing?”

“Making you two talk.” Her foot pressed on his hip, gently pushing. “Take Mr. Scowly-Pants with you.” Her gaze shifted to Todd.

Did she think they were going to magically fall into a hug, cry and everything would be fixed? Christ. He walked into the backyard, heading over to the barbecue. Fuck. Rubbing the back of his neck, he turned and faced Todd.

“So. Coaching toddlers now?”

Shayne folded his arms over his chest as he shrugged. “Keeps me out of trouble.” Distracted him from the fact that there a countdown to departure going on in his head. “You should try it.”

“Coaching or staying out of trouble?”

“Pick.” He turned and lifted the grill dome, checking on the meat. “I need a ride Thursday.”

“Lacey’s not taking you?”

Shayne did not want a security gate good-bye. An impersonal kiss surrounded by strangers. No, he didn’t want that at all. “No,” he answered quietly.

“How’s it going with Carm?”

“Okay,” Shayne said as he lowered the cover and sank down onto one of the patio chairs. “She’s handling this a lot better than her uncle.”

“No shit,” Todd said as he looked over his shoulder towards the house where Lacey was. “But she isn’t going to be the one to pick up the pieces of my sister.”

Shayne dragged his hands down his face and leaned forward. “You think this is easy, Todd?”

Todd stared at him. “Do you love her?”

“What?” Shit. Fuck. He stared at the concrete square beneath his feet. Todd repeated the question though Shayne didn’t need him too. “I don’t know.”

“Then yeah, I think this is easy. I like my steak a little bloody.” He pushed open the sliding door and stepped inside.

“Fuck.” Shayne clasped his hands behind his head. Fucking Magerins. Get inside a guy’s head, root around until there’s nothing but goo then leave him flattened on the patio.

“No blood, I see.”

He stared at the bare toes that appeared in his line of view. “Don’t.” She wore a denim skirt, baring a lot of leg to his muddled brain. She took a step towards him so his head pressed into her stomach and her hands glided softly from his elbows to his fingers. “You can’t fix this. I know you want to but what is going on isn’t fixable.” He lowered his hands. His eyes closed as her fingers brushed the back of neck, over his hair. “I’m fucking his sister. I’m leaving his sister. I’m going to hurt his sister.”