Alex (Cold Fury Hockey #1)(96)

We just had animal sex in someone else's bathroom, yet it was wholly intimate, something that only the two of us could ever share. It didn't matter where we were, or what position we were in. We were immersed in each other, with no room for the outside world.

With no care for the outside world.

Alex helps me clean up, gently pulls my panties back into place, smoothing my skirt back down. He runs his hands over my hair and then kisses me on the forehead.

"Ready to head back out?" he asks, his eyes glittering with satiation and mischief.

"Not sure my legs can move, but sure … I'll give it a try."

"That's my girl," he says and then opens the bathroom door.

He exits quickly, holding my hand, and I follow right behind. As soon as he turns right to head back down the staircase, he stops suddenly and I run into his broad back. Peeking around him because I'm sure we've been busted by someone, my stomach drops when I see Cassie leaning up against the wall outside the bathroom.

She spares me a brief glance before turning her icy gaze back to Alex. "Nice. Fucking your whore in Kelly and Mike's bathroom. Real classy, Alex."

I start to open my mouth to disabuse her of the notion that I'm a whore, but Alex beats me to it. "Fucking? No, there wasn't any fucking. Not like what you and I did."

My face goes beet red over his proclamation and I almost jerk away from his hold. But he senses my discomfort and a thumb skims over my knuckle in reassurance.



       
         
       
        

"No, Sutton and I have something different," Alex continues in a low voice. "Something you would never be able to comprehend. Hell, I'm having a hard time comprehending it myself, but I know it's unlike anything I've ever experienced before and probably nothing I really deserve."

Cassie's eyes go large and round, disbelieving the conviction of what Alex is telling her. And it is with conviction he said those words.

Turning away from Cassie, so he's looking at me … only at me, he says, "You'd be so lucky, Cassie … to find something as real … as intimate, as what I've found."

I smile at him and he returns it for a moment, filled with so much emotion in place of those three words that he has yet to tell me, but in my heart I believe he feels. Then he turns back to Cassie. "I really hope you find it one day. Truly. But make no mistake … you talk badly about Sutton again-in her presence or out-and I will rain so much misery down on you, you'll wish you'd never heard the name Alex Crossman. Are we clear?"

Cassie just stares at him for a moment, almost not understanding what he's saying. Then I see her swallow hard and a look of sadness comes over her face. "We're clear."

"Good," Alex says jovially. Pulling me along, we walk past Cassie and he shoots her a solicitous smile. "Have a merry Christmas, Cassie."

Now that we have had some one-on-one bonding time, Alex leads me back down into the party and never leaves my side the rest of the night.





Chapter 27


Alex


It's Christmas Eve, and Sutton should be here any minute. She was having dinner at her parents' house, to which I was invited and declined. I wasn't much in the "familial" mood tonight, not with my own dysfunctional family plaguing my thoughts. Truth be told, I'm not even in the mood for Sutton to come over tonight, but it's not like I can cancel plans with her on Christmas Eve, especially not when I leave tomorrow for a three-game road trip.

Cameron called me late last night to let me know that Dad had checked himself out of rehab after only nineteen days and well before his release date. I've heard from him twice more today. Each time he called he was fairly frantic because Dad had not gone home. He was nowhere to be found.

My worst fear was that he was drunk and lying in a ditch somewhere, which in Canada in December is a death sentence. The most likely scenario, and one that didn't bode well either, was that he was sitting in a bar somewhere … drunk.

The thought of him being out of rehab, of entering my life again as nothing more than a failed addict, causes my skin to itch so bad I have to restrain myself from clawing at it. Just when I thought maybe … just maybe I could have a chance at normal, my dad goes and starts to fuck it all up again. 

The doorbell rings and I stand from the couch, wiping my damp hands on my jeans. Why I'm so nervous about seeing Sutton is beyond me, but I feel a little out of sorts … maybe a tiny bit out of control, since getting the news from Cameron last night.

Taking a deep breath before opening the door, I paste a smile on my face and pull the handle toward me.