The sucky thing was, they were playing better. Losing their big D-man and enforcer Dale Ronson had pushed some of the guys to step up. Duncan had been looking hard at his own game to see where he could improve. Knowing his roommate and team captain, Marc, was taking a lot of the burden for their shitty play on his own shoulders made him want to do better. And he thought he had been.
He’d been frustrated with his line-mate, left winger Max Hall. His head was not in the game. He was screwing up all over the place, missing passes, turning the puck over. Jesus, Saturday night he let the Panthers have it right in front of their own net and that had resulted in their winning goal. The two after that were just a bonus for the Panthers, the icing on a win cake.
Their flight left right after the game Saturday, getting them home to Chicago at about one-thirty in the morning. He and Duper talked about what was going on with Hallsy as they drove back to their condo together. They usually took one vehicle to the airport. Duncan thought maybe he was the only one noticing how crappy Hallsy’d been playing, since they relied on each other so much, but Duper had noticed it too, and from the atmosphere in the dressing room after Saturday night’s loss, and the glares being shot at Hallsy, who also looked miserable, Duncan had a feeling everyone was frustrated.
He was glad to be home for more reasons than one, and one of those reasons was Amber.
Once in the condo, he and Duper both hit the sack and Duncan slept until nearly noon. They had Sunday off, back to regular practice Monday, so once he’d eaten a huge plate of scrambled eggs and a few pieces of toast and peanut butter, he called Amber.
“Hey, gorgeous.”
“Hi, Duncan.”
He smiled just at hearing her voice. “How are you?”
“Good. You?”
“Eh. Been better. Kind of a crappy road trip.”
“Yeah. I, um, heard.”
“So. What are you up to today? Wanna hang out?”
“By hang out, do you mean have sex?”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t turn it down.”
She gave a soft laugh.
“I was thinking of going for a run later. Wanna join me? Then we could get something to eat and maybe watch some TV.”
“Duck Dynasty?”
He grinned. “We might be able to find an episode somewhere. Or we could watch whatever you want.” Hopefully she wouldn’t make him watch Legally Blonde, Melissa’s favorite movie. Reese Witherspoon was cute, but seeing that movie once was enough.
“I should be studying. I have midterms next week.”
“Ugh. Studying.” Jesus. How could he convince her to ditch that? Studying was pretty important.
“But I’ve already been studying for a few hours,” she went on. “So I guess if I did another couple of hours I’d be good.”
“Awesome. You need some downtime too, right?”
“Right.” Amusement shaded her voice.
“I’ll come pick you up. How about four o’clock?”
“Sounds good.”
Marc had already left to go see Lovey, so Duncan threw in a load of laundry, did some weights, and then changed into running clothes. The sky was overcast with snow threatening, so they’d need to dress warmly. As he was about to leave, he eyed the kitchen. As usual, he’d left his dishes in the sink and the remnants of his late breakfast on the counter. If he brought Amber back, he didn’t want to gross her out.
He quickly loaded the dishwasher and swept garbage into the trash bin, then wiped down the counters. There. All good. Ruby’d been at the condo Friday while they were gone, so the place was actually pretty clean.
He found himself impatient to get to Amber’s, driving faster than he usually did, annoyed with slow-moving traffic in his way. Finally he was there, being buzzed in, riding the elevator to the fifth floor, and knocking on her door.
She answered and he stood and looked at her for a moment. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was dressed in black tights, a long-sleeved shirt of some kind of bright pink silky tech fabric, and a pair of running shoes. Fuck, she was beautiful.
“Hey, sexy girl.” Should he kiss her? He wanted to. He’d missed her all week.
“Hi, farm boy.” Her own smile held a hint of shyness and uncertainty, which for some strange reason eased his own. So he moved closer, bent his head, and lightly kissed her mouth.
Her soft sigh and the way her lips moved against his had his body heating immediately.
He leaned his forehead against hers and smiled. “Missed you.”
“Oh yeah?” She stepped back, but her cheeks had colored and her mouth curved up.
“Yeah. So. You look ready.”
“Where are we going to run?”
“Lincoln Park. Do you have a change of clothes for after? I was thinking we could pick up food and go back to my place.”