The Winning Score
Book 4 of The Playmakers Series
G.K. Brady
Copyright © 2020 G.K. Brady
All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
978-1-7354558-2-2
Cover design by Jenny Quinlan, Historical Editorial
Edited by Jenny Quinlan, Historical Editorial
Proofread by HippoCampus Publishing
Printed in the United States of America
Trefoil Publishing
Contents
Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1 … Slapshot
Chapter 2 … Welcome to My World
Chapter 3 … I Wasn't in Line the Day God Handed Out Smarts
Chapter 4 … Oh Hell No
Chapter 5 … Because My Mom Made Me
Chapter 6 … Never Proposition a Fish
Chapter 7 … Corona’s Served with Lime, Right?
Chapter 8 … Castaway, aka Social Distancing
Chapter 9 … Good Roommates Are Hard to Find
Chapter 10 … Let’s Flamingle
Chapter 11 … Checkout Time is at Eleven
Chapter 12 … The New (Virtual) Normal
Chapter 13 … Caution: Slippery When Wet
Chapter 14 … Lockdown is a State of Mind
Chapter 15 … Let the Games Continue
Chapter 16 … Socially Distanced Sex
Chapter 17 … Stud, Draw, or Strip?
Chapter 18 … COVID Calling
Chapter 19 … But It Was Catch and Release
Chapter 20 … Read to Me
Chapter 21 … You Can Do That Virtually Too?
Chapter 22 … I’m Not with Stupid
Chapter 23 … Sparky Blows a Fuse
Chapter 24 … Things That Go Bump in the Night
Chapter 25 … Samson and Sarah
Chapter 26 … How Did I Miss That?
Chapter 27 … The LBD Never Fails
Chapter 28 … I’ve Never Been to This Restaurant
Chapter 29 … Who Invented Morning and Why?
Chapter 30 … Did Not See That One Coming
Chapter 31 … Wolf Reintroduction Project
Chapter 32 … Swinging from the Family Tree
Chapter 33 … Zoom
Chapter 34 … House of Mirrors
Chapter 35 … When Mom’s Away
Chapter 36 … I’ll Take Steak Over Fish Anytime
Chapter 37 … Back to Reality, Whatever That Is
Chapter 38 … Boys in the Bubble
Chapter 39 … Voila!
Chapter 40 … The Winning Score
Acknowledgments
Also by this Author
About the Author
Dedication
To my late father-in-law, Russ, whom we lost too soon to COVID-19. Thank you for your courage and kindness, for your unwavering support, and for raising your amazing sons. Or, as someone so succinctly put it, for being a damn fine man. Though you never read a romance book in your life, you were the living, breathing embodiment of everything we love in our heroes.
Chapter 1
Slapshot
Quinn Hadley’s primary goal when he strolled into the Denver ChopHouse was to get a good buzz going. He needed to let loose. Hell, he’d needed to every day since his home life had been knocked on its ass a month ago. At twenty-five, up to his eyeballs in money and downtime distractions, he’d never expected to be living with a mother who’d always found him lacking. Second best. If he’d had another sibling, third best. Technically, though, she’d moved in with him, but the end result was the same: an epic crimp in his free-wheeling bachelor lifestyle. One he’d enjoyed immensely and now missed the hell out of.
Radar tuned for his Colorado Blizzard teammates, he caught sight of a hand waving from a dark corner amid a cluster of noisy guys. “Hadley!” Quinn squinted against the gloom, trying to make out which of his buddies had hollered his name as he threaded his way toward them. They’d commandeered a large booth and a few smaller ones, though the boys were mostly standing as they talked, drank, and cut up.
“You assholes started the party without me,” he joked, trying to zen himself into casual mode and lighten his mood.
The guys greeted him boisterously—even Hunter McMurphy, who hooked an arm around his neck. “That’s what you get for being fashionably late, dickhead.”
“Couldn’t be helped.” Quinn brushed it off, belying the unyielding knot in his stomach—a knot of endless complications more twisted than an unwound roll of hockey tape, brought on by his latest frustrating argument with his mother. But hey, he was going to leave all that behind tonight, wasn’t he?
Time to get my Quinn on.
Hunter tapped the side of Quinn’s head before releasing him. “Don’t worry. We left you some.”
“Booze or women?”
Hunter guffawed. “Booze, of course. Get your own women.” He shot a glance over his shoulder.
Quinn followed his gaze, landing on a few babes snuggled up in a booth with Wyatt, the team’s temperamental goalie. “Looks like Wyatt’s taking more than his fair share, as usual.”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Hads. There’s plenty more where those two came from.”
Hunter jerked his head toward the front door, where a fresh gaggle of hotties blocked the entrance. They zeroed in on the team and wiggled their fingers in girlie waves. Hunter pounded Quinn’s shoulder. “What’d I tell you, Hads? Stick with me, and you’ll never be without.”
Quinn chuffed in response. He’d never completely shaken off his dislike for Hunter, though he’d tried his damnedest. Great hockey player, but the cocky son of a bitch just rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe because Hunter was always gunning for whatever Quinn had. They seemed to be locked in a competition Quinn hadn’t signed up for, whether it was on the ice, in the locker room, or in social settings—not unlike the competition his older brother, Ronan, constantly goaded him into. One asshole at a time was more than enough, thank you very much.
Quinn joined a small cluster of teammates where a waitress was trying to nudge her way in, balancing a tray loaded with longnecks, pints, and cocktails. As the guys swarmed her, she did her best to hand them their
