Noah pulled her eyes back to the ice. The announcer introduced both teams. More boos filled the stadium, louder this time, when the opponents were out there. Alec would be starting. All throughout the national and Canadian anthems, Noah tried to focus on the flag. Instead, all she could see was Alec. He looked so different in his jersey with all the padding. His helmet hid the majority of his face. His lips were pressed in a stoic frown, pale green eyes drilling holes in the ice. Noah didn’t think he even heard the music that floated around them. He must be concentrated on the game that was about to take place.
Once the anthems were over, the starting lines from both teams skated onto the ice and positioned themselves correctly. Alec was in the center. From what Noah knew, he was going to take the faceoff, which essentially meant he was going to win the puck for his team.
The referee dropped the puck. Alec positioned his stick to toss it back to a defenseman. And the game began.
Throughout the two and a half hours, Noah found herself more and more riveted with each passing second. She didn’t even hear Lily try and explain the game to her. She didn’t care. It was relatively easy to pick up, though during the first intermission, Noah had Lily break down what icing actually meant and why it wasn’t allowed.
By the second intermission, Noah had a painful throb in her pelvis that not even crossing her legs tightly together could fix. She wanted Alec. She wanted Alec the way she had had him last night, except she wanted to do it differently. She wanted to explore all of her options. She wanted him in every way she could have him.
As she watched him pass to Jack, she tried not to let the fact that she had never felt like this before. When it came to sex, she had enjoyed the activity, but it wasn’t this addictive thing she couldn’t be without. After Alec, she realized she was just experiencing it with the wrong person.
Jack shot the puck and the goalie blocked it with his pads. Unfortunately for him, he left a fat rebound. Alec was in the crease to capitalize on it. Without hesitation, he shot it. The puck hit the back of the net. The Mayhem scored. The crowd cheered.
And for the first time, Alec glanced over at Noah and nodded once. Moisture pooled between her thighs. She wanted him. And she was going to do everything she could to have him.
17
Alec
The first thing Alec did when he got out of the locker room was find Noah just outside with Lily, take her into his arms, and kiss her. Part of it was for show. He knew that. But the other part was more than that. He was on fire tonight, and he believed it was because she was there, watching him. He wanted nothing more than for her to watch him do everything now. When her eyes were on him, he felt as though he could do anything in the world.
Instead of stiffening up or pushing him away, Noah wrapped her arms around him, fingers going through his hair. Immediately, she opened her mouth up to him, letting him slide his tongue inside. He pushed her against the wall, not caring who saw, who was around.
Hey, Seraphina told him to make the most of this, to really sell it, and he was more than happy to oblige.
“Okay, okay,” Lily said, slapping his back. “Jack’s here. We can go.”
“You guys go,” Alec said. “We’ll catch up with you later.”
Alec didn’t notice if Lily was glaring daggers into his back or rolling her eyes. He didn’t care. All he wanted was Noah.
It was such a strange sensation, he had difficulty putting it into words. After a game, he should be tired. Sometimes, when he wasn’t playing as hard as he should have been, he wasn’t. But most nights, his body was tired up until he stepped into a nightclub. Up until he decided which woman he was going to take him for the next couple of hours.
But with Noah, he was ready. He didn’t want to deal with Coach’s speech and with Xander’s speech. Xander might have been his captain, but the dude was in his thirties and playing on an AHL team. Sure, he knew that it probably had to do with his concussion last year. Hell, he probably shouldn’t be playing anymore, but that clearly hadn’t stopped Xander from doing just that. In a way, Alec admired him. But not enough to pay attention to him when Alec knew Noah was waiting outside for him.
“Dude, I can feel you brimming with excitement,” Jack said as they peeled off their gear. “What is with you?”
“Me?” Alec asked. “You just used the word brimming in a sentence. What’s with you?”
Jack made a grunt of acknowledgment. “I can’t help it,” he said. “Your sister has a vernacular I could never have. I guess I’m picking things up from her.”
Alec rolled my eyes, but the mere mention of Jack’s relationship with Alec’s sister didn’t bother Alec as much as he initially thought it would. He released a breath, pulling on a shirt that immediately stuck to his back because of his sweat.
“You never answered my question,” Jack pointed out, unlacing his skates. “You okay? Does this have to do with Noah?”
Alec grunted. “What did Lily tell you?” he asked. “And don’t say nothing because I know my sister. I love my sister. And I’m sure she tells you everything.”
Jack smirked. “She does, and she did,” he agreed. “She mentioned that you and Lily were together.”
“Hanson put me up to it,” Alec said quickly. He didn’t understand why, but he felt compelled to keep the truth of his feelings for Noah under wraps, at least for now. It was like there was a secret he had, and by telling people the truth, it made it
