I’d always been gentle with women. Soft, patient, and careful. It was how I was raised. Physicality was something I saved for my older brothers, my teammates, or, in my younger years, the assholes at bars. But never—not like this.
Not with a woman who hit back.
Not with a woman whowantedme to be rough.
Not with a woman who looked at me like she was starving for the fight.
Goldie’s laugh echoed from the bench, bright and breathy as Rhea landed her elbow into my side, lying across me on the ice. God, I wanted to give Goldie a show to hear that noise again. I wanted to win just to see what she’d look like when I told her where I was taking her tomorrow night.
Flipping Rhea onto her back as my teammate skated down the ice with the puck, I leaned over her, a pause longer than was appropriate, and grinned. “I’m really going to enjoy watching you lose.”
Her lips parted in outrage as I shot up and tore off down the ice as she scrambled to get up. But it was too late.
I took the pass, skating around defenders as I got to the end and shot.
The puck sliced under the goalie's stick and went straight into the net.
The buzzer screamed, the end of another period. This time, though, I was the victor.
I exhaled hard, chest heaving, legs shaking as I took high fives from my team before everyone went off to the bench for a drink. Rhea skated toward me, eyes dark with everything we weren’t saying. And in that moment, I wanted her just as much as I wanted Goldie.
And I thought maybe, just maybe, she wanted me too. But the look on her face morphed as she turned and skated to Goldie at the side. Dropping my head, shame started burning in my gut just as fast as arousal had.
Fuck.
I swallowed my pride and my guilt, forcing my feet to skate over to where the girl I’d dreamed of for months now waited for us.
With one glance up at her when I got near, though, everything froze.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes shining as if she’d just watched the sexiest thing she’d ever seen as she nibbled on her bottom lip.
Rhea tipped her head back, squirting water into her mouth as she stood there, the loser for the round.
“Well,” Goldie asked, breathless. “Where am I going tomorrow?”
And holy hell, nothing in the world had ever felt more right.
I swallowed. Hard.
Moments ago, I couldn’t think of anything else besides finally getting her alone at the place I’d only heard about. But now, with Rhea watching, my cock still hard from the rough and tough game we were playing on the ice, I wasn’t sure it was right.
“Tanner?” Goldie asked, blinking as her smile fell. “Are you okay?”
My eyes flicked to Rhea, who was still silent on her other side, and Goldie followed my gaze to her.
Fuck.
“There’s this place,” I started, drawing her attention back as I scrubbed a gloved hand over the back of my neck. “A couple of the guys at the station were talking about it once. It’s in the city.”
Rhea’s dark eyes squinted slightly, interested. Like she could smell something filthy on the horizon.
“It’s a…” I paused and then went for it. “It’s a burlesque place. Dinner and a show.”
Goldie’s lips parted. Just the slightest bit, as if she couldn’t help herself.
I rushed on, like I was trying to convince her, when really, I was trying to convince myself. “Dim lights, private booths, the whole place draped in velvet. The music is slow and sensual.” I licked my lips, throat tight. “And the performers, the dancers, they lose more and more clothes with each course of dinner served.”
Goldie blinked at me slowly, and the hunger in her eyes hit me like a punch to the gut.