Free Drive by Brenda Rothert Page B

of wind blew through, and I bent down to wrap his scarf around his neck.
    “Hey there.”
    I knew that deep voice. It was the only one that made me melt into a puddle no matter what it was saying.
    “Hi,” I said, standing up to smile at Niko. He grinned back at me boyishly. Did I have the same effect on him he had on me?
    “You guys have slushies?” he asked.
    My eyes widened and my hand flew over my mouth. Damn. Why hadn’t we used straws?
    “Do I have a blue mustache?” I asked through my hand.
    “Just a tiny one,” he said, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “It looks good on you, though.”
    He’d already seen it, so I dropped my hand with a sigh. Way to impress him, Sadie. Sexy skirt and blue slush-stache. But the way he was looking at my mouth … his dark, bedroom eyes made my stomach twist with excitement.
    “So, good game,” I said. Our eyes locked, and I wondered if he was thinking of our last encounter – against the wall at Lucky’s. I sure as hell was.
    “Thanks,” he said dismissively. Like Luke, he apparently didn’t think it was possible to have a good game if his team didn’t win. “Hey, you coming out tonight? Want a ride?”
    My heart sank. I wanted to go out with him so damn bad, blue-stained lip and all, but I couldn’t.
    “Ky’s really tired, so I’m taking him home to bed,” I said.
    Niko nodded. “You guys need a ride?”
    I thought of the kind of ride I really wanted from him, and my cheeks warmed despite the chilly night air. “I drove, but thanks.”
    A couple teenage boys stood off to the side, waiting for Niko.
    “Next time, maybe?” Niko asked me.
    “Yeah. Next time.”
    He held my gaze for a couple more seconds. “Okay. ‘Night, Sadie.”
    “’Night.”
    He looked at Kyler. “Get some sleep, winger. I heard you’re coming on our road trip tomorrow.”
    “Can I sit by you on the plane? Will you teach me more Russian words?”
    “Da,” Niko said, arching his brows.
    Kyler looked up at me and grinned. “That means yes.”
    “And how do you say ‘no’ in Russian?” I asked, genuinely curious.
    “You’ll never want to say that word around me,” Niko said, winking. He turned to the waiting fans and I told my heart to stop racing. It didn’t listen, though.

Chapter 6
    Niko

    Even through my dress shirt, I felt the tight nipple of the woman pressing her body against my arm. Did she even have a bra on?
    I took a bite of my steak, and she moaned in my ear and started chewing on my ear lobe while I ate. Christ, I didn’t even know this chick.
    I pulled my shoulder away from her, but she clung to me.
    “Uh … I’m just gonna eat,” I said. “I need my other arm.”
    She gave me a pouty face. “You’re no fun.”
    I ignored her comment and turned away. Would I ever adjust to this lifestyle? Playing hockey had always given me an advantage with women, but playing at the highest level was a whole new ballgame. After our last game in Nashville, a woman had walked into the men’s room and taken her shirt off when I was taking a piss at a restaurant. She’d dropped to her knees, leading to an awkward conversation where I turned down her offer of a blowjob.
    These women weren’t into me – they were into bagging an NHL player, and I wasn’t flattered by it anymore. They were annoying and had no self-worth. In college, yeah, I’d have done them. Or even in the minors. But getting called up to the big league had also been a call into adulthood. And now, nothing turned me off like a woman who thought so little of herself that she’d do shit like flash her tits at a stranger in a public bathroom.
    “Would you like to switch seats?” the woman next to me asked. When I’d gotten to Lucky’s I’d sat down by two teammates, but our table was now overrun with others – mostly women.
    “That’s okay, thanks,” I said. “I’m just gonna finish eating and leave.”
    “The attention’s kind of overwhelming, isn’t it?” she said. “I’m Taryn, by