Free Icing On The Date (The Bannister Brothers #1) by Jennie Marts

like they’re out for your blood. We need to do something to clean up your reputation. That exhibition game is next weekend—that might help. Do you have any other charity events coming up? Anything you can do with kids? Maybe we can get you a Santa gig down at the mall.”
    A Santa gig? Was he serious? With Harvey, you could never tell. “I don’t think I’m at that point yet.”
    “You’re getting damn close. Don’t you get it? Your behavior reflects badly on the whole team. And with the few losses we’ve had lately, we don’t need anything negative affecting the morale of the team.” He sighed. “You’ve got talent, Owen, and you’re a great defenseman. You just seem to have poor judgment when you’re not on the ice. With your brother gone, the team’s already going to suffer. We need you to step up and be a leader right now, not bring the team down.”
    The reminder of Bane leaving the team had a sour feeling churning in his gut. How was he supposed to be a leader to the team when he was the one who’d screwed up and been responsible for the loss of one of their best defensemen?
    Who was gonna follow him? And why would they?
    Bane dropped a supporting hand on his shoulder. “You can count on this guy, Harvey. Just watch, without me around, Owen’s gonna shine. He’ll hold up the Bannister name and come through for the team. I have faith in him.”
    Yeah. Bane had always had faith in him. Why—he didn’t know. He felt like he’d let his big brother down time and time again. Sometimes he felt like he had a black cloud following him that caused havoc to anyone around him. That’s why it was easier to keep things light—not get too close to anyone. Like Gabby.
    A pain tore at his heart at the thought of not seeing her again, but it was for the best. She was a nice girl—too sweet to handle the chaos that Owen Bannister would bring to her life.
    She was trying to make a success of her business—the last thing she needed was his bad reputation rubbing off on her. But the look on her face when he’d said goodbye to her this afternoon had ripped a hole in his chest.
    It was ridiculous. He’d known her less than twenty-four hours. She shouldn’t be having this much of an effect on him. He’d said goodbye to women he’d dated for six months with less emotion than he’d had walking away from Gabby this afternoon.
    What was it about this girl that got under his skin? And into his heart?
    It didn’t matter. She needed to focus on her business, and he needed to concentrate on the team and living up to the faith that his brother had in him.
    Letting go of Gabby was the smart thing to do.
    So why did it feel so dumb?
    The door to the office opened and an intern rushed in. “Sorry to interrupt you, sir. But I thought you’d want to see this.” He held up his phone. “Owen is trending on Twitter.”
    “For what?” Harvey turned to his computer and pulled up his Twitter account. “Last night was dumb, but I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Not enough to be trending.”
    “It’s not about last night,” the intern said. “It’s from earlier today. When Owen was selling cupcakes.”
    “Cupcakes?”
    Oh, shit.
    “What the hell have you done this time, Bannister?” Harvey tilted the screen toward Owen and Bane as he read the tweets, his voice changing from anger to excitement.
    Who is this mystery girl that has captured the attention of the elusive playboy Bannister?
    How do I get Owen B to smear me with frosting?
    I’d let OB frost my cupcakes any day.
    Mystery girl is making Owen Bannister smile.
    OB is caught with his hands in the batter. Does she let him lick the beaters or…
    Pictures and tweets of Owen and Gabby goofing around on the cupcake truck filled the screen. Most of the pictures were taken during the time Gabby had creamed him with the cupcake. Their smiling faces were covered in frosting as they played around and teased each other.
    “Look at these tweets.” Harvey read