Free Playing the Game (The Renegades) (Volume 3) by Melody Heck Gatto Page B

mouth.
    “ Okay, how can I not ask about
that?” He chuckled. “No one special? Ever? I mean, hell, my track
record doesn’t leave me much room to talk, but you’re beautiful.
I’m just…”
    “ Shut up, you know you’re
handsome.” She bit her lip as though she’d revealed too much, but
he loved it. Suddenly the day seemed brighter.
    “ Oh, so you think I’m handsome?” He
winked at her, shamelessly flirting.
    “ Shut up.” She laughed.
    “ Back to you. I’m sure you’ve heard
about my crashing and burning at love, or what I thought was love.
But I want to know about you. Ever break any hearts? You look like
you could be a heart breaker.”
    “ No, no, never broke any hearts.”
She shook her head. “You don’t give up do you?” Her eyes lost some
of their sparkle. “Honestly, after Scott died I was too busy trying
to keep myself together. I went through hell and wasn’t sure I was
going to make it out. I put a lot of focus on me to get through
that. Then when I was in college I dated a little, but nothing
serious.” She shrugged.
    “ Well, I’m sure you know all about
my ‘serious’ relationship. Guess if you’re gonna go down, it’s
better to go down in flames? Eh?”
    “ No, not really.” Paige laughed,
almost choking on her pop. “Self-destruction never fixes anything,
trust me.”
    “ Trust you? Don’t tell me you’ve
been there too?” He finished off the last bit of
sandwich.
    “ All you need to know is I had
trouble finding my way after Scott died. I almost ended up like
him, but Gram and Pap pulled me back. I owe them so much. You have
no idea.”
    He really didn’t have any idea, and even though he
wanted to know every detail, he wasn’t going to push her any
further. She’d told him more than he ever imagined she would.
Whether she meant to, or it just sort of happened, he was grateful.
He’d learned a lot about her with what she said. I didn’t know
they made girls like this anymore .
    Paige wiped her mouth with her napkin before putting
it on her dish. “Well, since you so conveniently avoided talking
about the interview that you agreed to, I will work something up
and email you all the info. I really do think it would help you
with how things have been going, but I’ll talk to Melanie and see
what she thinks.”
    “ Paige, go out with me.” The sudden
words surprised him as much as they must’ve surprised
her.
     

CHAPTER 9
     
    Tyler looked down the ice. Vancouver’s goalie was a
beast, tall and wide, and he filled the net completely. There had
to be somewhere he was vulnerable, maybe the five-hole? He seemed
to glove every shot that went up by his shoulders.
    Tyler took shot after shot, but the goalie stopped
every single one. He had to give the guy credit; he had talent.
Rushing the net, Tyler was pulled backwards and he lost control of
the puck just as he closed in on the goal area. His feet went out
from under him and he crashed to the ice, landing partially on
Vancouver’s goalie, and ending up sandwiched between two blue
jerseys.
    The whistle blew. Good, that is definitely an
interference call.
    “ Get the fuck off of me, dude,”
Tyler called to the Vancouver player who was lying on top of
him.
    “ Gladly.” He grinned a toothless
grin. “Have fun in the penalty box.”
    “ Goaltender interference. Two
minutes, Tyler Kidd,” the ref announced.
    “ What the fuck?” Tyler yelled as he
got to his feet. “Ref! Didn’t you see he hauled me down? He forced
me into their goalie. I had no way to avoid it with him pushing
me.”
    “ Don’t want to hear it.” The ref
skated away, but Tyler followed.
    “ There was no way you didn’t see
him push me into his own goalie! I was on a breakaway, and
he—”
    “ Shut it, Kidd. Another word and
you’re gone. I’m sick of listening to you.”
    Tyler sighed. It was a bad call, but the team didn’t
need him to get thrown out again. Looking up at the fans, his
attention went to one person in particular: