Marc
chuckled all the way to the Land Rover dealership, annoying the hell
out of his teammate and roommate.
“What
the fuck is so amusing?” Army snarled.
“If
she wasn’t your sister, I’d call you pussy-whipped.”
“Fuck
off.”
Marc
laughed outright. “Just never seen you so outclassed, dude.”
“Whatever.”
Marc
smirked.
“What
am I supposed to do?” Army demanded. “Turn her out onto the
streets of Chicago?”
“Of
course not. And she knew that.”
“She
didn’t even tell me she was coming.” Duncan rubbed his forehead.
“Christ. She quit her job. Just when she seemed to be settling
down. Last I heard, she had a pretty serious boyfriend too. Guess
that’s over.”
A
boyfriend? Not fucking likely, the way she’d been looking at him.
Marc shot Army a sideways glance as he drove. “She does this
often?”
“Eh.
She quits. She gets fired. She flits from one job to another like a
fucking hummingbird. One boyfriend to another. This guy she was
seeing actually lasted more than a few dates. Now all of a sudden she
wants to move to Chicago. Jesus.”
“She’s
young.”
“She’s
not that young. She’s twenty-four. Only three years younger than
us. She needs to settle down.”
Marc
nodded. “Yeah, but think, man, we were on our own when we were
teenagers, basically. We were playing and living in an adult world
before we could even drink legally. Pro hockey makes you grow up
fast.”
Army
sighed. “Yeah. True. Heh. Especially you, Captain Codger.”
Marc
rolled his eyes at the nickname. It didn’t bug him as much as it
had at first. He knew the guys liked to jerk him around, but they did
it with respect. And he’d earned the reputation of being serious
and responsible, on the ice and off. That was him, and it was
important to him to take his career and his responsibilities
seriously.
Army
shook his head. “I’ll let her stay for a while, but seriously,
she’ll have to find her own place. Don’t worry.”
Marc
shrugged. “I wasn’t worried.”
That
wasn’t entirely true. Army’s little sister was smokin’ hot. At
first Marc had thought his roommate had a hot chick visiting him and
he’d been all Whoa,
way to go, dude,
but when he’d learned she was Army’s sister, he’d backpedaled
fast. He couldn’t get out of there before she’d jumped up and
rushed at him with a fucking dazzling smile, so goddamn gorgeous he
couldn’t get his feet to move and could barely string two words
together. Her smile was luminous, all white teeth and dimples and
glowing face. Long, wavy red-gold hair gleamed in the sunlight and,
fuck him, even though she’d been wearing clothes that covered her
from chin to toes, her body was stellar—a soft blue sweater
outlined high, firm tits and a small waist that curved into round
hips. He couldn’t see her legs, but they were long, her snug black
pants revealing slender thighs.
Shut
it down, man.
She
was Army’s sister and therefore waaaay the fuck off-limits.
And
that was why he was maybe a little worried about her living with
them. Just a smidgen worried. But hey. He was Captain Codger. He had
no issues with self-control, self-discipline, or being responsible.
He could easily ignore a hot babe living in the apartment with them.
No problem. No problem at all.
Army’s
phone pinged and he peered at the screen. “Great. An email from my
mom warning me Lovey’s on her way. Thanks, Mom.” He shook his
head as he tapped a reply. “She wants me to make sure Lovey’s
okay in the big city. Jesus.”
Yeah,
Lovey seemed like she was going to be okay.
They
arrived at the dealership and while Army signed the paperwork, Marc
wandered around looking at the vehicles, trying to ignore the
attention from the staff, male and female. The receptionist
approached him for an autograph.
“You’re
my favorite player.” She let out a breathy laugh. “I watch all
the games.”
“Yeah?”
He obliged by scrawling his messy signature across the Land Rover
pamphlet she held out, adding his jersey number beneath it. “You
watch that last game against Philly?”
“Of
course! You guys played great.”
He
stuck his tongue into one cheek and nodded. “Thanks.” They’d
sucked. They’d lost three-one, probably their worst game so far,
another game added to their losing streak.
“D’you
speak French?” Her eyes widened.
“Mais
oui.”
He grinned.
“That
is soooo sexy.” She stared at him.
Câlisse.
He
resisted the urge to sigh and smiled instead. “Merci.”
“I
love your accent.”
He
wanted to frown. He barely had an accent. He’d been raised by a
Francophone mother and Anglophone father, and although his education
had been all in French growing up in Quebec, he spoke both languages
fluently. Maybe there was a bit of an accent. Whatever.
“Hey,
Armdog,” he called to his friend. “I’m gonna head out. Meet you
at the Sin Bin?”
“Yeah.
Be there soon.”
