Underneath It All (Storm Series) by Cassandra Carr

laughing and joking, but once the game started everything would be different. He had no friends on the ice save his own teammates.
    “So have you found some woman dumb enough to make an honest man outta you?” Jeff asked. Jeff had married a girl he’d met way back when he and Rob had been playing together, and they already had three kids, though Jeff was a year younger than Rob.
    Rob debated whether or not to mention Alaina, but decided not to because the thing between them was still so new. Instead, he said, “Nope, not yet. Still enjoying the variety.” In truth, he hadn’t had sex with a woman since a couple of weeks before he’d met Alaina, putting him on an almost two-month drought. For Rob, that was a long time. He loved women, and women loved him.
    “ You wait,” Jeff warned. “That girl’s gonna show up and hit you right between the eyes. You’ll be a dead man.”
    “We’ll see.” Time to change the subject before I go all starry-eyed talking about Alaina. “How’re your parents?”
    The two men conversed for a few more minutes , and then each went their separate ways to prepare for the game. Unfortunately, the Storm lost by one goal, a soft one that Brendan, their All-Star goaltender—normally—let in during the last minute of play. The man was pretty Zen for the most part, but afterward, Rob and the other guys kept their distance as Brendan sat in his stall, still fully attired in uniform and pads, his elbows resting on his knees and hands propping up his chin, obviously reliving the moment right before the goal. Brendan was a perfectionist, which was a very bad and yet very good quality in a goaltender. Bad because it was almost impossible not to let in at least one goal per game, but good due to the naturally competitive way the player would approach the game, which the rest of the team, especially the other ultra-competitive guys like Rob, often fed off of to spur themselves on.
     
    Saturday mid-day following the Thursday night game, Rob ended up at the school after Alaina admitted she was having trouble putting the cubbies together. Of course, no written directions were found, only poorly drawn pictures, and pieces of the thing were scattered over a ten-foot radius. Alaina’s hair was in a messy ponytail, and she was clad in dusty yoga pants and a fleece, but Rob still wanted to find the nearest closet so they could play “Seven Minutes in Heaven.” Kissing Alaina was definitely a slice of heaven.
    Before he got too carried away and his jeans didn’t have a prayer of hiding his erection, he brought his toolbox closer to the mess then started sorting pieces based on what he believed their purpose to be.
    Alaina stood, glari ng at the parts. “This makes no sense to me whatsoever.”
    “The instructions are crap.”
    “What’re you doing, anyway?”
    Rob indicated the piles. “I’m sectioning off the different areas of the cubbies. I figured that would be easier than searching for something every time I need a new part.”
    “How can you even tell what goes together?” Alaina crinkled her nose and Rob couldn’t believe how cute and yet sexy he found that simple gesture. He was losing it.
    “Manly spatial -relations skills, baby. Now come give me a thank you kiss.” Pulling her flush with his rapidly overheating body, Rob delved into her mouth, thrusting his tongue in what he knew was a poor substitute for thrusting somewhere else. But if this was all he could have until they became more familiar with each other, he’d kiss her morning, noon, and night.
    A throat cleared behind them and Alaina jumped away like shrapnel.
    “Oh, hi, guys,” Rob said to Sarah and Sebastian as a flush worked its way up his neck and into his face. He’d completely forgotten he’d called for reinforcements. A quick glance showed Alaina appeared mortified. “So, um, Alaina and I are dating.”
    Sarah chuckled. “I would hope so. Otherwise you’re sexually harassing the poor woman.” After a beat