Caged (Gold Hockey Book 11) by Elise Faber (romantic love story reading TXT) 📕

list-topping thriller. Even though it was a bit formulaic, it was a nice reprieve from scientific papers.” A beat, another brief look toward her. “Now, show me yours.”

Laughter filled the car, and it was the best fucking thing he’d heard in a long time.

They talked about books as he drove.

Then he got his kiss. Well, kisses.

And then he went back to his place, jerked off because he had the erection to end all erections, and even as he slept, his mind was only on one thing.

Dani.

The taste of her. The feel of her. The sound of her laughter filling the air.

“And then Blue tried to steal Max’s figurines,” Dani said, “but Anna found out, and she thought it was stupid as hell and was really, really done with them pranking each other, so instead she stole Blue’s lucky socks.”

He scooped up a bite of his oatmeal. “Okay, so this is the part I’ve heard. Or at least the part that had Blue tearing apart the locker room looking for those damned socks.”

Dani laughed. “Poor guy.”

A shrug, his lips twitching. “He was in full meltdown mode. You don’t get between hockey players and their good luck charms.”

“Well, from what I heard, no harm was done, and Max and Blue figured it out.”

“They certainly did.” A beat, his lips twitching. “Eventually.”

Because with a little help from Angie, Anna had also stolen Max’s special lucky figurine he had to stroke before every game—which sounded grosser than it was in actuality—then had left a ransom note for both the socks and the figurine, forcing Max and Blue to work together to rescue those good luck charms.

“So, the socks and figurine were found,” Dani said, scooping up a bite of what looked to be a truly delicious waffle. “And the prank war was over.”

“And we all breathed a sigh of relief in the locker room.”

A giggle as she ate more of her waffle. “How long did it take for the dubious duo to find them?”

“Too close to game time, as far as Bernard was concerned.” Ethan chuckled. “Far too soon, as far as the guys in the room went.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Eh.” He scraped the last bit of his oatmeal up. “It was a fantastic prank on Anna and Angie’s parts.”

“Angie told me Max made her sleep on the couch.”

Ethan choked.

Dani giggled again. “But that she woke up in Max’s arms.”

Ethan set his spoon down, smiled. That sounded much more like his friend and teammate. “Those women keep their men on their toes.”

“Still want to date me?” Amber and russet eyes glimmered with mirth, but there was also a layer of insecurity beneath.

“I’m looking forward to tiptoeing all over the place.”

Her expression shifted, warmed. “Last chance.”

He reached across the table, took her hand. “Scared?”

“Fucking terrified.” Her shoulders rose and fell on an exhale. “But I’m also ready to finally live my life.”

His fingers twitched. “What should we do first?”

“First, we should pay the bill.” A smile. “Then we should get our butts to the rink so we don’t miss the bus.”

He glanced at his watch then reached to pull out his wallet. “I’m loving this whole dating thing already.”

“Then you’re going to love that I already paid the bill, so we can just go straight out to your car.”

“What?” His brows drew together, his hand still half in his pocket, since he’d been in the process of pulling out his wallet. “What do you mean—” But his question was cut off when Dani sat down next to him, tugging his hand out of the opening, shoving his wallet back inside.

“I said, I got it.” Her fingers lightly brushed his. “Which means you still owe me a date.”

Joy swirled through him, a tiny tornado growing in intensity with each second he spent in the presence of this woman. “I’ll take that deal,” he said, sliding his hand up her arm, lightly gripping the side of her neck. “Because it means more time with you.”

“I like you, Ethan Korhonen.”

“Well, right back at you, Dani Eastbrooke.”

He brushed his lips over hers.

She turned the kiss into something that had his heart pounding, his cock going to granite.

Then she stood, took his hand, and he knew he was in for a hell of a ride.

Chapter Fifteen

Dani

She was sitting up front by Fanny; the man who made every cell in her body sit up and pay attention was several rows back.

She’d been intending to sit by him, but then Max had gotten ahold of Ethan, and Fanny had come to carry out her aforementioned interrogation, and . . . next thing she knew, she was in her normal row on the bus, her friend chatting her ear off as the vehicle got loaded.

Brit walked by, winking when she caught Dani’s gaze as she made her way to the back of the bus.

Seniority ruled when it came to seat position.

Coaches up front, then support staff, then rookies on back to the senior citizens.

Dani wondered what Brit might say if the goalie knew that Dani mentally referred to her, Blane, and Max as the senior citizens.

They were the oldest players.

But the lithe, strong Brit wouldn’t be happy.

Still, Dani filed it away for use at a future date—maybe during one of those times where she was hanging with the women of the Gold and worked up the courage to actually say something.

If she were living her life for real now, she’d need a few teasing statements stowed away and ready to roll.

“What are you smiling about?”

She blinked, glanced up to see that Fanny had vacated her seat, and it was suddenly occupied by a man who took up much more space than her tiny figure-skating friend. “I was categorizing Brit as a senior citizen.”

He froze. His face an expression in shock.

And then he burst out laughing, drawing the notice of pretty much everyone on the bus. They were probably wondering what the heck quiet, shy Dani could be saying to make a man like Ethan laugh so riotously.

But for the first time