Puck Bear Brides: Complete Series (BBW Werebear Paranormal Sport Romance Boxed Set) (12 page)

She knew he was supposed to be a beast on the ice and Nicky kept yammering about how fantastic he was, but seeing really was believing. He was a true predator on the ice, a disruptive player worth every dollar he made and April found herself completely taken with his playing. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of him, not even when he plowed into some of the Coyotes’ players, the game going from friendly to furious in a few seconds flat.

It took four guys to pry Memphis and one of the Coyotes’ grinders off of one another. For a moment, April truly saw the warrior and the bear in him as his eyes flashed dark brown and he snarled at the other guy. He was dragged away by Cannon Wright and a guy Nicky identified as Jax Darmuth. It was almost scary how intense he was, but a moment later, Memphis was back to his regular self, grinning and cracking jokes as he took his spot on the ice.

By the end of the game, the two teams had tied and it took overtime for the Shovelers to finally get in one more goal to give them the win. April was up on her feet, hooting and hollering with the rest of the spirited crowd, much to the chagrin of the few Coyotes’ fans in the audience.

She was smiling wide, taken with the adrenaline that seemed to course through everyone in attendance, most of them clearly local or new Idaho fans, though April saw some people with old Chicago Bluehawks caps or jerseys. Nicky had worn her jersey as well, the one with Memphis’s number, 17, which April thought was a sweet gesture.

The crowd started filing out slowly, chattering amongst themselves and walking to their cars—predominantly trucks—but April hadn’t even gotten up when Memphis skated as close to them as he could, leaning on the makeshift railing that now separated the lake and the stands. He pulled off his helmet and his hair stuck to his forehead and neck in sweaty strands, his face gleaming with perspiration and apparent happiness at seeing April there. A happy little shiver immediately passed through April.

“Hey there, sugar. Thought you weren’t gonna show there for a moment. Glad you did. Is this the infamous Nicky I’ve heard so much about?” Memphis asked as Nicky already flitted down the steps to shove her hand in his big paw while April was still debating whether she could stand up when he was looking at her like
that
.

It was the I’ll-fuck-you-until-you-forget-your-name-the-moment-we’re-alone look. April opened her mouth to reply but all she could get out was a mewl that might have once been a hello if someone translated it into human. It only made Memphis’s smile smugger, which was definitely not a bad thing.

“Indeed it is,” Nicky said, slipping her hand into his and giving it a shake, tugging the man forward a bit on the ice. “And I’m
so
glad to finally meet you! I’m your
biggest
fan!”

“That’s what April told me,” Memphis chuckled in response, his gaze moving from Nicky back to April, who felt like a deer caught in headlights as she tottered down the steps.

She wasn’t entirely sure what she was supposed to do, but she definitely felt how wide she was smiling. Memphis pulled her into a hug over the railing, his heady, masculine scent filling her nostrils and making her head spin a little with pure, unadulterated happiness. He was actually here! And so was she! And the night hadn’t been all in her head, which she’d still considered as a likely option after everything.

“I need to go finish up right now,” he said, sounding more than a little reluctant to let go of April. “But I have the evening off. Can I cook for you two ladies? At my place? You wouldn’t say no to a bear who’s just become victorious in your name, would you?” Memphis queried, flashing her a puppy-dog look that looked both ridiculous and endearing on him.

“I… yes! Sure. I mean, we don’t have any other plans, I think,” April stuttered and stammered, blushing a deep beet-red now.

“Of course we’ll come!” Nicky piped in, looping her hand around April’s arm and squeezing it a little too hard.

“Okay, great! I’ll text you, April. I’ll be looking forward to it,” Memphis said with a wink, pushing away from the railing and skating toward where his team were patting each other’s backs and generally being loud and boisterous.

He almost skated into one of the enforcers because he was straining his neck, looking back so hard. April giggled a little and Nicky jabbed her in the side again.

“Oh my God! He’s so hot! You’re so lucky and I’m
so
jealous!” Nicky gushed.

“We’re just here to get to know each other a little better. Nothing’s going on. I mean, he’s a hockey star, I can’t take this too seriously, right?” April said with a shake of her head, the smile clinging to her features no matter how much she tried to shake it off.

“Sure. Totally not serious,” Nicky said, rolling her eyes as she carted April off toward the cars again.

April was glancing over her shoulder to catch glimpses of Memphis until trees obscured her field of vision. She couldn’t wait for the evening to come and a part of her was beginning to think she could have even made the trip to Idaho on her own. But having a friend for support could only do her good, right?

CHAPTER FOUR

Memphis

Dinner was as lavish as one could expect from a polar bear shifter trying to woo a woman. Fresh salmon cooked in the oven with herbs, spices, and lemon, potatoes, and a homemade sauce, along with beer and wine depending on the drinker’s preferences. In Memphis’s completely unbiased opinion, it was the best damn meal anyone could have in Shifter Grove that evening!

Well, anyone not married to a chef or a baker, anyway.

“So, how are your lodgings? I guess you’re stayin’ with the Hamiltons, right? I heard they opened up one of their additional houses as a makeshift bed and breakfast until an actual one gets built around here,” Memphis asked, looking for conversation topics that wouldn’t immediately end with him thinking about his bed or the couch and how April would look sprawled out on it.

“Oh, yes! The Hamiltons are all such dolls!” Nicky said, swirling the white wine around in her glass and giving Memphis far too much eye-contact. “Rose is lovely and the brothers are all, well, as they are,” she added with a wicked grin.

“They’re somethin’, yeah. I think Royce would have made a decent goalie in another life,” Memphis commented idly, his gaze constantly going back to April, who had mostly been quiet throughout the dinner.

It was cute, really. She was shy and he had seen as much when he talked with her the first time in Wyoming. It took her a little while to come out of her shell, but this time Memphis found the whole coaxing process that much more difficult because Nicky was there and April wasn’t exactly the type to fight for her right to say a few words here and there.

Should have gotten her to come alone,
he thought somewhat grimly, with Nicky’s constant chattering and giggling veering far too much into the world of puck bunnies for him to tolerate it for too long.

At least not when he knew that he had better company available, who was just too quiet to butt in. There had been a time when girls like Nicky were exactly Memphis’s type. Enthusiastic, happy, and always down to party, they were easy to hang out with and even easier to discard when he got bored. But he was nearing thirty now, and he felt that it was time for a change. The regular crowd of hockey superfans looking to do looking to do
anything
to add another hockey player-shaped notch on their belt hadn’t done much for him lately.

“How do you like Shifter Grove? I hadn’t heard anything about this place but now I’ve read up extensively after it came out that you guys moved here. It’s a really small place to move a whole professional hockey team, isn’t it?” Nicky asked, pointing out the obvious.

“It is,” Memphis agreed with a nod of his head, taking a swig of his beer and shaking himself out of another line of thought that couldn’t make him any happier. He should have told his housemate Bale to stick around to keep Nicky preoccupied.

I’ll do that next time,
he decided, giving April a long look that almost took him off of his train of thought again.

“We have a mystery investor. Someone here apparently really wanted a hockey team and we were his favorite one. Coach was lookin’ to move us out of Chicago anyway so we ended up here. The guy paid a fortune, but he promised to get all of the necessary amenities built up as well. The ice arena is comin’ along well enough and we should be in there by the end of the month and the gym’s gettin’ set up too.”

“So you don’t even know who pays you?” April asked with a modicum of surprise in her voice.

“That’s right,” Memphis said, popping his last forkful of potatoes into his mouth and chewing before continuing. “But I don’t mind. I wasn’t thrilled in the beginnin’ and I don’t love the fact that I have to bunk with someone else until they catch up with buildin’ more cabins around here, but the mountain air does me good. My bear’s fuckin’ thrilled and I’ve never felt quite this centered, you know? I think it shows with the whole team. Just missin’ one thing.”

He let the silence hang between them for a few moments as he caught April’s gaze, smiling at her. If they’d been alone, he would have gone in for a kiss, at least a peck on the cheek, but they weren’t and apparently Nicky wasn’t all that interested in giving them a breath of privacy.

“What’s that?” she asked, batting her long lashes as if she hadn’t understood that Memphis very clearly meant April.

“Oh, you know, my own place would be nice,” Memphis said with a sigh that rung of frustration, standing up and picking up Nicky’s plate as she was sitting to his left while April was at his right. “Do you wanna help me with these, April?” he asked, looking for any way to give them a moment alone.

“Sure,” April said, perking up quickly and scooping up a few dishes.

“Can I help?” Nicky asked, sounding a tiny bit annoyed at having been cut out of the circle so smoothly.

“How about you pour us another drink? I have some pie in the freezer, courtesy of Cerise at the diner, but I think we need a moment to really appreciate my wonderful cookin’,” Memphis called over his shoulder, leading April into the kitchen that stood separated from the dining room and living room combination in his little cabin.

He dumped the dishes on the counter and pulled open the dishwasher, starting to stack them there. April did the same and their hands were hovering close to one another as they worked, Memphis hiding a private grin as he was finally allowed to look at her without her overbearing friend hovering somewhere in the immediate background.

“I don’t think I’ve told you yet how beautiful you are,” he said in a low murmur.

“You have,” April said, but that little blush of hers came back, making Memphis entirely pleased that she could incite that in her.

“I mean today. You deserve to hear it every day, sugar,” he said with a soft growl, making her smile and shake her head.

“Is that what you usually do? Hit on women shamelessly and lure them back to your lair?”

“Lure?” he asked, cupping a hand over his chest as if she’d hurt him mortally. “At best I coaxed! And no, I don’t make a habit out of stalking women I met during training camps on SassyDate if that’s what you’re implying. Despite my reputation, I’d like to think I’m a nice guy.”

“Your reputation?” April asked, quirking her brow as she shoved some knives into the machine before Memphis closed it up.

“Uh, you know. Hockey bears and whatever that comes along with us,” he said absently, cursing himself for bringing it up.

He turned to wash his hands and when he moved out of the way so she could do the same, he didn’t miss an opportunity to grab for the towel on the rack by standing right behind her and reaching for it around her shoulders. She gasped and he grinned, stepping back so he wouldn’t crowd her. Dammit, she was so delicious that keeping his composure around her was hard as hell and keeping his hands off of her even harder.

April turned to face him after drying off her hands and her lips parted in the sweetest way, those hazel eyes shimmering with the kind of excitement that made him have to work really hard to convince his bear that they shouldn’t just bend her over the countertop and take her then and there. Nicky might not appreciate her friend getting thoroughly fucked while she was in the next room, flicking through endless sports channels on the TV.

Still, he leaned in slightly, determined to steal that kiss from her that he couldn’t at the rink, but right at the moment when their lips were just about to touch, Nicky’s footsteps sounded down the hallway and April pulled back, biting her lower lip. True to form, Nicky appeared at the door wearing a quizzical expression that immediately had a flash of anger to it when she deciphered what was going on.

But as soon as that look had fallen on her face it was gone as well, leaving Nicky her usual grinning self as April scooted past her.

“I need to go freshen up,” April said, avoiding looking at Nicky, probably because she was blushing again.

Memphis sighed, leaning against the counter. “Down the hall to your left,” he called after April, shaking his head.

“Everything all right?” Nicky asked, dancing into the kitchen with lithe steps, coming to stand across from Memphis.

She was far too close and he was thankful when she hopped up to sit on the counter, intense eyes seeming to track him like a hawk would a rabbit. It was a ridiculous analogy because he was easily three times her size, the diminutive African-American girl standing five foot six at best and generally being as unthreatening as could be.

But something about her eyes and the way she kept looking at him made him feel a little bit uncomfortable, which was some feat because he’d stared down guys on and off the ice who literally wanted to kill him and he hadn’t so much as flinched.

“Sure. You know how things go, it’s a bit awkward gettin’ over the move from text to face-to-face again if time’s passed,” he said with a noncommittal shrug.

But another thought came to him and he narrowed his eyes slightly with a smile, realizing that before him sat perhaps the best treasure trove he could wish for in regard to knowing more about the delightful Miss April Whitaker.