“I am,” Claire protested. “I do work hard.”

“Then there is no problem,” Reese said simply.

“But I’m afraid you’re going to hate me because of Phillip’s stupid mistakes.”

Reese shook her head. Those two had so many issues between them, and it was driving them apart. She knew how much Claire meant to Phillip, and something inside her wanted them to get along.

“Don’t be so hard on him,” she said softly. “He loves you very much.”

Claire shrugged her shoulders.

“I know.”

“So maybe you should give him a chance. Everyone makes mistakes.”

“I guess,” she said, pushing away from the wall and stretching her legs in front of her. Looking up at her, Claire asked, “You don’t like, like Phillip, do you?”

Reese paused for a moment before laughing as she shook her head.

“Heck no! Why?”

“I just think you two have a thing for each other.”

Claire crossed her arms across her chest as she eyed Reese. She wanted to run and hide. She didn’t want anyone to know that she and Phillip were fooling around. They had too many connections and plus, her family would get the wrong idea. She was just fooling around with him. There was no reason to get everyone riled up about it, thinking she wanted to get married and crap like that.

“No way.”

“You’d tell me if there was something serious going on, right?”

Looking into Claire’s eyes, she could see that she needed the reassurance. They had been building a relationship, and though Reese did not want to lie to her, this time she had to. She didn’t want Claire getting the wrong idea, and she couldn’t tell her that she was just f**king her uncle for fun. That would be horrible.

Shaking her head, she reached out, cupping Claire’s shoulder as she said, “Of course I will.”

But that would never happen, because things between her and Phillip would never get that serious.

Phillip leaned against the boards from the bench, watching as his team raced into the Calgary’s zone. They were up by one against the Assassins with only seven minutes left in the third. Phillip’s adrenaline was high, his heart beating so hard against his chest as he waited for his chance on the ice. Leaning back, he squirting some Gatorade in his mouth before spitting it back out and then refilling his mouth before swallowing. He watched as Shea went behind the goal with the puck, waiting for his forwards before passing it up to Jakob. He then rushed toward the zone with JT beside him. JT cut to the goal, while Jakob passed back to Corbin Ellis. As soon as Ellis got to the goal, he passed it fast to Shea. He shot, and missed. Ellis got the puck again, passing it to Jakob, who shot and missed. Ellis got the puck and passed it to where JT was waiting. He finally scored.

Phillip hopped up on the bench, cheering his teammates on as they skated over, slapping everyone’s hand before lining up for the puck. When the ref dropped it, JT and a center from Calgary fought for the puck, pushing, until finally JT passed it back to Shea. He skated back behind the goal just as Coach Baxter tapped Phillip on the head. Phillip hopped over, his skates hitting the ice, and a sense of relief came over him.

He was home.

He knew his game, he knew where to be, how to hit, how to make plays, but most of all, he knew how to score. Skating fast across the ice, Phillip looked back just in time to get the puck that Shea had passed up. Luckily, they had caught Calgary on a bad change, leaving Phillip and Erik rushing the goal with only one defenseman trying to stop them. Phillip passed to Erik and the defenseman followed, but when Erik deked, sending both the goalie and defensemen one way, he quickly passed the puck to Phillip, and he scored in a wide open net. Throwing his arms up in the air as his teammates wrapped him up in a victory hug, Phillip couldn’t think of anything better than this… Well, maybe Reese moaning his name, but right now, he was thrilled he had scored, winning the game for the Assassins.

Later that night, Phillip’s body was aching from a nasty hit into the boards he endured with only fifty-four seconds on the clock. Starting the whirlpool in his hotel room, he left Erik to Skype with Piper and sank down into the hot, soothing water. Closing his eyes, he let his head fall back and let out a loud, satisfied groan as he stretched his muscles. They had won the last two games and only had one left before going home. He missed Claire and was ready to get back. She had been calling him every night, letting him know how her day had gone. It was nice to talk to her, even though most of the conversation led to dance, which then led to him having a hard-on the rest of the night because all he could think of was Reese in those damn shorts and bra.

Reese.

God, things had been great between them. She was a fireball in bed and man, did she have a dirty mind. Their sexting had gotten so out of control once that Phillip spent most of the night in the bathroom, jacking off. She was hot and kept him on his toes. If he wasn’t careful though, he would fall for her while she stayed in the just-fucking zone. He didn’t want that. He had to keep his feeling locked up tight and only think with his dick, or that girl would get him in a world of problems.

Falling deeper in the tub to where the water was over his chin, he let out a breath. He was pretty sure he could fall asleep but, before that could happen, his phone rang. Reaching for it, he saw that it was Claire.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Hey, did you guys win?”

He smiled.

“You didn’t watch the game?”