“Alex, don’t forget to bring a sweater and you need to put on your tennis shoes.”

“Why?” I asked, sticking my head out from my bedroom, looking down at my flip-flops.

“We don’t use skates. We wear tennis shoes.”

“Okay, why is the game so late?”

“It’s cheaper, plus we get the whole ice rink to ourselves.”

The music blasted as soon as Lexy opened the door, and the change in temperature from hot to cold made me shiver. Slipping my arms through the sleeves of the sweater, I followed right behind her. I didn’t know why, but having so many eyes checking me out made me uncomfortable, especially since I didn’t know most of the guys.

“Hey, Lexy, Alex,” Seth greeted, giving us each a hug. “Everyone, this is Alex, and you know Lexy.”

“Hi,” they said. A group of guys surrounded Lexy and me, mostly wanting to shake my hand since they already knew Lexy. I recognized Dean.

“Alex, I didn’t know you played broom hockey,” Dean said excitedly.

“I actually don’t. Lexy talked me into coming. I’m just going to watch. I don’t have a broom.” I glanced around for Elijah, trying not to make it obvious I was looking for someone.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. We have plenty of sticks.”

“Want a long one or a short one?” one of his friends asked.

“Alex, I can give you mine. It’s long, thick, and hard,” Seth said, laughing.

“Yours has no endurance,” one of his friends joked and I could hear the laughing comments from his other friends.

“Yours is the smallest,” Seth fired back. “And it’s been handled way too much by your own hands.”

Everyone started to laugh again. Oh God! Lexy and I looked at each other and shook our heads in laughter. Why did guys have such perverted minds and why did they like to compare the size of their dicks?

“Don’t touch any of theirs. They’re not good enough for you,” a guy said in a deep, sexy tone that demanded my attention, making me feel those guilty tingles I didn’t want to have. When I turned, my heart took a nosedive and this cool rink just got hot. Elijah was standing before me and the room became silent.

“Let’s see what you’ve got,” he challenged, handing me a broom.

“Thanks, but I don’t know how to play.”

“There’s nothing to it if you know how to play hockey. Shoot the puck into the goal.”

After Lexy and I put our purses together into one locker, the teams were picked, and we headed onto the ice. Lexy and I were on opposite teams, and somehow I ended up on Elijah’s.

I held onto the rail and slowly made my way onto the ice. It was smooth and not as slippery as if you were on skates, but I almost fell a couple of times. It had been a while since I had been on the ice, but I got used to it very quickly. It almost felt like I was gliding on air, but cool underneath my shoes. As I carefully walked across the rink to my team, mist escaped my mouth with each breath I took.

Elijah gave me a red bandana to wrap around my broom. This was a way to distinguish the teams. I was more than happy about this, especially since I didn’t know most of the players.

“Stand behind me, Alex,” Elijah demanded. “They can get pretty rough. The losers pay the rental fee and believe me, no one wants to pay.”

I saw what Elijah meant. When the whistle blew to start the game, everyone became aggressive all of sudden, putting on a different face. Eyes were fierce and focused, and lips were pressed into a thin, hard line. Winning was the one thing on all their minds, and they were going to make that goal one way or another. The tightly gripped broom was no longer a household item. It became a weapon. Watching the guys sweep the broom across the ice as if their lives depended on it, made me laugh hard.

I looked for Lexy. She was determined as well. I could tell she’d played many times before, just from the way she moved across the ice and the way she handled her broom like a pro. She wasn’t a female sticking out like a sore thumb like I was. I stayed back to observe, to scope out the ones to fear.

It happened in blink of an eye; the other team stole the puck from us. The puck was passed to one of my team members, but Seth stole it to score. Their team cheered and gave high fives to each other, while our team frowned and cursed. Quickly, we all met at the center to start the game again.

Elijah turned to me. “Alex, stay close to me.”

I didn’t understand why he felt the need to protect me. Sure, this was my first time, but I could hold my own. I didn’t listen to Elijah, of course. He didn’t know I had a competitive side to me, too. As the opponent came toward us, I had a couple of advantages. I was a female and I was smaller. I may have never played this game before, but I knew what needed to be done.

I lagged behind and observed who the more aggressive ones were and who I could take advantage of—the ones that would go soft on me because of my gender. And there was my first victim.

Dean tried to maneuver around me, but lost concentration when I gave him a seductive smile. I ducked low, placed my broom in the perfect position, and stole the puck from him. I wished I could have framed the look on his face.

“What the f**k!” he said out loud, looking dumbfounded.

His teammates didn’t look or sound happy when they shouted at him—Get your mind in the game. Dean got pu**y whipped. Poor Dean! Seeing the opposite team come at me all at once, I screamed as my teammates shouted at me to pass the puck to them. Not knowing who to pass it to, I hesitated, but when I heard Elijah’s voice and saw him running toward me, I passed it to him fast and hard.