Hockey Holidays Read online

  The teasing he did earlier in the bar were not false allegations. He did look amazing with his shirt off. Her glance moved back to his chest. Her body hummed with memories of running her lips over those transcendent abs. He wasn’t wrong. The man was built like a God.

  Every inch of her body wanted to stay. She could only imagine the additional fun this night could hold.

  Kyler’s eyes slowly closed, then opened again. “Let me just say, as much as I don’t want you to go, it’s not a bad view watching you leave.”

  Wow, that line sucked, and yet it worked. She was melting at his words and again considering staying. Instead she smiled and waved as she closed the door behind her. She didn’t need a new man in her life when she wasn’t over the last one yet.

  In the Uber home, she could hear the yells and horns from the various gatherings. She looked at the clock on her phone, it was midnight, and folks were ushering in the new year. She was alone, in an Uber, after a one-night stand. Not exactly her best look.

  Chapter Two

  Kyler

  (Almost a year later…)

  Kyler Wilson scoffed at the large lighted Christmas tree in town as he drove by, on the way to morning practice. Kyler despised Christmas. He was more a gore and ghouls kind of guy. The gorier the better. Dark fit his personality better these days. Unfortunately, he was in the minority when it came to hating Christmas. The more decorations he passed, the more he anticipated getting back home to the safety of his loft. He longed for the serenity of his “Christmas-Free-Zone”.

  He didn’t own a Christmas tree, or a single decoration. His parents were long-gone, and he was an only child, for all intents and purposes he was an orphan.

  He endured a lot of ribbing from the guys about his lack of fondness for the holiday. But most of those guys had families, and that made the holiday special for them. Kyler understood that. That was a big part as to why he wasn’t a fan. When he was younger, his mom made the holidays magical. He waited impatiently all year for Christmastime. But those days were long gone, along with his holiday spirit.

  As an adult, his holidays consisted of whatever bunny wanted to spend the day in his bed, drinking hard liquor, eating pizza, and watching Netflix.

  Kyler was thrifty, since he’d been on his own for so long. He’d been saving every penny since he started getting a decent paycheck for playing the game that he loved. His one splurge was his vehicle. Once he got to Pittsburgh and saw what kind of ice and snow they had in the winter, he knew he needed a tank-type-vehicle to keep him safe in his travels back and forth to the arena. Growing up in California, he wasn’t used to the cold winters of the Steel City.

  He needed a vehicle that was comfortable. He was a big guy, all muscle, earned from hard work and dedication. He opted for a G-Wagon. As soon as he took it for a test drive, he knew this was one tough mother of a vehicle. Exactly what he was looking for.

  His radio blared hard rock and alternative music, but somehow a Christmas tune still snuck through. Kyler quickly switched the station to sports talk radio.

  Last Christmas was the worst. Instead of sticking to the bunnies, Kyler had gotten pretty serious about a woman, little did he know she didn’t return those feelings. It wasn’t until Thanksgiving last year that she started getting testy that he wouldn’t buy her extravagant things that he realized she was in love with his bank account, not him. By Christmas he was on his own again.

  Kyler shook away the thoughts and focused on the road ahead of him. He admittedly drank too much last New Year’s Eve, hoping the new year would be better. That’s when he ran into Anna. At first, he thought she was just what he needed to get out of his funk. A hot one-night stand, and an awesome hangover the next day seemed to slap him back to being himself. Until he couldn’t get that girl out of his head. There was something about her… but he had no phone number, not even a last name to go by.

  All the social media searches he did were useless. Anna was nowhere to be found. She was obviously just a drunken fling, or simply didn’t want to be found. And he was Kyler Wilson, Renegades hockey player. She obviously knew that and wouldn’t have much trouble finding him if she so desired. The words made sense but getting her out of his head was another thing completely.

  Kyler parked in the garage at the Three Rivers Practice facility. He hurried to the locker room area, locked his valuables in the changing room, and put on his Under Armor. The changing room was separate from the locker room, where the guys locked up their valuables, and hung their suits to keep them pristine. It was empty, he was either really late or early. Kyler was betting on late. He was rarely early for anything. As soon as he walked into the noisy locker room, the area where the guys put on their smelly pads, the many faces that stared back at him told him that he was late. He kept his head down and quickly put on his gear, hoping to avoid the razzing.

  “Wilson! Glad you could join us.” Tyler Kidd, the team captain called, his voice full of jest.

  “Yeah,” Kyler answered with snark. “I considered my options. Practice seemed like more fun than being out in the world with all the Christmas nuts.” He made a face that would rival the green mug of Mr. Yuck.

  “Wilson, what’s your problem with Christmas anyway?” Sam Morris questioned, his brow ruffled as if he heard fighting words.

  He’d only been in Pittsburgh for a few seasons, since being picked up from Arizona, it was still a new city to him. But he had figured out the pecking order on the team. The older guys were mostly the family men, and they did their best to mentor the younger ones. Which was cool. But Kyler wasn’t interested in getting that close to anyone. That’s just who he was.

  His trade here took him by surprise. Arizona only took a future draft pick in return, so right off the bat he felt underappreciated. Add in the odd, constantly changing weather, and not being ready to start over, and this move was a disaster waiting to happen. Then he found puck bunnies, and the transition became a bit smoother.

  “I didn’t mean any offense by it. But, dude, you have two kids, of course you’re completely into the whole Christmas vibe. It’s almost your job as a Dad. Do you dress up as Santa Claus too?” Kyler jeered.

  “Uh, no. Sure I’m a dad and I get to see the joy and magic through my kid’s eyes at Christmastime, but I’ve always loved the holidays. Just ask Tri. I spoiled her hopelessly when it was just us. The kids just make it even more special. Someday, you’ll see.”

  Kyler wasn’t stupid, he knew what made the holidays special for people like Sam. And Tyler drove that point home with he spoke up.

  “It’s just me and Paige, and we love the holidays. Add in that we both work a lot, and travel, and we still make time to do holiday stuff. Paige always has something fun planned on our days off. Tree shopping and spending the day at The Shoppes at Market Square just to name a couple. Add in all the cookie baking and decorating she does. Plus, going to see Christmas lights and hot cocoa, and don’t forget, the mistletoe. My girl might be a Christmas fanatic, but I love her.”

  There was one thing all these guys had that he didn’t – a significant other. Some had wives and kids, some just had wives or girlfriends. But they all had people to share the holiday season with. Kyler didn’t have a girl, or a family. And this time of the year reminded him of that more than he’d like.

  Maybe that’s why he preferred Halloween. It was dark and a bit evil, and not cute and sweet. People didn’t generally pair-off into couples. It wasn’t romantic or full of wonder. Halloween was scary, dirty, dark, and pure fun.

  “Yeah,” Kyler nodded his head as he tied his skates. “Paige is pretty great. You sure lucked out, Ty.” Paige worked for the team as one of the PR folks. Her boss, Melanie, was like the team’s Mother Hen.

  Keeping his eyes on his skates, guys started to walk by him, to get on the ice for practice. One set of legs stopped directly in front of him.

  It was Tyler. He clapped his hand down on Kyler’s shoulder. “Chin up, buddy. I’m sure there’s an anti-Christmas girl ou