We let the girls sleep through morning skate. Of course, Spencer and I are both given heaping rations of shit from the other players since we decided to make the five-hour trek to Kalamazoo with our girlfriends instead of on a cramped bus. Neither of us much cares. We've finally found something other than hockey and parties.

The team buys a block of rooms in advance for the two-day away games. Spencer had one to himself until I joined the team. Now we room together. We went fifty-fifty for the girl's room, one floor up from ours. A room Spencer is currently pounding on to rouse them.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauties!" He calls with enough volume that other guests peer down the hall at the commotion. "C'mon, it's three in the afternoon and I'm starving."

Kaila opens the door, a pillow-crease still on her cheek. "You're always hungry."

"Yeah, babe. I'm six-seven and over two-hundred. I eat a lot of food." He then unceremoniously hoists her over his shoulder in a fireman carry. "Time for lunch!"

Kaila grunts. "Put me down!"

He slaps her ass and she squeaks. "Don't tell me what to do unless you're naked."

"You Neanderthal!" She shriek-laughs, then waves at me as Spencer proceeds to carry her down the hall. "Later Reecie, later Bas! Guess I'm going to lunch."

Reece pokes her head out the door as Kaila and Spencer round the corner. "You kids have fun."

Kaila offers a salute and a cough-laugh before they disappear from view.

Sufficiently alone, I slide into Reece's room. Before she can protest how rude I am inviting myself inside, I cup the back of her head, tilt her chin, and bring her mouth to mine.

This kiss is slow and unhurried, unlike every other one we've shared to date. Maybe it's because I know we have time, that she's not going to bolt the second I let her go. Maybe I just like savoring her taste without sparking the inferno that always seems so close to the surface whenever she's around.

"Mm," she breathes when I pull away.

"Good morning," I rasp, buzzed on the feel of her mouth and soft body against mine.

"It's three in the afternoon," she protests with a smile.

"Well," I lay another kiss on her forehead. Because I can. "I missed my opportunity earlier."

She raises a brow. "Oh?"

"You weren't adequately caffeinated," I smirk. "You might have bitten my tongue off."

She winks. "I still might."

"Promises, promises." A shudder of desire racks through me. Later. There's shit to do. I swat her butt lightly. "Shoes and jacket on. We only have a few hours to eat and get everything ready."

Reece blinks, stumbling where I drop my hands and hold out her jacket. "Get ready?" She echoes.

I wink. "It's a surprise."

She glowers, even as she slides into her boots and accepts my help into her jacket. "I don't like surprises."

"This one involves cute critters and no cameras." I promise, making an 'x' over my chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

She relents, thankfully, and we head out into the blistering Michigan cold. Most everything in town is within walking distance of the hotel. I have no idea where Spencer took Kaila, but he left me his keys – probably because that chucklehead would lose them doing the horizontal mambo – and ordered me not to come back to the room until it was time to head to the rink.

Reece and I get a quick drive-through meal. Nothing fancy, but Reece doesn't seem to mind. Her eyes are on the pines draped in gossamer coats of snow, the hills of homes that look like something out of a Thomas Kinkade picture, simple wonder in those big brown eyes.

I reach over from the driver's seat, take her hand and give a light squeeze. "Thanks for coming up here with me."

Reece blinks and faces me, stunned. "Thanks?"

"Yeah," I bring her knuckles to my lips while I watch the snowy backroad. "I appreciate it. I know it's a long trip and hockey isn't really your thing, but I like having you in the stands. Gives me an extra boost, knowing you're watching."

I can't quite turn to see her expression. Her voice, however, is almost watery. "You do?"

"Does the pope wear a funny hat?" I return rhetorically. "Does a bear shit in the woods?"

She uncurls her fingers from mine, swats me gently on the cheek. "Shut up and drive. I was promised critters."

"And critters you shall have, milady." I declare with a horribly enunciated, British accent.

Reece throws her head back in laughter.

My heart swells with warmth and joy. I let the gleeful sound wash over me, settle into my chest. God, I have it bad.

Another mile of snowy landscape drifts by before I pull Spencer's Ford into a gravel drive. A two-story farmhouse, barn, and pasture spread out before us. Winterized equipment and machinery rest under tarps beside two aged pick-up trucks pockmarked with rust. Snow continues to fall as I put the truck into park and shut off the engine.

"So help me," Reece says. "If I start hearing banjos playing, I'm jumping right back in this car and leaving you to squeal like a pig, boy."

I bark out laughter before I can help it. "This isn't that kind of movie."

Someone knocks on my window, earning a yelp from Reece. Grinning, I step out of the truck and pull Henry Montressor into a chest-bumping bro-hug.

Introductions happen swiftly, because it's damn cold outside and we have work to do. Henry is ten years my senior, played with me for a few games on the bubble with the Buffalo Sabers. After a career-ending injury, he retired to take over his parent's farm. We've kept in touch.

"Girlfriend, eh?" Henry chuckles, eying Reece with admiration. "Never thought I'd see the day, runt."

Me neither. I hug Reece closer. "She's kind of amazing."

"Oh, I can tell." Henry winks at her, the gesture friendly under his ballcap. "Well c'mon, young'uns. These gals ain't gonna tag 'emselves."

Henry leads us to a barn off the main path. A few horses in stalls nicker at us where we pass. Then we're lead to a smaller fenced area housing no less then a dozen ewes. A few even have lambs skuttling between their legs.

Reece melts. "Oh my God! Look at their little faces and their itty-bitty hooves!"

Henry grins. "Wanna hold one?"

She gawps. "Yes!"

As Henry rigs up a warm bottle of milk for Reece and the lambs, I pick my way through the herd. Once I've gotten three of the lovely fleecy ladies selected, I let Henry know. He cuts them from the herd with the help of his Australian Shepherd Phoebe and ushers them into a separate pen.

Reece peers at me. She's holding a lamb on her hip, swaying gently as it suckles the bottle she's holding. Grinning, I pull out my phone and take a picture and a quick gif.

"What was that?" She demands

"Sorry," I tease, even though I'm not sorry. "You're just so cute rocking that baby on your hip. Thought Lukas might appreciate proof of life."

She flips me a middle finger where she holds the bottle. Shortly after, she returns the lamb to the pen with its mother, climbs over the wooden fence to join me with my three sheep. Then she spots the cans of spray paint at my feet and raises a questioning brow.

"You want to tag them?" I hold up a can and rattle it. "Or hold them."

"Tag." She grins. "What am I tagging?"

"Numbers – 1, 2, and 4."

That earns me a head-tilt. "But there are three sheep."

"I know," I smirk. "But the team doesn't know that. When we release these ladies in the hotel lobby, they'll be looking for four instead of three."

Realization dawns. Reece lets out a giggle and clamps her hand to her mouth. "Oh my God, that is evil!"

"I know, right?" I take up position alongside an ewe, brace her around the neck and haunches to provide Reece a target. "Ready when you are, babe."

We get down to it, working in tandem like we've always been partners. I grapple the sheep and Reece tags them with the numbers. Mostly. On the last one, she aims wide with the spray – on purpose, if I had to guess – and hits me right across the face with a band of highlighter blue. Cackling, she snaps a picture on her own phone. Once she's had her moment of fun, I leap at her, rubbing my face all over hers and smearing the paint on her cheeks.

"Y'all are ridiculous." Henry shakes his head as he reappears in the barn to check our progress. "You said 10:00 pm, Bastien?"

"Make it 10:30," I correct. "Give us time to do PR stuff and head to the hotel. If I'm late, Reece will let you in." I give her a pointed look. "Right?"

"Oh, I'm already a partner in crime," she sasses, grinning at Henry. "Let's do this!"

Sheep sufficiently marked, we head back to the truck. Henry presses a grocery sack full of dyed wool into my arms before we leave. It's easily $100 worth of high-quality yarn. Offering a shy smile and, "For whoever's crafty in your life".

I know he means Mia, give his shoulder a friendly squeeze. "I'll make sure she gets this."

His gray eyes twinkle. "Thanks, Bas."

We head back toward the hotel. The snow is a little denser and the roads slicker. I have to devote more of my concentration to not skidding through stop signs or spinning off the road. Reece doesn't seem to mind the silence, though. She just lets me hold her hand, run my thumb over the soft ridges of her knuckles as we drive.

Arrival sees me almost accosted by Coach Burt. "Killfeather! Where the fuck were you?!"

Instinctively, I push Reece behind my back. Coach's wrath should be at me, not her. "Out on the town."

"We're due in the rink in an hour!"

I scoff. "Plenty of time."

"Get your ass up and changed." He jabs a finger at me. "And get your butt-buddy Haart down here, too. We just found out Debroski will be on their first-line offense. We need to review film STAT."

Shit.

Debroski, like me, has a double-contract with the ECHL and the NHL Unlike me, however, he's spent most of his time in the majors. Being kicked to the minors either means he pissed someone off and has something to prove, or that he needs more development before seeing ice time again. Regardless, it's bad news for us.

I'm already moving, guide Reece by the small of her back. "Understood, Coach."

"He seems...intense," Reece comments as we ride the elevator to the sixth floor.

I shrug. "You get used to it. He stresses easily."

Reece seems genuinely curious. "Why?"

"It's been ten years since Cincy won a Kelly Cup." I offer. "Kind of a big deal."

She raises a brow. "You seem pretty confident."

I wink. "I trust my team."

That earns me a nod of approval. Those big brown eyes do a languid up and down sweep, admiring me in my filthy black hoodie, torn jeans, and grungy Timberlands. My stomach lurches, and not just because of the movement of the elevator. I'm falling in love with this girl.

"Reece," I breathe shakily, thrown by the sudden realization.

"What?" She emits a high, awkward laugh. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I reach out, cradle her face. "It's just..."

She softens into my touch, tilting her head to increase the contact. Her lashes flutter, lips parting. "Just what?"

"I..." I choke.

The words won't come. I've just gotten her to accept my touch, my presence. If I start throwing around the L-word, she'll spook. I can't move too quickly.

"You're just so beautiful," I manage instead, press a kiss to the piercing in her nose, trail my lips along her cheek. "I need you to know that."

She shudders. "I'm starting to believe it."

I growl. "What can I do to convince you?"

The heated glow seeps into her gaze. Grinning, I press my lips along her jaw, the pulse in her throat. Then I flick out my tongue, blow against the ribbon of moisture. She shudders against the chill.

"Kiss me," is her breathless demand. "Prove it to me."

She doesn't need to ask twice.

I draw her to me, press that soft body flush against mine. My tongue fills her mouth while my hands explore her lithesome curves and soft flesh. She's started to gain weight, and I fucking love it. It's not only that I can grab and pull and tease, but her psyche is improving. Knowing she's happy and healing because of me sends a thrill through my bones.

The elevator dings and doors open, alerting us to our arrival on Reece's floor. We don't move, keep kissing, probing each other's mouth and getting high on the taste of our wonder.

When the doors start to close, I thrust my arm out to interrupt them. The action shifts our balance, has us tumbling against the open doors. Still, I hold her tight, tongue coiling around hers where I suck hard. She moans and I slurp. She bites and I groan.

"You need to get ready," she murmurs, rucking up my hoodie and shirt to splay her fingers against my abs.

"Uh-huh," I manage, nipping her throat, lapping her collarbone. "I do."

She shudders. "Stop teasing me."

It's a snarl. "You first."

I regret the words the instant they leave my mouth. Should have known better than to challenge her. Reece withdraws, more than a little flushed. Her eyes are hooded, pupils blown. Color stains high in her cheeks where she pants.

"You are a vision." My gravely tone is a shock, even to me.

She regains a bit of her composure. "And you're late."

I thrust the elevator doors back open again. "Let me walk you to your room."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Reece grins petulantly.

"Why?"

"Because you have a game to play and," she bites her lip, does that thing where she peers up at me under lashes and slays me. "I'm not sure I could control myself."

Fuckkkk.

"Woman." I hiss. "You're trying to kill me."

Reece ducks under my arm and out into the hallway. Smirking, she sashays away. "Give 'em hell tonight. Try not to get pucked."

"I'll try," I groan after her and slide back into the elevator. As the doors close, I realize I'll need to take the world's coldest shower before heading to the rink.