Chapter 4 Meet the team

Dean

“Get the hell off me.”

I shoved Lucius away hard enough that he took a step backward. “Just fuck off.”

For a moment, neither of us moved. The amusement had vanished from his face. His eyes narrowed slightly, watching me with that unnerving intensity that made my skin crawl.

God, I hated the way he looked at me.

Not because it was cruel, but because it wasn’t. It was observant, patient. As if he could peel back every layer I spent years building and see exactly what was underneath, and I couldn’t think of anything more terrifying.

Before he could say another word, I turned and stormed out of the bathroom.

I barely made it three steps before colliding with a solid body.

“Whoa.”

Strong hands caught my shoulders.

“Watch it—Morgan?”

My stomach immediately sank. “Cole.”

The grin that spread across his face told me my evening had somehow gotten worse.

“Now that’s interesting.” His gaze drifted past me toward the bathroom door. “What exactly are you doing lurking around outside a bathroom?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.” I repeated, my voice sharp. 

“Right.” His smirk widened. It was clear as day he wasn’t buying my bullshit, especially when his eyes lit up with realization.

“Oh my God.”

“What?”

“Is Penny in there?”

I nearly choked. “No. Of course not.”

“Seriously?” He barked out a laugh. “Morgan, you dog.”

“That’s not-”

“Meanwhile the rest of us are stuck making small talk with sponsors and you’re sneaking off with your date.”

This was getting worse by the minute. Why did I have to run into Cole of all people. He was the closest thing I had to a friend on the team, but he was nosy as hell. “It’s not like that.”

“What is it like?”

I opened my mouth and nothing came out. Unfortunately, that was the exact moment the bathroom door opened. It felt like my soul was leaving my body as Lucius stepped into the hallway looking infuriatingly composed.

His suit and hair looked perfect, and His expression was perfectly calm.

Unlike me, who was one minor inconvenience away from a complete nervous breakdown.

Cole blinked, Then blinked again, His eyes bouncing between us. “What the hell?”

Before I could think of a response, Lucius stepped forward. “Lucius Kemper.”

His smile was easy and confident. “You must be Cole Bennett.”

I was sure I wore the same expression of shock as Cole. The fact that Lucius knew exactly who he was didn’t seem to help matters. If anything, it made them worse.

Cole shook his hand slowly. “You know who I am?”

“I make it a point to know the important people in Dean’s life.”

I nearly swallowed my tongue at that response. He had really done his assignment and was playing the right cards, but somehow, instead of making me feel relieved, it made me irritated. 

Cole’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. “Oh?”

Lucius glanced at me and His smile kicked up a notch. The bastard knew exactly what he was doing.

“So,” Cole said slowly. “You’re Dean’s…”

“Friend.”

The word exploded out of my mouth, and both men looked at me.I could feel sweat forming at the back of my neck. Was it hot in here or what? 

“A friend?” Cole repeated, one eyebrow climbing up. 

“Yes.” My voice was uncharacteristically sharp. 

“What happened to Penny?” he asked.

I froze. “Excuse me?”

“Penny Spencer.” He clarified, crossing his arms. “The woman you’ve supposedly been dating.”

“Oh.” Brilliant response, Dean. I thought to myself. 

Lucius cleared his throat. “Dean was just telling me about how much he enjoys being interrogated.”

I shot him a grateful look and Cole snorted. Before he could ask another question, Lucius smoothly slipped an arm through mine, a move that felt too natural.

Effortless like he had been doing it for years. My pulse drummed at the feel of his shoulders pressed up against mine. 

“Why don’t we go meet the rest of the team?” he suggested before glancing over at Cole. “You should come too.”

The invitation was polite, but somehow it felt less like a suggestion and more like a command. A minute later we were heading back toward the ballroom.

“You saved me.”

Lucius didn’t look at me. “You made that surprisingly difficult.”

“I panicked.” Was my defensive response. 

There was a pause, before he replied in a dry voice. “I noticed. A colonoscopy would have been preferable to that painful conversation.”

I glared at him, but he looked too pleased with himself for me to be truly annoyed. 

“You need to stop acting like this is funny. This might be a game to you, but this is my life, Lucius.”

His steps faltered and he snorted. “Yeah? It’s my life too, newsflash.”

Before I could respond, I spotted a group of familiar faces approaching. My heart immediately sank.

“Fuck no.”

“What?”

“We’ve got incoming.”

Lucius followed my gaze to where a small army of teammates was heading directly toward us. And leading the charge was Asher; my least favorite person on the team. 

I briefly considered faking a medical emergency.

“Ready?” Lucius asked.

“No.”

“Captain!” Dmitri’s booming voice carried across the ballroom.

The giant defenseman looked like he could wrestle a bear for fun.

“I hear you have exciting weekend.”

“Dmitri means embarrassing weekend,” another teammate corrected.

“Same thing.”

The group reached us and every eye immediately landed on Lucius. I felt trapped. 

“Who is this?” Asher asked with a sharp grin. 

His too interested look was exactly the expression I didn’t want him wearing.

I opened my mouth, and nothing came out. All the words went flying out my head. I couldn’t even remember my own name. 

For some reason introducing Lucius suddenly felt impossible.

Clearing my throat, I tried again. “This is Lucius.”

“Lucius who?” Asher asked.

“Lucius Kemper.”

“How do you know him?” He fired the next question, amusement dancing in his eyes. 

I hesitated and from the uncomfortable glances the guys were exchanging, they had noticed. 

“We met through Hawke.”

“Why?”

“Because—” I stopped.

The truth wasn’t exactly an option, and my brain desperately searched for alternatives. Unfortunately, it found several. Each alternative was worse than the last. So I blurted out the first word that came to my head. “Business.”

The silence that followed was immediate.

“Business?” Asher repeated.

“Yes.”

“What kind of business?”

“Regular business.”

“Hunh.” He drawled. That single syllable carried more weight than any other thing he could have said. 

My tie suddenly felt like it was a noose tightening around my neck. I couldn’t draw enough oxygen into my lungs and I could feel myself spiraling.

This wasn’t a goddamn CIA interrogation, so why did it feel like I was on the hot seat. Thankfully, Lucius stepped in.

“Dean means that we’ve been discussing a potential partnership opportunity.”

Every head turned toward him, and the atmosphere shifted immediately. Unlike me, Lucius sounded like a person who knew what he was saying.

“As part of those discussions, we’ve spent some time together. So we’re friends… and potential partners.” His response was simple and straightforward, but left enough room for our relationship to be interpreted as something else. 

I could have kissed him. The thought arrived uninvited and I shoved it away immediately. Where the hell had that come from? 

Asher folded his arms.

“Huh.” Cole looked between us, even more suspicious than before. 

Instead of dwelling on it though, he changed the topic. “What happened on Saturday? Because one minute Dean was judging everybody for drinking.”

“I was not.” I scoffed 

“And then,” Cole continued, ignoring me, “he vanished.”

“And got completely wasted,” Asher added.

Dmitri laughed loudly. “Best thing I ever see.”

I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Can we not?”

“No.” The answer came from four different teammates.

Traitors.

Asher watched the exchange closely, eyes narrowing slightly. Then a slow grin appeared, one that immediately made me nervous.

“So.” He drawled. 

I stiffened. 

“You two spend a lot of time together?”

“No.”

“Yes,” Lucius said at the same time.

I stared at him and he stared back, eyebrows raised up with a silent question. 

“As I was saying,” Lucius continued smoothly, “our schedules have overlapped quite a bit recently.”

“Right.” Asher’s grin widened.

The conversation drifted toward hockey before Asher could dig deeper. And I was grateful for it. Hockey was a safe conversation, unlike whatever was going on between Luc and I. 

We talked shop for a while, training schedules, travel plans and upcoming games. I finally started to relax, assuming the worst was over.

Then Lucius casually reached over and adjusted my tie.

The room went silent. I didn’t need to look up to know that every single eye was on us. I could feel their questions like blades against my skin. Dmitri was the only one who looked delighted.

Cole looked suspicious, and Asher looked like he’d just discovered a gold mine. The grin stretching across his face was positively evil.

“Oh, this is fantastic.” Asher clasped his hands together in front of him dramatically. 

I sighed.

Around us, several teammates were already trying -and failing -not to laugh. Asher looked directly at the group. Then jerked his thumb toward me.

“Don’t bother asking Dean about next week’s game.”

My stomach dropped. “Asher—”

“I bet his boy toy is the only thing on his mind right now.”

The explosion of laughter that followed nearly blew the roof off the ballroom.

And standing beside me, Lucius had gone statue still.