I’d always been a player on and off the field, but Coach had effectively clipped my wings. Even if he hadn’t, my attraction to Geneva made it hard to be interested in anyone else. This was new territory for me. While out with the guys, I’d single out certain women to take home that night, but I’d never had a problem selecting a backup if my first choice didn’t pan out—which seldom happened. Not to sound conceited, but the ladies really dug my tall, dark looks and green eyes. Having a ripped body didn’t hurt.

But Geneva… She was an anomaly. She was hot for me, but she refused to do anything about it. I understood the issue with her brother and her inherent mistrust of me and my actions, but we were only talking sex. No one else needed to know about it but us.

Entertaining the notion of having sex with Geneva was a departure from my earlier pledge to steer clear of my teammate’s sister, but watching her napping on the plane had gotten me harder than watching exotic dancers at a Vegas strip club. I’d never been good at walking away from something I wanted, and I wanted this woman in the worst way, perhaps because she was the one woman I shouldn’t want.

The waitress returned with my beer, and I noticed with amusement her blouse had been unbuttoned another button. “Could I get you anything else?” She reached out and ran a fingernail down my arm.

“Did you want to order something to eat?” I asked Geneva, forcing the waitress’s attention to her.

“Uh, yeah.” She blinked at me as if she’d just woken from a trance. “I’ll just have a burger and fries.”

The waitress nodded and sauntered off, ass swinging to and fro for my benefit. I sighed, oddly tired of this game.

“Do women always behave like that around you?”

“Yeah, it goes with the territory of being a hockey player.”

“Did my sister-in-law come on to you like that?”

I contemplated the correct answer to such a question and decided on honesty. “It was mutual. The team wasn’t returning from their road trip until early the next day, so I was on my own. I didn’t see any harm in a little fun. What a fucking mistake that was.”

“You’re not her first, you know.”

“I’ve heard the rumors.”

“My brother’s been in denial for years, but I doubt that woman was faithful on her wedding night. This past year, they had an agreement. He knew she was messing around, but he didn’t want the kids to be raised without a mother like we were. He felt even a bad mother was better than no mother.”

I held back what I really wanted to say about bad mothers. “That’s sad for Jock and his kids.”

“It is.”

“So, you believe that I didn’t know she was married?”

“Not sure why, but I might.” She’d thrown me a bone, and like the horndog I was, I grabbed it and gnawed on it.