Dirty Hit

Chapter 17: Hayden

Hayden

Sweat burns my eyes as I watch Saint cross-check the fuck out of #88, clearing a path for Archie to score the winning goal. The crowd goes wild and we're up by one point in the last few seconds of the game.

As the clock ticks down, I'm on my feet with everyone else, cheering and screaming as the final buzzer sounds. Another fucking W, baby.

We're all exhausted and sore, but it feels so fucking good to beat Vancouver like this. Especially when they were giving us shit for playing dirty. The refs missed most of our shots, so whatever. As long as the refs don't see it, it's legal in my eyes. We're here to win and if they don't like it, they can get in line with all the rest of our haters.

I grab a quick shower before heading back into the locker room to change, ignoring Roman's glare as we pack up our gear and I change back into my suit. He's pissed that we won and we did it without him. He had three giveaways because he's a garbage player and without the entire team feeding his ego, he's feeling butthurt.

Too damn bad.

This is my team now.

I warned him I'd take it from him, and tonight was step one. I'd just proven to the guys who wanted to listen that my methods work. They're not pretty, but they get the job done. Now it's only a matter of time before the rest of the guys get curious. Seattle has something Atlanta never did---a hunger. A desperation to win that matches my own.

As we head out of the arena toward our cars, I'm feeling good.

"You coming out to celebrate with us?" Arch asks, throwing his arm over my shoulders. Decker, Torin, and Saint pile on until I stumble and laugh, shoving him off.

"Where?"

"Where else, dude?" Saint asks. "The Sin Bin."

I nod and grin at him as we all pile into our cars and head toward Cassidy's bar. She better have watched me tonight, or I'll have to punish her. My dick chubs up in anticipation. I don't know which way I want it to go, but shit I'm obsessed with this girl.

When we walk into the bar, the place is packed and there's already a line of groupies waiting for us at the bar. I ignore them and walk straight up to my girl, leaning over the counter and grinning at her like we didn't just win a game that put Seattle in the wildcard spot for the playoffs. We still have a lot of season to go, but it's fucking exciting.

Cassidy rolls her eyes at me and hands me a beer, ignoring me as she goes back to work. But she's not getting off that easy. Not when I'm feeling like this. I grab her hand and pull her over the counter, ignoring her squeal as I kiss her hard and deep, making sure everyone here knows who she belongs with.

She shoves me back, but I don't miss the way her lips curl into a smile before she turns away from me.

"Did you watch?" I ask, sliding onto one of the stools right in the middle of the bar. No way is she hiding from me tonight.

She nods and leans forward on the counter, giving me an eyeful of her tits in that tight shirt. Fuck, I want to bury my face between them and never come up for air. "I did. You played dirty as hell." Her gaze flicks back to my teammates' usual spot in the back. "And so did they." Her eyes find me again. "You're a bad influence."

I grin at her and take a sip of my beer. "You know it, Princess. And don't even try to deny that you like it."

"I don't like it," she argues, but I can see right through her bullshit. She's not fooling anyone.

I lean forward until our lips are inches apart and whisper, "You're lying again, Princess."

She shivers and I can't help myself from reaching up and brushing my thumb across her cheek. She leans into it for a second before pulling away and turning around to grab someone else's order.

Fuck, I want her so bad I can barely think straight.

When she turns back, our eyes lock and the air damn near ignites between us. She bites her lip and I'm ready to throw her over my shoulder and carry her out of here when the door opens and whoever walks in steals Cassidy's attention from me. Her eyes narrow into slits as she tries to murder whoever it is with a look.

The feeling is very much the same in me as I'm ready to go off on whoever it is, this possessive rage rising up in me like a tidal wave. But when I turn to see who it is, that tidal wave turns into a national fucking disaster.

It's Cosette.

She smirks at us and saunters up to the bar, sliding onto a stool next to me and trying to catch Cassidy's attention to order a drink, but my girl's ignoring the fuck out of her. I almost laugh. Eventually, the conniving little bitch turns to me. "Hayden, isn't it?" She leans forward, giving me a view down her shirt that I don't want. "I don't think we were properly introduced the last time we crossed paths. I'm Cassidy's sister, Cosette."

I glare at her and turn away, shifting to put distance between us. "You should probably fuck off before you get hurt." I keep my voice low and threatening.

But she just laughs. "So charming."

I'm ready to knock her the fuck out, but I remind myself that I don't hit women. Before I can grab her by the hair and throw her out the door, she stands up and walks away from the bar toward Roman who's sitting in the back with Torin and Gabe. He looks like he wants to murder me as he watches me watch them.

I flip him off.

Cassidy's voice interrupts my Roman death fantasies. "I hate her so much," she mutters, narrowed eyes pointed toward the back of her bar when they should be on me.

I move off of the stool and walk around the bar, grabbing Cassidy's hand and lacing our fingers together. "What are you doing?"

"We need to talk," I tell her, pulling her with me and not letting her go when she tries to yank her hand free. I nod at Lila who mouths I've got this, and I move back around the bar. I sit back on my stool and kick the one beside it out, gesturing for Cassidy to sit. "Tell me how you plan to deal with her." There's no need to clarify who the her I'm talking about is.

Cassidy sighs and sits down, looking exhausted all of a sudden. "I don't know. I have to find a lawyer and figure out if she has any legal claim to my bar or if she's just messing with me. Not that I have the money for any of this crap."

"I'll help you," I say, reaching up and tucking a strand of dark, silky hair behind her ear. She blinks at me like she can't believe what I just said. "I mean it, Cassidy. You're not in this alone."

She shakes her head and her eyes go distant before settling back on me only now they're harder with maybe a little bit of sadness. I want to know who the fuck put that there. "I can't let you do that."

I lean forward and cup her face with both hands, letting my fingers tangle in her hair and using my thumb to tilt her chin up, making sure she's listening to me. "I'm not asking for permission."

Her eyes narrow but she doesn't pull away from me. She's so fucking stubborn. She chews on her bottom lip and I can't help but stare. "Do you have a lawyer? Maybe you could just ask them for a referral for someone to help me?"

I want to demand she let me handle it, but her body language is screaming defensive. No way will she let me take over the way I want, which means I need to do it without her knowing. "Yeah, I'll talk to him," I say, brushing my lips against hers before pulling back and letting her go, knowing if I don't stop touching her, I'll never stop. I'll do more than talk to him. I'll get him to do whatever needs to be done to get Cosette to back the hell off. "You're going to win this."

She smiles at me and it's so fucking beautiful that my chest aches in a way I didn't know was possible. "I know." She stands up and goes back to work, leaving me sitting here with the taste of her on my lips and my eyes glued to the body I want underneath me at all times.

She has no idea the lengths I'm willing to go to keep her safe and happy. And she never will.

I'll do whatever it takes to protect what's mine, and she can deny it all the wants but that's exactly what Cassidy Bennett is.

Mine.