Page 5 of The Defenseman

3

Alexa

The fact that Eric agreed to help her was enough to exhilarate her and make her nervous at the same time. Eric had a knack for creating conflicting emotions, especially in her. Alexa had met him three years ago when she was just twenty-one and he was twenty-eight. He reminded her of a Viking in casual clothes—he was tall, definitely six foot four at the least, with muscles on muscles but not in an overwhelming way. If anything, there was a leanness about him, but he wasn't skinny. When he checked someone into the boards or knocked someone down, their bones rattled. More than that, he had sky-blue eyes and sharp facial features, short blond hair that he liked to comb back from his face, and a presence that caused chills to run up and down her spine.

Eric was drop-dead gorgeous, so it made sense that he constantly had the attention of women everywhere. A different woman was on his arm each of the few times Alexa had been invited to go out with them, and each one couldn't stop staring at him.

Alexa couldn't blame them. She couldn't stop staring at him, even being with Tim at times. He had caught her a few times as well, which mortified her to say the least. She always made an effort to avoid him if she could, because the last thing she wanted to do in front of Eric was make herself look like a fool.

Until now.

Now, Eric could help her with her problem.

Alexa sucked in a breath and glanced at the clothes in her closet. She had been to hockey games before—so many games that she had lost track of—and yet this one stumped her as to what she should wear. She refused to be those women who were on dates with guys into hockey, wearing shorts or skirts and high heels. The ice rink was freezing and she didn't understand how they even handled being in the freezing cold for three hours. She also refused to be the women that didn't try—sweatpants, loose shirt, no makeup, messy bun. She wanted to impress Eric. She wanted to show him that she could put time and effort into her appearance. That was part of seducing a guy, right? Looking a particular way?

In the end, Alexa settled on a long-sleeved shirt and tight skinny jeans. She straightened her wavy hair and put it back in a ponytail, put a Rangers cap over her head, and high tops on her feet. Her makeup was done, but not overwhelmingly so. She was a sporty woman tonight—a Rangers fan who cared about hockey and looking cute.

Honestly, Alexa didn't care, but at least she was comfortable.

She left her apartment and hopped in her car. Dan always left a ticket for her at will call no matter what. He wanted to let her know she was always welcome to the games—a gesture she greatly appreciated, even if she didn't always make it. Tim wasn't a huge hockey fan unless he had to take clients to games, and he made no secret of his lack of interest in the sport, even when Dan was with them. It was rude and Alexa was always apologizing to him on behalf of him.

"I don't want your apology," Dan would say. "I want his."

As such, Dan always made sure to only leave one ticket unless Alexa specifically requested two, in case she brought her best friend, Jude. Dan liked Jude—probably more than should be allowed considering they all grew up together and Jude was Alexa's best friend—and had no problem going out of his way to get her an extra ticket.

The drive to the arena was quick, but the wait to park was at least twenty minutes. Cars were lined up, curving around the corner. Police had to direct traffic against the lights just to ensure there wasn't an abundance of waiting cars blocking the intersections. She probably should have left earlier, but she didn't mind the wait. Hopefully by the time she did park, the lines to actually get into the arena would be smaller.

Another ten minutes of finding a spot, picking up her ticket, and going through security, and Alexa was finally hit with a sudden burst of cold as she stepped inside the building. Dan always got her the same ticket. It was on the glass, in the lower section in the middle behind the Ranger’s bench. It was one of the best seats in the house. He liked to joke that the only reason he was able to get the seat was because he was an amazing goalie and management didn't want to give him an excuse to be angry. Sometimes, Alexa could see why her brother was still single—he could be a nerd.

By the time she sat down, the national anthem just finished playing and the first line on the ice was skating around their side, warming up their muscles and calming their nerves. Alexa saw Dan standing between the pipes, head down, probably saying a small prayer the same way he did when he was a mite playing goalie at six years old. Eric was on the ice as well, on the right side.

The referee skated to the middle, and as he dropped the puck, the game began.

- - -

Alexa didn't know if it was because she had practically been raised in ice rinks or if it was because as much as she loved her father, she refused to play hockey because Eric always did, but Alexa had no desire to get on the ice herself, even though she'd had ample opportunity to do so. That meant she could barely skate. As she watched the players fly up and down the ice, pushing a rubber puck with a plastic stick, dodging bodies and other sticks, she couldn't help but be in awe of their grace, their balance, and their ability to retain the masculine ferocity of the game. This, she felt, made hockey so compelling. Ice skating was something that tended to reflect more feminine features, and yet, these men were some of the toughest people she knew, fighting, shoving, hitting, checking, and everything else to make sure the other team did not get the puck in the net.

After last night, her eyes could not help but seek out Eric whenever he hopped over the boards and landed on the ice. She did her best to make sure she wasn't staring at him while he was on the bench, since all he had to do was turn back, glance at her, and he'd realize what she was doing. Not that he would actually do that; the players typically forgot they were being watched in the first place because they were already so focused on the game. That didn't mean Alexa was willing to risk it to find out for herself.

Eric had a powerful presence on the ice. He was already tall without skates, but with them, he was three inches taller, pushing up to probably six foot seven. He wasn't the fastest skater, but he constantly pushed himself to get to the puck, to skate back, to do what needed to be done in order to prevent the other team from scoring, even if that meant taking a penalty

Somehow, the Hollywood Stars managed to get a breakaway. The puck hit the boards at an awkward angle, dropping behind the defenseman. One of the Star players—a small guy who didn't have the domineering presence but was fast on his feet—managed to skate between Eric and his defense partner and head straight for Dan.

Eric pushed himself hard. Alexa wouldn't be surprised if his thighs were screaming with pain at this point, simply because he was accelerating at such a fast pace becausee there was no other way to reach the opponent.

Except despite Eric's best efforts, he wouldn't get to him in time.

Dan came out to greet the Star, making the net look smaller. His glove hand was up, his other hand held onto the stick, and from where Alexa sat, she could see her brother's pale green eyes narrowed in concentration on the puck.

There was a very good chance the Star was going to score.

Until Eric hooked him with his stick.

The Star fell and crashed into the boards. The puck trickled safely away. The referee blew the play dead and called a penalty shot. Fans in the audience began to boo, but unfortunately, the referee made the right call. Eric had taken away a scoring opportunity by drawing a penalty; that resulted in an automatic penalty shot.

At least this time, Dan was ready for it.

The Star skated with the puck down the half-sheet of ice after the referee blew his whistle. Alexa steepled her fingers over her nose, hoping her brother would do what he normally did, and save the shot.