Page 9 of Puck Me Harder
The sauna feels like a different world compared to the icy arena. The strong, earthy scent of cedar fills my nose, and I can already feel beads of sweat forming on my skin. The wooden walls and benches are warm and the room tranquil, except for the hiss of the stones in the corner.
“I’m saying you're special, Dakota. I’m giving you this interview because I want to spend more time with you,” Kai takes a seat next to me.
His body is an additional source of heat in the room. The heat ignites emotions and needs deep inside of me, warming me from the inside out. His thigh just barely brushes against mine. It’s the faintest point of contact, and it makes me ache for more.
“Alright,” I shift on the bench, turning to face him. “But no bullshit. I’m not here to write a puff piece.”
In the hazy heat of the sauna, my gaze drifts down to Kai’s tattoos before I meet his dark eyes again.
“I won’t twist your words, but I want something real.” I turn back to the glass, watching practice as it unfolds below us. “Why were you suspended for half of the preseason? All the officials said was that it had to do with off-the-ice conduct.”
It’s easier to talk— to think— when I don't have to meet those smoldering eyes.
“You know Sawyer?” Kai asks casually.
Not where I thought this was going, but I nod.
“Sawyer Young?” I point at the ice. “Center, face-off wizard, and team captain? Known as Captain America for his perfectionist attitude and charity work? Never heard of him.”
Kai chuckles, but there’s no humor in it.
“That’s him. His little sister graduated from A&M last year. Few of us went down to celebrate with her.” Kai’s voice is quiet, without any of his usual cocksure attitude. “We were at a karaoke bar. These two assholes cornered her and— they got handsy. You know the type.”
Kai clenches his fists, relaxing them again before looking at me.
I turn away from the glass and meet his eyes.
“I do,” I nod. “In fact, I used to think you were one of them.”
Kai shakes his head with a smile.
“Not like that. I flirt, I chase. I may even kiss a pretty girl in a locker room — but only if she’s willing.” A cloud moves behind his dark eyes. “Payton made it clear she wasn’t interested. Sawyer is a better guy than me. His first instinct was to take care of his sister— making sure she was okay. So he took care of her. And I took care of them.”
I set my notebook down, turning to watch Kai as he tells the story. When he’s finished, I reach over to place a hand on his arm.
“Why didn’t Sawyer catch a suspension too?” I ask.
“Because I wouldn’t let him. It’s one thing if bad boy Kai Mita gets suspended. People expect it of me. But Sawyer has a reputation to maintain.” Sparks of gold light up his gaze when he looks at me again. “I’m a D-man. I protect the team. It’s who I am, Ace.”
I thought Kai Mita couldn’t get any sexier. Boy, was I wrong.
We sit in comfortable silence for a moment. I stare unseeingly at the ice below, turning over his words in my mind. It’s getting harder to ignore the electric pull between me and Kai.
I turn to look at him now, unsurprised to see Kai staring back at me. Intensity snaps behind the dark fire of his eyes. Part of me wants this to be a bunch of bullshit.
Macho athletes blowing smoke up my ass is something I know how to deal with. The emotions that race through me when I look at Kai? Not so much.
Worse, I’m running out of reasons not to give in. Even knowing it’s career suicide doesn’t stop the demanding ache of my body when Kai is around.
“So,” I move quickly, before I have a chance to think it through. “You’re saying you’ll stop if I say so?”
I scramble up, swinging one leg over to straddle his thigh. I’m practically sitting in Kai’s lap, looking into those fathomless dark eyes.
It’s more than a little stupid, but I’m too far gone to stop now.
His nostrils flare as he sucks in a sharp breath. I can see and feel his body tense, the play of muscles in his chest hypnotic beneath the ink.
“I will. Nothing is as sexy as consent, Dakota,” Kai says, weaving his fingers together and putting them behind his head.