Crushed Ice (Hockey Ever After) by Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James

Author:Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James [Kane, Ashlyn & James, Morgan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2024-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

IT DIDN’T matter how much sleep Liam got. He was never going to be a morning person. But he had been blessed with the ability to catch five minutes of sleep just about anywhere, including in his car before practice and in crowded airport terminals—not that he had to deal with many of those these days since the team chartered a private plane.

Of course, the ability wasn’t always a blessing.

A sharp elbow poked him in his bruised ribs. “Dude, wake up. You’re drooling on me.”

Liam flinched and sat up so quickly his neck twinged. His chin was wet too, so Hughesy hadn’t been exaggerating. He wiped a hand over his face and grimaced. “Sorry.”

“S’okay.” He looked at the damp spot on his shoulder and then shrugged it. “Uh, so like, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve got some cortisone cream in my bag if you want to use it.”

Did cortisone cream prevent drooling? “Uh?” Liam’s brain hadn’t woken up all the way.

Hughesy pointedly rubbed his thumb over his jaw line. When Liam automatically raised his hand to do the same, he got it.

Russ’s beard had felt amazing on his skin last night, but this morning his skin was objecting with raised bumps that were probably red and irritated-looking. A little sore too.

“Sometimes I forget I can’t use, like, anybody else’s soap,” Hughesy said. “’Cause my skin will try to peel off my body.” He paused for what felt like an unnaturally long time until Liam realized Hughesy was giving him the opportunity to claim he also had bad reactions to cleansing products. “So I always have cortisone, in case.”

That was sweet of him. “Thanks, man, yeah, I should probably take care of that.” Before someone else on this team puts Russ’s beard and my beard burn together.

Hughesy dug the tube out of his carry-on, and Liam smeared cream on his face, then used the selfie camera on his phone to make sure he’d rubbed everything in. “Thanks again.”

“It’s cool.” He zipped the pocket back up, then looked over, a little shyly. “Us new guys have to stick together.”

Liam didn’t hate that idea, especially if Hughesy was going to save him from embarrassing himself. “Exactly. And I gotta at least try to look respectable tomorrow.”

“I dunno,” Hughesy said dubiously. “I don’t think I have enough cortisone for that.”

Liam shoulder-checked him, but he was grinning. He’d never had a little brother. This year was just full of new experiences. “Asshole.”

“Nah, you love me.” Hughesy mugged. “You got someone important coming to tomorrow’s game? Although I guess not if you’ve got, you know.” He drew a wide circle around his own mouth, like someone applying clown makeup. Shit, so he did know it was beard burn. Liam’s ears went hot.

“Shut up. My sister, yeah. She’s in town for work.” She’d even texted him to ask if he wanted to meet up before the game, because she was going to be in Nashville and wanted to support him. Liam was still bewildered that he hadn’t had to ask.

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