“I can’t believe you’re just telling me this now.”

“It isn’t personal. I don’t talk about this kind of thing.”

He waves the comment away. “Yeah, yeah. I know, just . . . wow. I can’t believe you’ve been hanging on to that for this long. So what’s going on with you now? Clearly not nothing, since you’ve been spending time with her.”

“I told her I wanted to date her, but Jake made it clear he doesn’t want her getting involved with the players, so like I said, we’re keeping it platonic.”

He blows out a breath. “And you think it’s gonna stay that way?”

“Unless Jake changes his mind, it’ll have to. Besides, he asked me today to keep an eye on her.”

“Why would he ask you to do that?”

“Because we’ve been spending time together, and he trusts me, I guess.”

Bishop snorts. “Looks like that trust is misplaced, huh?”

I run my hand down my face. “If I’d known who she was, I never would’ve brought her home with me. I don’t even do that in the first place. I’m trying to keep a level head here, but it sure hasn’t been easy.”

“Because you feel guilty?”

“Sort of. Yeah. No. I don’t know.”

“That’s a yes.” Bishop crosses the room and flops down on a chair. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I brought a random woman home with me while we were both under the influence of alcohol. It could’ve gone incredibly wrong.”

Bishop gives me a look. “King, you’re the most conscientious person I know. Your moral compass is always pointed due north. I’m sure you asked about four hundred thousand times if she was okay with what was happening, and based on how you two can’t seem to stay away from each other, I’m guessing she sure as hell wouldn’t mind if it kept happening.”

“But it can’t.”

“But you would like it to.”

“What I want is irrelevant, since Jake has already laid the rules down.”

Bishop drops his head back, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. “Oh, come the fuck on, King. You’re a problem solver. Solve the fucking problem.”

I throw my hands up in the air. Annoyed. “The only solution is to stay away from her, and I can’t.”

Bishop snorts. “Get permission to date her.”

“But—”

He holds up a hand. “I know what Jake said, but you’re like the poster boy for freaking wholesome. If there’s anyone he’d be okay with his daughter dating, it’s you.”

“Not if he knew what happened between us already.” Or all the very wrong things I’d like to do with and to his daughter.

Bishop smirks. “As long as you don’t confess all your sins to him, I think you’ll be fine, King.”

“Yeah, right.” That’s easy for him to say. In all the years Jessica and I were together, I never wanted her the way I want Queenie. For a while I wondered if it was in part because Queenie’s supposed to be forbidden or because we have insane chemistry. But no matter how much time I spend with her, I still have to constantly remind myself to stay in check.

The conversation comes to an abrupt end when my alarm goes off, signaling that we have ice time. It means I’ll have to wait until later to unpack, which I don’t love, but I don’t really have a choice. Queenie doesn’t come to the arena with us. She also isn’t around afterward when we hit the restaurant for dinner.

When we get back, Bishop heads up to the room so he can call Stevie, and I hang out with some of the other guys on the team so he can have a little privacy. Jake and Alex disappeared together after ice time, and Queenie is still nowhere to be seen.

I’m usually in bed by ten unless we have a late game, and I always get a solid eight hours of sleep, especially the night before a game, so when I get the all clear from Bishop, I head up to our room.

As I arrive at our floor, the elevator directly across from me opens, and Queenie steps into the hall. She’s wearing a pair of flip-flops, yoga pants, and a fitted shirt, layered with a zip-up hoodie. Her hair is pulled up in a ponytail, she’s laden down with several bags, and she’s holding a takeout cup.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you since we got off the plane.”

“I had to run some errands.” She tries to brush past me but loses her grip on her key card.

I bend to pick it up, and when I try to hand it back, I notice that her eyes are red. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just clumsy.”

And snippy apparently. “Can I help you carry anything to your room? I didn’t realize you were on this floor too.” Although maybe that was planned, since I’m supposed to be watching out for her and all, per my conversation with Jake.