Page 17 of Game Misconduct

Damn it.

So Leif was it, huh? Ugh, boring. Tanner liked variety.

At least Leif was definitely gay.

He’d never made a big fuss about it, but he’d started playing in the league after Noah Boucher came out as the first queer NHL player. And in the past couple of years, Tanner had seen plenty of pictures online—on social media orJockGossip—of Leif going to events with a hot male model on his arm.

Silje Vang—Leif’s mom—was a legit former supermodel and still a total smokeshow. Not only had Leif inherited her looks, he’d inherited her talent for showing off designer clothes.

Leif had somekillersponsorship deals that ran from top gear brands to high-end fashion. He’d even walked the runway at New York Fashion Week a few times and looked stupidly hot doing it. Apparently, he picked up guys that way too.

Or maybe they were using him for the connections?

Tanner considered the idea. Nah, Leif was too smart to get used by anyone. Annoyingly, he was the total package. Gorgeous, smart,andblessed by the hockey gods.

With his parents, it was no big surprise.

Meanwhile, Tanner was just a dude from Belmont, Massachusetts, who was pretty good on the blue line. Some people had allll the damn luck.

“Yo, you want another drink?” Matty Carlson asked, digging his elbow into Tanner’s ribs. Or, more like his armpit, because he was a couple of inches taller than Tanner.

“Obviously,” Tanner said with a laugh and took a shot glass from Matty’s giant paw. He had a badonkadonk to match and everyone talked about how he had thebestone in the league. Tanner had seen that ass in the skills camp locker rooms and he had to agree.

He’d seen a lot of asses in his life and Matty’s was a masterpiece.

Matty was also a good dude too. Everyone knew that. Big and kinda mean on the ice when he played for Toronto but a marshmallow off it. He was married to a hot teacher dude and they had forty million kids or something. They seemed pretty happy, but Tanner couldnever.

Well, maybe not never. But definitely not now. No way. Marriage sounded … boring. And if there was one thing Tanner hated, it was boredom.

“You want one?” he asked, turning to Leif and holding out a shot.

“I don’t drink during the season,” Leif said flatly.

“Never?” Tanner asked, horrified.

“Rarely.”

“Well tonight’s your lucky night.” Tanner shoved the shot of—something—toward him.

Leif sneered at it. “I don’t accept drinks from you, Clayton. I remember what happened the last time I did.”

Tanner snickered, thinking about what Leif’s dick had felt like sliding into his mouth. “Yeah. Me too.”

Leif pursed his lips. “Not what I meant.”

“It’s what I meant!” Tanner said cheerfully.

“I’ll buy you a drink!” Ryan Hartinger said with a big smile as he strutted up to the table, hands in his pockets like he owned the place. “What do you want, Rassy?”

Leif pursed his lips, probably getting his panties in a bunch about the nickname. Tanner really preferred Ice Princess to Rassy, but he was pretty sure Leif hated both. It was so much fun to watch him look like he’d swallowed an extra-sour lemon every time Tanner called him that.

“White wine spritzer?” Leif said, sounding a little reluctant.

Tanner, who had just knocked back the shot Leif didn’t want, choked on it. “You drink white wine spritzers? That’s so?—”

Leif leveled him with alook. “If you say it’s girly, I will make you regret it. I drink it because it’s hydrating and also my mother’s favorite drink.”

Tanner shut his mouth before he could finish his sentence. He hadn’t been about to call it girly, but he also didn’t make fun of guy’s moms. He fucked them sometimes, but he didn’tmake funof them. He loved moms!