Page 31 of Game Misconduct

He looked too big for the chair, and it made Tanner smile.

Matt Carlson was fucking hot. With big arms and a soft smile. Dark hair, dark beard, dark eyes. Ass that wouldn’tquit. Unfortunately, Tanner couldn’t enjoy it at the moment since Matty was sitting.

Oh well, there was always the shower later.

“Okay, guys,” the team’s general manager, Pat Fleming, said, clearing his throat to get their attention. “Now that we’re allhere, I want to officially welcome you to Toronto, to Team USA, and to the North Atlantic Tournament.”

Fleming said that like they hadn’t already gotten phone calls, emails, and entire welcome packets the other day. He was the current GM for the Toronto Fisher Cats, so he already knew a bunch of the guys in the room too.

But whatever. Tanner supposed he had to saysomething.

Tanner did his best to focus as Fleming talked about the team, the tournament, and what they were trying to achieve.

Winning, duh,Tanner thought, trying to keep his leg from jiggling. God, he just wanted to get out on the ice and see what they coulddotogether.

His mind wandered as the guy blathered on.

Last night had been unexpectedly fun. Leif had been his usual annoying self, but the sex had been great. Of course, after sex and cuddling, Leif tried to kick him out of his room.Rude!

They’d argued about that, then wound up making out. It had gotten a little heated and Tanner had somehow ended up pinned against the dresser, knocking a bunch of shit onto the floor. In the chaos, Tanner was pretty sure he’d ended up with an extra key card that belonged to Leif.

The hot lady at the front desk had given him two cards at check-in. He assumed they gave them to everyone but since he wasalwayslosing his cards or demagnetizing them with his cell phone, that was great.

But last night, after he left Leif’s room, he’d been super confused when he got to his own door and the card in his hand hadn’t opened it. At first, he’d assumed maybe he’d done thedemagnetizing thing when he stuffed his phone and card in the pocket of his pajamas, before it hit him that maybe he’d scooped upLeif’scard from the floor.

He’d knocked on Leif’s door again, planning to ask him about it, but Leif had completely ignored him.Also rude.

Of course, when Tanner had reached into his pocket to grab his phone to text him and let him know why he was knocking, he’d remembered he didn’t actuallyhaveLeif’s phone number. He’d also discovered a second key card in his pocket.

With a shrug, Tanner had gone back to his room and, somehow, despite being pressed to his phone, that second card had worked to open the door.

He’d gone in and flopped down on the bed, landing on top of athirdkey card.Oops.So, yeah, he was about ninety-three-percent sure he’d stolen one of Leif’s cards.

Tanner had gone to bed, figuring he’d worry about it today, but he’d spent the morning loitering around the lobby, trying to find Leif so he could return his card.

But each team had separate breakfast rooms—honestly, Tanner wasn’t sure why he’d ended up in a room next to Leif anyway, since most of the guys from Team USA were on the floor below—so, other than a quick glimpse of Leif as he crossed the lobby to get on the bus to the practice facility, Tanner hadn’t seen him at all.

He’d been surrounded by the other Nordic guys, so Tanner hadn’t wanted to bug him. Or, like, explain why he’d been in Leif’s room.

“Clayton! Did you hear what I just said?” Pat Fleming called out.

“Uhh.” Tanner darted a glance at Matty, panicked.

“They’re trying us out on the top pair together against the Nordic team,” Matty whispered as he bent down, pretending he was itching his ankle.

“Yes, sir,” Tanner said. “I’m excited to be on the top pair with Carlson! We won’t let you down.”

Fleming’s stern expression softened a fraction. “Glad to hear it. You think you can hold your own against Rasmussen?”

“Absolutely, sir!” Tanner said. “We’re ready to kick his ass.”

Fleming snorted. “I’m not looking for a brawl, Clayton. I want you to draw penalties on him. I’ve seen what you do to rile him up during games. I need you to do that here. He’s likely to be the Nordic team’s top scorer and we need him shut down and taken out of commission.”

“On it!” Tanner said, sitting up straight and giving him a cheeky salute. “One pest, at your service.”

Fleming cracked a smile. “God help us.”

The meeting went on, with other people yammering away, and Tanner dug his nails into his palms. Sometimes the stinging discomfort helped him focus.