Rinkmates: A steamy Hockey Romance (The Mates series Book 1)

I sit next to Ethan, watching Liora work through each line of the contract with surgical precision, crossing out words and rephrasing clauses. Nina types away on her laptop, fixing five typos that I couldn’t help but smirk at every time she found one. With each correction, Ethan’s ego deflates like a popped balloon, making him sink further into the couch next to me. Oh, and he’s such an angry grumbler.

“Look at you, getting your ass handed to you,” I tease, raising my beer in a mock salute.

Ethan grunts, clearly not in the mood for my jokes. He takes a long sip from his beer. “I’ve had a long day. All I want is to go home.”

“To your cats?”

“Purrcasso and Moire need me,” he replies defensively.

“Sure they do,” I say, winking. This guy seriously needs a hobby. All he has is me and his cats, and I’m a full-time headache. I think he even said I’m his human migraine once.

“We need to add several things,” Liora says.

I’ve never bothered to read the contract, but Liora’s got it handled. I wonder why she stopped pursuing law; she’s a natural.

“Are you guys finished or what?” Ethan says, slumping even further into the couch.

I nudge him with my elbow. “Cut it, man.”

“Look at you, suddenly caring for someone.”

“Hey, this is my chance of a lifetime, remember?”

“It is…”

Liora stands up, the bar stool screeching as she turns. She saunters over, sitting on the chair opposite from me and Ethan, with Nina grinning proudly behind her.

“We changed a few things,” Liora announces. “I found some issues.”

“Which are?” Ethan asks, his piercing blue eyes locked in a fierce stare down with Liora. I wish I had popcorn.

“Well, I changed some wording, but the legal framework remains intact. Do you need me to read it aloud for you?” she offers, a hint of a challenge in her voice.

Nina and I both suppress a chuckle.

“No. Thank you,” Ethan grunts out.

“Good,” Liora continues. “Let’s review the added rules. Both parties agree to no nudity in the apartment.”

I cough at her wording. “No what? I hate shirts.”

“No nudity,” she repeats. “We need to wear at least a shirt and shorts. This is a professional environment, nothing sketchy.”

“Afraid of my muscles?” I lean in, teasing.

“No,” she retorts, meeting my gaze head-on. “But I want this to be a professional setting.”

“Fine. What’s next?”

“No bringing people over. It could harm our image.”

“Agreed,” I say, though the thought of a sex drought is painful. Guess it’ll just be me and my right hand for a while.

“I clarified the PDA in private part as well. There’s no physical contact in private,” she continues.

“At all?”

“At all. Including private kisses.”

I recline, resting my hands behind my head as I gaze at her. I notice my shirt rising up, and she glances at the skin revealed above my sweatpants before quickly glancing away again.

“But we need to practice,” I say. “Does that count as breaking the rule?”

Her cheeks go pink. She’s so cute.

“No. But anything that could mess with one party’s emotional attachment does.”

“Got it. No messing with emotions.” What if she’s already messing around with mine?

“Right.”

“What else?”

“This contract lasts six months. Once the show is done, I can move out without any further costs.”

“Agreed.”

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“And?”

The top of her cheeks are still flushed and she won’t meet my eyes.

“No sex,” she says.

I huff out a laugh. “You already mentioned that. Worried I’m going to host sex parties or something?”

“No.” The way her nostrils flare. “I mean between you and me.”

Oh. “Sex, between you and me?” I sit up straight again and adjust myself as secretly as I can. Shit. Just the thought of it.

“Yeah, no sex.”

Fuck. Did I give myself away? Did I ogle her too obviously? “What makes you think I’d want that?”

Her eyes flicker, as if I said something unexpected. “I just want to be clear. No sex between us.”

“And what if you want to? Can’t have you going to jail for lusting after me.”

She grunts, and I hear Ethan muttering something about why he had to end up with me as a client.

Liora’s eyes narrow to slits. “No. Sex.”

Oh, she’s firm. “Okay, okay.”

“Can we please wrap this up?” Ethan sighs, raking a hand through his hair.

“I think it’s getting interesting,” Nina jokes, watching Liora and me closely.

“We have to talk about what happens if we mess with the rules,” Liora says.

“Isn’t it stated in the contract that if one party messes it up, the charade is over?” I say.

Liora nods.

“Okay.” I point at Nina. “Please add that if that happens, I want to make sure she has a place to stay until her show finishes.”

“Oh yeah,” Nina says and starts typing away on her laptop.

“No, that is not necessary—”

“It is.” I don’t want her having to go back to that tiny apartment, or landing somewhere worse.

“Is it over now?” Ethan says.

“Thank you.” Liora’s cheeks all heated again. “And yeah, I think I got it all covered now. Let’s sign so he can feed his cats,” Liora says, earning a giggle from Nina.

Nina prints out the revised contracts and hands one to Liora and one to me, along with pens. I sign mine quickly, but Liora reads through hers again, making Ethan groan about having the worst job in the world.