Gametime: A Moo U Hockey Romance, Jami Davenport [best reads txt] 📗

GametimeA Moo U Hockey Novel

Jami Davenport

This book was inspired by the True North Series written by Sarina Bowen. It is an original work that is published by Heart Eyes Press LLC.

Copyright © 2021 by Jami Davenport. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

To Lisa B. Kamps, good friend and fellow hockey romance author. Lisa had plans to write a book for Moo U when her life was cut short last fall by cancer. I miss you, Lisa, but I know you’re in a better place and keeping those angels on their toes.

To all the children of indifferent parents: I hope you find the love and validation Paxton did in this story. Hugs to those who are struggling in these tough times. My heart goes out to you.

To my faithful readers and the new ones who found me through this book: If my stories bring you comfort and joy, I will have done my job. I love you all. You’re the reason I do this.

Contents

1. Guilty by Alcohol

2. Blame

3. Damage Control

4. The Challenge

5. Regrets

6. Hired

7. In the Book Stacks

8. Confessions

9. Choices

10. Good Game

11. Cold Shoulder

12. Sized Up

13. Not so Easy

14. Pushing Through

15. Kindness Lecture

16. Goodness

17. Lost its Luster

18. Rescue

19. The Douche

20. I Believe

21. Hat Trick

22. Taking Chances

23. Sensible Flats

24. First Date

25. Sex on a Dryer

26. Busted

27. The Gift

28. Surprise Visit

29. The Undressing Room

30. The Spiral

31. Backsliding

32. Comforting Arms

33. Busted

34. Not Okay

35. Winner of the Game

36. Already Gone

37. Showdown

38. Kicking Ass

39. The Plan

40. Mischief

41. Grand Gesture

42. Pink Skates

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Acknowledgments

1

Guilty by Alcohol

Paxton

The hockey house was lit tonight. And I don’t mean by lights. By drunken hockey players—myself included.

My twin brother, Patrick, had exited long ago with two hotties on his arm. We might be identical twins in appearance, but my brother always got the girls, and I got his leftovers. He was way more gregarious and outgoing. I was the quiet, serious one.

But now the party was ending. I sat down on one of the worn, beer-stained couches and tried not to think about what else it might be stained with. It’d probably be a petri dish of… Okay, I wasn’t going there.

Being alone on a Saturday night after the first hockey game of the year was bad enough. I was a junior at Burlington University in Vermont, fondly known as Moo U by the locals and pretty much everyone else in the state.

Watching my brother revel in his hockey-team star status after a typically fantastic game brought out the ugly in me. I was jealous of him, and I hated being jealous of my brother. He was the best guy I knew and deserved all the good things in his life. Yet being the one always in his immense shadow proved more and more difficult. I played my supporting role as I always had, bolstering him in any way possible, sending the puck his way, and deflecting defensemen intent on mowing him down. That used to be enough, but this year was different. This was my year to break out. My year to establish myself.

Beer made me sleepy, and apparently, shots of whiskey made me grouchy.

I’d sworn things would be different this season. I’d have more fun, get more involved, shed my role as the smart, nerdy brother, while Patrick was the fun, partying brother.

Did I mention Patrick even had a cool nickname? The team called him Trick because he’d had a hat trick his freshman year, scoring three goals in one game. I, on the other hand, was merely known as Pax, short for Paxton. No good story there.

A blonde staggered by and spilled some of her beer on my jeans. I did a double take.

Oh, my God. Wait.

Naomi?

I blinked a few times, forcing my eyes to focus and focus they did.

That blonde was Naomi Smith, the unrequited love of my life. Naomi was petite with gray eyes that had a warmth and humor that drew me in. She’d dyed her hair blonde in the past week, rather than the caramel color I’d so loved. I wondered if the change of color had anything to do with my brother, who was currently working his way through the blondes on campus.

She wore a skintight dress showing ample cleavage. The skirt’s hem teased the bottom of her rounded ass. She teetered on these really high heels. The overall look was smoking, but so not her usual style, more the style of the females my brother preferred.

“Oops, sorry,” she said with words as slurred as mine were.

“That’s okay.” I met her gaze, and her eyes widened when she realized it was me. My heart rate sped up as a result. It was no secret that Naomi had a crush on Patrick, but he was oblivious. She and I’d been good friends since our freshman year, and I’d heard all about her pining for my twin.

She dropped down on the couch next to me, sitting way too close for comfort. “What’re you doing sitting here alone?”

“Waiting for you. I’ve been waiting for you for a lifetime.” The mass doses of alcohol I’d consumed made me bold and stupid, but I didn’t have the wherewithal to shut up before I blew my cover, and I’d blown it good this time.

She laughed, and it sounded like a siren’s song reeling me into my fate. I smiled back.

“Your dad’s a piece of work,” she noted. Not that she hadn’t experienced my dad before, but he’d taken it to a whole new level tonight.

“I know.”

“Don’t feel bad. So is my dad. He wishes I’d been born a boy, or at least a female with skating talent. He hates that I have zero athletic