Icing On The Date (The Bannister Brothers #1) Read Online Free

little brother out.
    The brother who made her laugh, made her crazy and had always told her to be careful what you wish for.

 
    Chapter Two
     
    A bolt of pain shot through his head at the sound of the crack as Owen drew his stick across the ice and shot the puck at the goal. And missed.
    Figured.
    This was how his whole morning had gone.
    He thought punishing himself by hitting the ice and getting in an extra practice would be good penance for his actions of the night before. But only a few guys from the team were skating this morning and being in the hockey rink wasn’t working its usual magic.
    All it was doing was making his hangover worse and contributing to his overall grouchiness.
    He’d woken up with a pounding headache and dried frosting clumped in his hair. Rolling out of bed, he’d groaned at the memory of what a fool he’d made of himself the night before.
    It wasn’t all completely clear, but he had vague memories of being dragged into the women’s restroom by a blonde named Brittany—or was it Bridget?—didn’t matter—he’d never see her again. She was expecting a party, but all he’d felt like was a party pooper. Which was unusual for him.
    He just wasn’t interested in what she had to offer—which was also unusual. Because she had plenty to offer.
    But last night, the only party he’d been interested in was a pity party—for himself. All he’d wanted to do was drown his sorrows with too many shots and try to forget the last few days.
    The last few days when he’d screwed everything up. For himself. And his brother.
    He didn’t drink very often. The sport—and his coach—didn’t put up with excessive drinking or partying. And he’d been taking pretty good care of himself lately, eating clean, working out more, and keeping the parties and the alcohol in check.
    Until last night.
    Although it could have been worse. He could have done more damage if Bane hadn’t shown up and gotten him home. As the oldest brother, Bane had always been there when he got into trouble—which was often.
    But now—thanks to him—Bane wouldn’t be around anymore to get him out of scrapes or even to just go grab a beer with.
    He cursed his own stupidity again as he skated off the ice. He needed a hard workout and a shower. Then he needed to begin to make amends for his actions the night before.
    Bane would be easy. He could take him a pizza, and Bane would forgive him for getting his butt out of bed in the middle of the night to drag him home.
    But his second task might be a little harder.
    He might not remember everything about the night before, but he remembered the woman who had helped him. His angel. The one who was responsible for the frosting behind his ear. The one who smelled like chocolate and had a halo of long, toffee-colored, curly hair.
    The one who looked like an angel but had devilish thoughts running through his head.
    And the one he’d kissed.
    That part of the evening he remembered.
    And in clear detail. Clear, mind-blowing, hot-as-hell detail.
    He didn’t know what in the heck had possessed him to kiss her. And he didn’t know why kissing her had seemed different. Special.
    It wasn’t like he hadn’t kissed random women that he’d just met before. That was kind of his M.O. And he was sure that was what Bridget/Brittany was expecting last night.
    But kissing Gabby was different. She was different.
    Even in the brief time he’d spent with her, he knew she was different than the usual Barbies that threw themselves at him whenever he went out. The ones who were interested in being seen on the arm of a NHL player and hoping to get their picture in the press.
    Gabby hadn’t thrown herself at him at all. Not even a small toss.
    In fact, she’d acted like she had no idea who he was. Like she hadn’t seen all the recent articles about his reckless behavior—the philandering, the womanizing, and the way he carelessly spent money.
    She’d treated him like he was just a regular guy. Had