“It’s not like we haven’t heard you come before,” Lance says.

I’m about to thank him for the reminder by flipping him off, but Randy cuts in. “I hadn’t, but, uh, yeah, Waters. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up.”

“Maybe you two should compare notes,” Lily suggests with a sly grin.

He strokes his beard and narrows his eyes at Lily. “I’m not giving you what you need, luscious?”

Violet wriggles out of my hold. “Pretty sure Horny Nut Sac doesn’t need any help in the orgasm-doling department based on the voodoo magic in my laundry room.”

“Definitely not!” Charlene agrees. “But feel free to share your best techniques with Darren. He’s always looking for new ways to make me scream.”

Darren doesn’t say anything, just smirks and lets out one of his dark little laughs.

Sunny raises her hand. “I have quiet orgasms. Lots of them.”

“Okay.” Miller slaps the pool table. “We should hit the casino.”

We all put on shoes and head for the door. Violet seems relieved, and I honestly have no interest in hearing about Sunny’s orgasms, particularly since they’ve resulted in her being pregnant. We find a buffet, because sex makes us all hungry, and then we hit the streets. Sunny turned twenty-one last month, so she’s legal to get into all the places; not that it matters since she can’t drink in her condition.

“Wow, this is like Niagara Falls on steroids!” she says, chin tilted up as she takes in the tall buildings and excessive people.

“It’s wild here,” Violet says as we pass girls dressed in very little, dancing in the middle of the street. People hand us cards with boobs on them, but the nipples are covered with black or red dots. Violet hands a bunch to Lance. “There’s a number on there. Maybe she wants to go on a date with you.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t have to pay to get a date, Vi. Besides, some chick in the casino gave me her keycard for later.”

“She gave you her keycard?”

“Yeah. Happens all the time.”

He’s not lying. Girls are constantly looking to hook up with him. While Ballistic had a reputation for living up to his last name, Lance has a different kind of rep with the bunnies.

He doesn’t seem to have any issue with multiple partners, according to the rumors anyway. But who the hell knows what’s true and what isn’t. That shit about the Darcys is proof that not everything you hear is true—just like the rumor about me and the hat trick. Lance is proving to be one of the good guys, maybe a little hotheaded on the ice—and off it—but then so am I.

“But she doesn’t even know you. You could be a mass murderer. You could be like that guy from American Psycho who throws a chainsaw down a stairwell after he has a threesome.” Violet shudders and turns to Charlene. “I should never have watched that movie.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“Not that bad? I didn’t sleep for three weeks.”

Violet’s exaggerating, but she did have a few rough nights.

Lance winks at Violet. “Don’t worry, I’m not a mass murderer.”

“But how does she know that?”

“I’m a public figure in the hockey world. Everyone knows my business in the bedroom, or at least they think they do.”

Violet links her arm with mine. “Do girls give you their keycards?”

I tuck her into my side. “Not anymore.”

“But they used to?”

“Not all that often.”

“What constitutes often? And what the hell is wrong with these women? That seems dangerous.”

“You didn’t know Alex, and you went back to his room the first night you met him,” Charlene points out.

“That’s different.”

“Not really,” Lily says.

“Like you’re any better? You sucked Randy’s face after he busted in on you in a bathroom! And then he locked himself in a bathroom with you after you defaced all his underwear!”

Lily blushes. “The underwear defacing was a misunderstanding.”

“Whatever. I’m making a point. Alex played on the same team as Buck. I was introduced as his sister. He couldn’t murder me without everyone knowing it was him, so it’s totally not the same as handing over a keycard to a perfect stranger.”

“That’s true,” Sunny agrees.

Lance points to an ABC store, maybe because he’s not interested in continuing the conversation. “I’m gonna stop and grab something. Anyone need anything?”

“We can drink in the streets here, can’t we?” Violet jumps up and down, her boobs bouncing with the movement.

“Want me to get you a water, or maybe some juice, sweets?” Miller asks Sunny. “You need a snack? I’ll get you a bunch of stuff, ’kay?”

She adjusts the brim of her oversized hat so she can tilt her head up for a kiss. “That’d be great.”

I stay outside with Sunny while the rest of them go into the store. I put an arm around her shoulder. “You doing okay?”

She takes off her hat and leans her head on my chest. “I’m so good, Alex. I know you worry, but me and Miller, we’re made for each other, just like you and Violet.”

I nod. I see how he is with my sister. “You know you don’t have to wait for me and Violet to get married before you do, right?”