He had never loved another woman but he felt like he could love Piper and that freaked him out to the core. He didn’t understand his feelings at all, but the last couple of days he had been feeling things he had never felt before and a lot of it had to do with her. He needed to talk to someone about it because he was starting to think that maybe he was suffering from a disorder or something, because no girl ever mattered. Period. The end.

But Piper was starting to matter.

Glancing over at her bright, glowing face, he had to smile. She was talking with her hands, talking about the events they had attended that day. He didn’t realize she had been paying such close attention, but she recapped the day better than he even remembered it.

“Will your child play hockey?” Alana asked.

Piper smiled and looked up at Erik. “I think he or she will, because Erik is a damn good player and more than likely our child will want to be like him.”

“That’s for sure. Are you ready to win the Art Ross Award, Erik?”

Erik smiled. “Oh, it’s my turn to talk?” Both women laughed as he gave them a dazzling smile. “Yes, I am. Now if you’ll excuse us, I think my beautiful wife is hungry.”

“This is true! It was so nice meeting you!” Piper said.

Alana smiled as she and Piper hugged. “You, too. Good luck, Erik.”

“Thank you,” he said with a wave as he led Piper away. “You stole my interview.”

“I know! I’m so sorry!”

He laughed as he shook his head. “No big deal. I think you covered all the bases. I’m awesome, my charities are awesome, and I’m going to win.”

Piper nodded. “See! I had your back.”

“Good, now come on, let’s get some food before the ceremony starts.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. I think that turkey leg has my name on it,” she said, leaving his side for the buffet table.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to eat that!” he called out after her.

She glanced back at him and shot him a drop-dead gorgeous smile. “So?”

Man, she blew his mind.

* * *

Erik didn’t win and he wasn’t sure who was more disappointed about it, him or Piper.

“I think that ballot was rigged! How in the world did you get beat out by someone on the Carolina team! I didn’t even know they had a team,” she complained as they made their way back up to the room. She didn’t want to go out with the rest of the team so he was walking her back to the room before meeting Phillip downstairs. During the awards, Phillip sat beside them. “We are cool, dude, don’t worry,” he had said to Erik. That’s why Erik was best friends with him. They read each other and just got along. No hard feelings over minor disagreements. Friends like Phillip were hard to come by.

“I mean really, the dude is not even that good in my opinion,” she said, tapping her toe as they rode the elevator up to their suite. Erik liked that Piper was so upset. It was nice to have someone who actually cared if he won or lost something. Plus, she was just so damn cute when she was mad. Her cheeks turned a bright red, while her lips puckered out, making it hard not to kiss her.

“Bullshit, I tell you!”

Erik started to chuckle as he shook his head. “I agree, sweetheart, but it is no big deal. It was only my second year in the league. I’ll get it next year.”

Piper stopped tapping her foot and glanced up at him. She had a weird look on her face while all the irritation that he saw earlier evaporated. “Well, let’s hope so,” she said quietly and he didn’t understand where all her fire went.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m tired.”

He never liked that answer.

“No, there is something, tell me,” he said as the doors opened. Before she could step out, Erik took hold of her arm. She turned, giving him an annoyed look.

“You called me sweetheart,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I told you about that.”

He rolled his eyes as he let out a long breath. “Listen, you are going to have to get used to that. It’s what I call you.”

“And how many other girls?”

“None,” he said honestly. “You are the only one, so deal with it.”

Since he didn’t like the look she was giving him, that shocked, oh my God, really? look, he turned and headed down the hall. After unlocking the door, he waited for her to enter before walking in and closing the door behind them. “Are you sure you don’t want to go?”

She shook her head as she slid her heels off. “No, I’m supertired.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll be late.”

“Okay, have fun,” she muttered as she unzipped her dress. She looked mad, or maybe disappointed. As if she didn’t want him to go. A part of him wanted to stay. They could watch a movie or maybe get naked and have sex. Since that would be a bad idea, he muttered another awkward goodbye and left.

He felt like a complete jerk, and dammit, he shouldn’t be feeling things about her.

* * *

The club was insane.

That was the only way Erik could put it. The booze was flowing, the music was glass-shattering, and girls were everywhere. Boy, were they hot, and oddly enough Erik didn’t care. All he cared about was getting more drunk, which he was accomplishing fairly well. Phillip sat with three females surrounding him straight across from Erik, while Shea nursed a beer beside him. Shea looked as if he was about to pass out, and Erik fully expected him to be leaving at any time soon, with Elli having already gone up to the room. It had been a while since Erik had been in a club, and he was sure that Koey would have a fit when he heard about it tomorrow, but it would be obvious he was just hanging with his team, celebrating Shea’s win.