As she expected he may be, Patrick was disappointed that he wasn't the one to take her home. In his mind, this was the night that something would happen between them. He'd have to wait and try again later.

"Thanks again for this," Zanna spoke to her chauffeur as they pulled away from Zdeno's house shortly after 11:30pm.

"Yeah, of course. I got your back, Zee."

"And you're sober enough to be driving, right?"

"Yes, mom," he chuckled. "You know, Artemi's a lucky guy that you like him so much. You're pretty awesome."

"I am?" she laughed.

"Yeah! Like you're understatedly beautiful, smart and funny… sweet and caring. He's damn lucky."

"Aww, thanks Marshy. I think you're all those things too… and more!"

"And more, eh?" He smiled over at her and she smiled back. "You wanna come over and have a beer with me? If you're too tired, no worries."

"That sounds fun! I haven't been able to just hang out with you much yet."

"Yeah. Agreed." They made small talk about their week while they made the 20 minute trek to his condo. She followed him inside from the secure underground parking lot and he shut the door behind them. "Make yourself at home," he said as he kicked his shoes off by the door. She did the same then set her purse down on his coffee table. He grabbed two bottles of beer out of the fridge and handed her one.

"Thanks. Beautiful place."

"Thank you. It's a pretty cool place to live. Here, lemme show you around… Living room, dining room… bathroom's there if you need it. There's a second bedroom here that I pretty much use for storage…" She sipped her drink while looking around in his home. "This is my room. There's a pretty nice walk-in closet over there and there's an on-suite bathroom in here."

"Jetted garden tub, nice!"

"Yeah. I love soaking in there after a long day at the rink."

"Sounds great."

"Yeah. Hey, you want a shot?"

"Of?"

"Fireball?"

"Hell yes!"

"Awesome," he laughed. "Come on." She followed him back to the kitchen and sat down at the center island while he grabbed a couple of shot glasses and his bottle of cinnamon whisky. He poured the shots and handed hers to her.

"Thank you."

"To friends… and finally getting to hang out outside of work!"

"Cheers!" She downed it and quickly chased it with the remainder of her beer. "Man, that stuff is strong!"

"You a light-weight?" he sat beside her and playfully nudged her with his elbow.

"Yeah, kinda. I'm more of a rum and coke kinda girl."

"I have that too!"

"I better take it easy or I'll be passing out on your couch soon!"

"No worries," he laughed. "I got nothing else going on tonight. I'd be happy to take care of ya." She smiled over at him and saw the seriousness in his brown eyes. "You look really great tonight."

"Really?" He smiled and nodded. Leaning over to her, he softly pressed his lips to hers. He pulled back just far enough to look into her eyes again. She didn't freak out so he kissed her again. She knew, with every fiber of her being that this was wrong… but the gentle, warm comfort she felt from his lips encouraged her to let him continue.

He kissed her more deeply, his tongue sweeping over hers while blood rushed to her most sensitive spots. His right palm rest against the left side of her face, his thumb caressing her skin. Knowing that the next time they looked into each other's eyes would be the moment of truth, he knew he had to time it carefully. She showed no signs of wanting to break their kiss so he kept going. Finally, he felt that the moment was right. He stood up from the bar and held his hand out to her.

"Zanna, come with me," he said quietly. She looked at his open hand then back at his face. He saw her trepidation and hoped he could ease her nerves. After a momentary battle between the myriad of thoughts in her mind and the sensations in her body, she simply nodded and took his hand. Her heart pounded in her throat as he led her down the hall and into his bedroom. Standing at the foot of his king sized bed, he began kissing her again. Eyes closed, she let her head fall to one side while he nibbled and sucked on her neck.

"Marshy," she exhaled.

"What, baby?"

"I've... never done this before." He stopped to look at her and he could see the embarrassment on her face. Without a second thought, he replied,

"It's okay, Zee."

"You don't think it's weird?"

"No." Reaching for the bottom of her shirt, he pulled it over her head and dropped it on the floor. She reciprocated before running her fingertips over his strong, smooth chest. She was more nervous than she could ever remember being before but something about him was so calming in this moment.

He unhooked her bra and slipped the straps down her arms, exposing her bare breasts to him. Cupping them in his hands, he brushed his thumbs over her nipples but never averted his gaze from her face. Zanna had been turned on before, she knew what it felt like when she wanted to be intimate with someone… but this was those feelings amplified a thousand times. Reaching for the waistband of his shorts, she unbuttoned and unzipped them. She slipped them and his black boxer-briefs down his muscular legs, leaving him nude, and very ready, before her.

"Come here." He laid her back onto the bed and unzipped her shorts. He took his time pulling them down her legs enjoying the torturously slow pace. There was absolutely no hurry here. Now the only thing standing between them was a pair of powder blue panties with a tiny bow on the front of them. He hooked his fingertips into the waistline of them and slid them down over her legs as well before tossing them aside. Reaching over into his nightstand drawer, he pulled out a condom. Holy shit, this is really gonna happen, she thought.

Zanna watched him tear open the wrapper then carefully roll the condom onto his eager erection. Her chest heaved in nervous anticipation as he watched her wait for him. She knew it was going to hurt. She knew there was no taking it back. She knew that, in this moment, she wanted this.

Laying his body down onto hers, he kissed her deeply again. He rubbed himself against her engorged opening while his tongue danced against hers. He kissed her neck and chest, trying to be patient so as not to move too fast for her. She just wanted to get past the painful part and hopefully enjoy this experience with him.

"You ready for me, baby?" he whispered against her ear.

"Yeah." Reaching down between them, he took himself into his hand and guided himself into her. Feeling her body tense beneath him, he waited a second to make sure she was okay. Pushing further into her, he felt her tense again as he passed the point of resistance and reached her inviting core.

"You okay?" he asked, looking down into her misty eyes. She nodded and pulled his mouth down to hers. Moving in long, slow strokes he made her feel every inch of him. His kisses were heated and passionate and she never wanted them to stop. He was determined not to finish before she could… not that he was even sure that a woman could have an orgasm her first time. He knew this was a big deal for her and he wanted it to be as good as possible.

His steady pace, along with the way his lips felt on her salty skin and the way his breath washed over her were an incredible symphony of sensations. Her nails grazed his arms and back before coming to rest on his ass.

"Marshy," she moaned lightly as he moved just a little faster and just a little harder.

"Cum for me, baby." He felt her already tight walls begin to collapse on him further as her breathing changed. Deeper he dove into her, her legs being coerced further apart by the force of his pelvis slapping against her. A wave of heat spread over her from her core up into her throat and down into her toes.

"Fuck Marshy," she whimpered. Thrilled that he'd gotten her off, he kept going as long as he could. Finally, he let go and drove himself deep inside one last time before he stopped moving. She could feel him pulsating inside her and it felt incredible. Letting his weight rest on her, he breathed heavily against her neck. While the act itself had been better than she could have hoped for, this was equally as amazing. This closeness, this intimate silence… this was what she wanted to go on forever. After a couple of minutes, he lifted his head to smile down at her.

"You want a glass of water?" She smiled up at him and nodded.

"Thanks." He left the room and she went to use the bathroom. He brought her a cold glass of water before laying back down beside her. "Come here," he laid his arm out on the bed and she snuggled up beside him with her head on his arm. Holding her against him, he closed his eyes and let out a contended sigh. She had questions but wasn't about to break the comfort she was enjoying. "You tired?"

"A little." He reached across her and pulled a blanket over them. He turned off the lamp on his nightstand and settled back down with her.

"Get some rest, Zee."

"Okay." He quickly drifted off to sleep. She liked the sound of his slumbering breaths but she was having an impossible time relaxing enough to fall sleep. She glanced over at the clock after what felt like forever. 2:32am stared back at her. Knowing that she had to get some sleep and being tired enough now that it was inevitable, she did finally doze off.

**** Sunday 6/27 ****

Brad woke up first in the morning and carefully snuck out of bed. He snapped a photo of her on his phone and texted it to Ryan. "Game over lol." Ryan soon texted him back: "Are you fucking serious?! What about Katrina? And how was it?" "I haven't figured out if I'm telling Katrina or not… and it was great! Gonna hit that again here in a minute…" "Nice! Can't wait for the dirty details!"

Instead of following through on what he'd just told Ryan his plan was, he went to the kitchen and started the coffee pot. The more he thought about the sweet, beautiful naked girl in his bed, the more he wanted to hit that again. He'd felt the undeniable connection between them last night.

No one knew that Brad and Katrina had been having a rough time together lately. His move to Portland had been hard on her. She had moved to Oregon with him but she'd been at her parents' house in Massachusetts for the past couple of days.

Once the coffee was done, he poured two cups and brought them back to the bedroom. He set them on the nightstand beside Zanna and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers. She began to stir and he pulled back to smile at her.

"Morning, Zee."

"Morning Marshy."

"Sit up. I brought you some coffee."

"Oh thanks." She sat up and took a few sips. "You made it perfect," she smiled at him. "Thank you." Taking the cup out of her hand, he set it back down before leaning in to kiss her again. Entangling his fingers in her hair, he pulled her head back exposing the delicate skin of her neck to him. His lips devoured her skin, his five o'clock shadow scraping against her. Laying her back, he pulled the blanket off of her and rest his naked body down onto hers. His incredible kisses brought back the heat she'd felt throughout her flesh the night before. Working his way down her body, he sucked on her nipples teasing them into firm peaks. Leaning up on her elbows, she watched him plant kisses down her abdomen. He pushed her legs apart with his hands and took her with his mouth. He had her writhing in pleasure in mere moments. "Marshy," she moaned as she grabbed a handful of his hair. Once he couldn't wait anymore, he climbed up over her and quickly penetrated her.

"Don't stop cumming," he panted in her ear as he drove himself into her hard and fast. Goosebumps scattered across her skin as she held him against her. "Look at me." He held himself up on his hands and continued moving within her. He held her eye contact, enjoying how fucking sexy she looked… lips parted, passion written on her face and about to climax again. Her inner muscles squeezed him tight and he couldn't hold back any longer. Releasing himself into her, he stopped moving and caught his breath. As he lay atop her, she could feel his seed seeping out of her and this was when she realized that he hadn't used a condom this time. Too nervous to say anything, she said nothing. "Come on mama… let's get a shower." He got up and took a swig of his coffee before walking into the bathroom.

Not much was said between the making out in the shower, the getting dressed afterwards and the ride to Zanna's place. He dropped her off at home and went back to his place to think about this new situation. She went inside, flopped back onto her couch and tried to figure out what the hell just happened…

**** Monday 6/28 ****

Monday morning, Brad collected his winnings from Ryan. They sat in the locker room before most everyone else got there.

"Dude, this is a lot of money!"

"You were the only one that guessed you, dork."

"Hey guys," Pasta and Patrick walked in.

"Little Zee pool is over," Ryan informed them.

"What?" Patrick asked. "You're shitting me!"

"Nope. Marshy broke her in."

"No he didn't," Pasta laughed. "He has a girlfriend." Brad pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed the guys a couple of pictures he'd taken on Zanna in his bed. "I'll be damned!"

"You break up with Katrina?" Patrick asked.

"Nah."

The guys all talked about Marshy's win until Artemi showed up a while later. Patrick wasn't sure how to feel about Zanna and Marshy. While it had been a game that he'd wanted to win, he did genuinely like Zanna. He had thought the feeling was mutual but maybe he was wrong.

Meanwhile, Zanna was sitting in her car in the Moda Center parking lot trying to talk herself into going inside. She hoped it wouldn't be too painfully awkward when she saw Brad for the first time since their night together. Taking one last deep breath, she finally got out of her car and went into the building. She walked into the lounge and half the guys stopped to look at her making her extremely self-conscious.

"Morning guys." The guys greeted her then went back to whatever they were doing. Artemi approached her as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Zanna."

"Hey Artemi," she smiled. "How are you?"

"Good now. I was feeling not good on the weekend."

"Oh, is that why you weren't at Zdeno's house?" He nodded. "Well, you were missed and I'm glad you're feeling better."

"You miss me?" he smiled shyly and she nodded. He was just about to ask her to dinner that night when Patrick interrupted. Why does he always do this?!

"Hey Zee."

"Morning, Patrick."

"So I was gonna give you a ride home from Zee's Saturday night but you took off with Marshy…"

"Oh yeah… he gave me a ride." She wanted to vomit right then and there. Where was he going with this? He had to know…

"Yeah I heard he took you home." He grabbed a cup of coffee and walked away. She was finally able to breathe.

"Guess I better head to the office," she half-smiled at Artemi. "I'll see you later, okay?" He nodded and she left the room.

**** Friday 7/2 ****

Zanna's entire work week consisted of meetings, press conferences and conference calls. She hardly saw the players at all that week and it was probably for the best. They were going in to the Fourth of July weekend so would have three days off.

Friday afternoon, she was finishing up an article she'd been working on and was looking forward to getting out of there in the next few minutes. Artemi knocked on her door and came into her office.

"Hey," she smiled. "What's up?"

"I can talk to you for a sec?"

"Of course!" She moved some folders off the chair next to her and he sat down.

"Please don't be angry…"

"What is it, Artemi?"

"I hear some guys saying there was bets on who you would…"

"What?"

"Who you would give virginity to." She felt the color leave her face then immediately return tenfold. She could see the embarrassment on his face as well as her blood pressure rose.

"Okay," she took a deep breath.

"I am so sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'm glad you told me. First of all, I am so mortified that you had to find out about such a thing. I really like you, Artemi and I cannot believe you had to find out about that. Second of all, I cannot believe that the people I work with… some of whom I've become friends with… would do that." Her anger and absolute disbelief was overwhelming. He saw her eyes beginning to tear up and he felt terrible.

"Maybe I should not have tell you."

"No, it's okay," she sniffled. She tried to figure out what to do while he sat there and felt sorry for her. Finally, she stood up and opened the door.

"Where you going?"

"To the lounge." She walked as calmly as possible to the lounge and went inside. Only a few of the guys were still there but there were at least three of them that likely would know what she was about to be talking about. "Hey. I'm just gonna say this and you can all do what you want with it… Whoever was involved in this bet about me and my private life… that was a really shitty thing to do. Assholes." She left the room and they all looked around at one another.

"What the hell was that about?" Zdeno asked.

"Some of the guys thought it would be fun to start a pool as to who would sleep with her first," Jakub Voracek informed him.

"Are you guys serious? Okay, we're gonna have to talk about this. At our meeting Tuesday morning we will discuss this." As the captain of the team, Zdeno was not going to tolerate any bullshit such as this. He had to address this now and let everyone know that there would be no further issues like this.

Artemi was still sitting in Zanna's office when she returned.

"Are you okay?" She nodded and sat down. Dropping her head down into her hands at her desk, she took a minute just to breathe. Someone knocked on the door and she lifted her head.

"Yeah?" Brad sheepishly walked in.

"Zanna, I…"

"Marshy… you of all people. I thought we were friends." She stood up, walked up to him and gently nudged him out the door then shut the door between them. "I think I'm gonna go home, Artemi."

"Zee, I know is wrong time but I have question…" Oh no, she thought. He's gonna ask who it was. "When you say you really like me… do you mean like as teammate? Or as friend? Or as man?"

"I do really like you… but now's not a good time to talk about it. Okay?"

"You would go to dates with me?"

"Artemi, I don't think it's a good idea to date a coworker. What if it doesn't work out and it gets hard for us to work together?"

"Why would that happen?"

"I don't know. Things happen. I mean, I sure didn't think that the guys I work with and trust would take bets on who I would sleep with. I didn't think I was going to sleep with anyone here. I didn't mean for it to happen…"

"Go to one date with me. If you don't want to go to more, we won't." Looking into his eyes, she saw his sincerity. She did enjoy that sweet face and the man behind it.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Good! Lunch tomorrow?"

"That sounds good. Call me in the morning?"

"I will!" He said goodnight to her then happily left her office. He was thrilled that he'd finally gotten up the nerve to ask her out and she actually said yes. Brad saw him leave so he scurried back to her door. Without knocking, he opened it and went inside.

"Zanna…" She looked up at him and sighed.

"Brad, I can't…" He sat down beside her and looked into her eyes.

"I am so sorry about the pool. I swear I had nothing to do with starting it."

"But you participated, right? And you won, I assume?" He sunk down in his seat and didn't have a response for her. "Congrats on your win."

"Zee, please… Don't hate me for this. Saturday night had nothing to do with the pool. I like you and everything that happened was real."

"But you also have a girlfriend… So it was stupid of me to allow it. Can you go now? I gotta finish up here." She shut her laptop and stood up. He stood up with her and put his hands on her upper arms, forcing her to look at him. He saw the pure disappointment in her eyes.

"I am so sorry, Zanna. Please believe me. Saturday night was not about anything except wanting to be with you." He took her face into his hands. "Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered before he pressed his lips to hers. As much as she loved the feel of his tongue against hers, she had to stop him. "You still have a girlfriend."

"I know," he let go of her and sighed. "I know."

"I gotta go." She grabbed her purse and escorted him out of her office. "I'll see you next week."

"Okay." He watched her walk away while feeling like a complete ass. He knew he couldn't keep kissing her or pursuing her as long as he did still have a girlfriend. It wasn't fair to either of the women. He had some thinking to do.

Meanwhile, Zanna was on her way to meet Maura for drinks. Maura knew that her best friend had been with someone last week but she hadn't divulged any details about what happened or with whom it happened.

"Okay," Maura said once their drinks were set before them. "I have been dying to know what happened last weekend! Was it Puppy-dog-eyes or Blondie-with-the-smile?"

"Neither."

"What?! Well, who was it?"

"It was Brad Marchand… the guy I call Marshy?"

"Cocky-smile-and-eyebrows guy? That's so cool! I know you guys are good friends so that's awesome!"

"Well…"

"What?"

"He's not exactly single."

"He's not?"

"Nope. He has a girlfriend… and I've met her and she seems nice. I feel like such an idiot." Zanna was not going to tell her friend about the bets that had been placed on her sex life… it was embarrassing enough to find out about it; she did not want to talk about it.

"Wait, wait, wait… You've been saving yourself for someone who will stick around to be with you after… and you go and do it with someone who's not available? How did that happen?"

"We went to his place after the barbecue at Big Zee's house and we were just talking and he kissed me… The way he kissed me was different than the way other guys have kissed me before. This is gonna sound so cliché but I knew it was wrong but it felt so incredibly right." Maura listened intently as her BFF described her time with Marshy. "He made me comfortable… I felt really safe with him."

"Hot damn, you like him!" Zanna looked down into the empty glass in her hands and did not confirm or deny. "What are you gonna do, Zee?"

"Well… I'm gonna start by ordering another drink… and then I'm gonna go on a lunch date with Artemi tomorrow!"

"He finally asked you out?"

"Yep."

"Are you looking forward to it?"

"I am," she smiled. "He is so sweet and cute."

"I bet he's got a bangin' body under those clothes too," she winked and Zanna laughed.

"I'm sure he does!"