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Should have known better.
“Does this have anything to do with the chick you’re shacked up with?”
“Her name is Britt,” I snap, tension gathering in my muscles and straining against my skin. Any moment, it’ll burst free.
She’s not just some chick.
Although…Hayes doesn’t know that.
Mostly because I haven’t said a word about it.
Or her.
Everything with this relationship has been on the downlow because that’s what Britt wanted. Only now do I realize how much it bugs me. I don’t want to hide this like it’s a dirty little secret.
Like I’m a dirty little secret.
There’s no reason we can’t tell our friends that we’re dating.
We don’t have to necessarily share that we tied the knot in Vegas.
At least, not right away.
Yup, this is definitely a convo we’ll be having later.
“Right. Britt. So, it’s serious then?”
I stare straight ahead, refusing to respond.
Until everything is hashed out with her, I’m not saying a damn word.
Although, I want to.
When I remain silent, he glances at the stands. “Is that why she’s wearing your jersey?”
I swing around so fast that I nearly take myself out. Hayes’ laughter rings unwantedly in my ears.
Fucker.
“Tell me you’ve fallen for a girl without telling me you’ve fallen for a girl.”
I knock into him with my shoulder.
Hard.
“Asshole.”
She’s not there.
The guy is screwing with me.
“You need to get your head out of your ass and focus on what’s important.” He stares at me as if I’m pitiful. And at the moment, that’s exactly how I feel. It’s not good. “You’re the last person I expected this from.” He glances at our teammates. “Everyone around here seems to be getting wifed up. It’s like an epidemic.”
Wifed up.
Hayes would shit a brick if I admitted the truth.
Actually, all the guys on the team would.
As tempting as it is to blow his world apart at the seams, I clap him on the back instead. “Thanks for your concern, but there’s nothing to worry about. It’s all good.”
“It better fucking be. We need to bring home a championship this year. Our final season before we graduate.”
A prick of sadness fills me. I’ve been playing hockey since kindergarten. As soon as I could walk, dad laced up my first pair of Bauers. And I’ve been a part of more house and travel teams than I can remember. But these guys?
They’re like brothers to me.
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them.
Someone needs to bury a body?
I’ll bring my shovel.
It’s like that.
I force those thoughts aside before refocusing on Hayes. “It’ll happen. Everyone’s gelling on the ice and we’re only getting better. There’s no way we won’t take home a Frozen Four championship.”
“All right, man.” His easy disposition returns as humor flashes in his eyes. “Just so you know, I wasn’t kidding before. Your girl really is here.”
I snort, unwilling to be suckered for a second time, and look like an even bigger pussy. “Uh huh. Whatever you say.”
With a grin, he raises a gloved hand toward the stands and waves. “And she’s seriously wearing your jersey.”
The guy is a total moron if he thinks I’m going to fall for this again. Maybe I’m turning out to be a simp, but Hayes doesn’t need to know it. It takes every ounce of self-control not to turn and scan the bleachers for the umpteenth time.
It’s only when I round the corner that I allow my gaze to comb over the crowd with more care. Even though I’ve spent the past couple weeks doing everything in my power to prove that I can be the husband she needs, I need to accept that Britt’s not there yet.
For some reason, she’s holding back.
Something is standing between us.
And I’ll be damned if I don’t figure it out so that it’s no longer in my way. I’ll tear down her walls brick by brick with my bare hands if that’s what it comes to.
As those thoughts settle within me, I catch sight of her sitting with Juliette, Carina, Viola, Stella, and Fallyn. Or the girlfriends, as they’d become known in the locker room.
Looks like Hayes was telling the truth.
Even better than that…she really is wearing my jersey.
The one I was too chickenshit to give her because I was afraid she’d turn me down flat.
Or worse, laugh in my face.
But there she is with the wildcat emblem on the front and my number stamped on the sleeves. Pride swells within me. The sight of her sends a thrill shooting down my spine as a surge of warmth spreads through my body, invading every cell like a virus.
My lips lift into a smile.
She looks fucking gorgeous. Almost as good as she did spread out naked beneath me.
It makes me wish I’d swallowed my pride and given it to her myself.
Our gazes stay fastened as I skate past.
The moment is broken when Hayes claps me on the shoulder. “I hate to break this to you, but you’re fucked.”
