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He pressed the side of his face against the side of hers, and she grabbed onto his hands that were around her chest. “Sorry, I panicked.”
“I miss this,” he whispered, turning his head to kiss her cheek.
“I miss this, too,” she said softly. “Now get me another beer so I can pretend I know what’s going on with this game.”
When Worlds Collide (25)
“You’re sure it’s OK if I come?” Amara asked as they headed down to the lower-level entrance that led to the players’ locker room and family lounge.
“You’re with me. It’s fine.”
The game ended with the Islanders beating the Leafs 3-1. Tyler had held his own. He didn’t score, but he put up two assists and was a plus three for the night, which wasn’t bad for only getting in 16 minutes of playing time. Ryan was just happy to see the game end so he didn’t have to answer any more questions from Amara.
“You know in Star Wars when Yoda just dies because he’s just done with answering Luke’s questions?”
“No, because I’m not a fucking nerd.”
“Anyway, I feel that on a spiritual level after watching a hockey game with you. Read an article, woman. It’s really not that complicated.”
They approached the security in front of the family lounge, where Ryan showed his Bridgeport badge, and they were quickly let in. Many of the guys’ wives and kids were there waiting, and the players were starting to filter out of the locker room one by one, as the game had ended about a half hour ago.
“Ryan fucking Baylor!” A tall, extremely handsome guy approached him and extended his hand.
“Hughesy, what’s up?” Ryan shook his hand and gave him a quick hug.
“You here for Hayes, I’m guessing? This his mom?” he asked, pointing to Amara, who made a face.
“There it is,” she said, nodding slowly and smirking.
“Uh, yes and no. This is my roommate, Amara McDonough. Dunny’s cousin.”
“Oh, my bad, bro. I was gonna say, Hayes’s mom is an absolute smoke." He winked at Amara. "So, what’s up? How’s it going over in Bridgeport, man? I was hoping I’d see you here by now.”
“Baylor, holy shit!” Another guy made his way over to them, and Amara figured this would be a good time to just go have a seat and wait for Hayes, saving Ryan the trouble of having to explain to anyone else that she was not, in fact, Tyler Hayes’s mother.
There were a series of couches and comfy chairs next to the private concession stand and bar, so Amara had a seat on an empty couch. She watched a couple of the players’ young kids playing with their toys nearby as they waited for their daddies. She did her best to ignore the unexpected sadness that immediately overtook her, as she thought about the fact that someday, one of the kids waiting would be Ryan’s with a woman who wouldn’t be her.
Opening her phone in a futile attempt to distract herself, she felt someone sit down next to her. Looking over, she saw Jenna primping into her phone camera, fixing her dark, wavy hair, and applying more lip gloss to her insanely large, filler-injected lips. She looked at her phone, and then lifted it to her face, speaking slowly as she recorded a voice-to-text message.
“He hasn’t come out yet. Waiting in the family lounge for him. Probably hitting up a party with him later. Call you tomorrow.”
Amara found herself staring at her. Though she’d clearly spent a lot of money to get there, she was beautiful, and it was easy to see why Hayes had fallen for her.
“Hi?” Jenna said, waving to Amara.
She snapped out of it. “Hi. I’m sorry. Jenna, right?”
“Yep, that’s me. And I’m guessing you? Must be Amara.”
She was taken aback. “Yeah. Um, how’d you know?”
“Just a feeling. You’re Ryan’s girlfriend, right?”
“Ex-girlfriend, yes. So, you and Tyler. You’re back together then?”
“Wow. Don’t let him hear you call him Tyler. He doesn’t let anyone call him that. Anyway, hopefully we will be soon. We’ve been talking over the past two weeks, trying to work shit out. He called me today as soon as he got the call-up, and I canceled a trip to Cabo just to be here for him. Maybe this will score me some points.”
Shut up.
