Page 11 of Never Bet Against A Hockey Player

I stepped away to gather the coffee and waters.

When I walked back out they had their heads together, stealing glances back at me and talking frantically. They pulled back as I walked up, offering me easy smiles as if this wasn’t awkward as hell.

“Here you go, boys. Did you have a chance to look at the menu?” I asked as I arranged their drinks and looked down at my order pad.

I could feel their gazes heavy on me, but I refused to look up. My pen was poised over the order pad, waiting.

“What’s going on, Dhara?” Conrad asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Not here.”

It was all I managed before plastering a smile on my face and looking up. I’d practiced this look well.

The one that hid away every real emotion that I might have.

Lachlan was staring at me with a guarded look on his face before giving his order in such a monotone voice that it broke my heart.

I knew I was hurting my mates by pushing them away like this. The worst part was, they hadn’t done a damn thing wrong.

This was all on me.

They were confused and upset, this was not the reaction anybody expected. But unfortunately, sometimes life was a bitch. I’d learned that more times than I could count.

“Will you be working tonight?” Conrad asked.

I nodded. “Gavin has juniors first, but yes.”

“Can we talk then?”

I studied him for a minute, not sure what I could say to fix this other than the fact that I couldn’t be with them.

“Maybe,” was all I gave him. “I’m going to put your order in. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Then I was off, giving Max the order and checking on my other tables.

I didn’t ignore the two scent-matches that watched my every move, but I also didn’t give them the extra attention they wanted.

My watch started to beep and I looked up to see Gavin already gathering his stuff.

“Give me five, Lydia,” I called out as I dropped off my tray to walk him out. She was already waving me off.

She knew the routine by now. We did this every weekday morning.

“You know, I can walk myself out there,” Gavin said as I made sure he had everything.

We started to walk toward the door until he froze. I stumbled to a halt but he was already talking excitedly.

“Hey, Conrad! Holy crap, you’re friends with Lachlan Evans?!”

“Hey, buddy. Yeah, he’s my new teammate and roommate,” Conrad said with a chuckle.

My watch beeped again and I gave them an apologetic smile. “Gavin, we have to go.”

“We’ll see you tonight at practice, buddy,” Conrad promised before I could usher my brother out. The way he talked to Gavin melted me a little more, even when I couldn’t allow it to truly take effect.

Because Gavin deserved people like them.

He deserved the whole world.