Colby snorted. “Yeah. That’ll happen. Thanks for coming down here to check in. I’ll try not to work too hard.”
“Huh?”
Colby shot him a sly grin. “I’d hate for your girl to be so impressed with me she drops your fat ass.”
McClusky and Ford swung back, overheard, and laughed a little too hard.
“Shut up, dickheads.” Damon growled at them. “And if either of you make me look bad in front of Marlie, I’ll end you.”
Ford perked up. “Does this mean you’re coming to the party tonight?”
“After you win, you mean.”
Ford nodded.
“I guess. I want to show Marlie a good time.”
McClusky cleared his throat. “So you’re saying you want me to take her out on the town for you?”
“You want to keep the rest of the teeth in that empty head, McClusky?”
McClusky guffawed. “As if you could catch me once I start running.”
The guys left the locker room, Damon following. He put more pressure on his left leg, pleased when the pain he hoped not to feel didn’t come.
Though he itched to return with his team, to go out there on the ice and defeat their opponents, he went instead back upstairs to find his girlfriend—because yes, she’d admitted it, kind of, that they were dating—talking to his agent.
Mark spotted him and left a little too quickly.
Hmm.
Marlie stared at Damon with a big old grin.
He groaned. “Okay. Spit it out. What has Mark been saying about me?”
“Oh, not too much. Your sports drink deal sounds stellar. Too bad you lost out on the booze sponsorship since you won’t hit any orgies.”
He groaned. “Mark and his big mouth. I suppose he said I’m boring. I’m totally not. I’m a rough prick. A bad boy. A barely legal criminal type.” He gave her his best threatening stare.
She only smiled kindly. The kiss of death.
She patted the stool next to her. “Have a seat, Boy Scout. You can give me a blow-by-blow of the game. And no, I didn’t mean that sexually.”
He sighed. She laughed.
And they watched the Ice Raptors take the win four to one over the Oilers.
“Exciting game.” Marlie looked as excited as the rest of the folks in the suite about the win. Everyone congratulated everyone, making sure to tell Damon he was missed, before they filed out.
Damon sat back, waiting for the stands to empty. “We’re invited to a party tonight. Do you want to go?”
“A party?”
“You know. With other people.”
She frowned. “What kind of people?”
“Hockey people.”
