Anna laughed, some of her tension falling away. She wasn’t necessarily here because she wanted to be. Her first week at work had been exhausting, and she’d had to stitch up a cut on Charkov’s chin and tend to Leon’s injured shoulder after today’s game. Hockey players weren’t like other patients.Usually, people wanted to be treated by her. Charkov and Leon, however, had spent half an hour reassuring her that they were fine — one of the idiots made the work unnecessarily bloody and the other flinched every time she moved, as if Anna were handling daggers, not ice packs.
She was tired and longed for her bed and her best friends,BenandJerry. But, Dax and Jack had said they would be happy to see her there for the last relaxing evening before the playoffs…and she didn’t want Lucas to get the impression she was avoiding him. Because she wasn’t! It was purely coincidence that they had only seen each other from a distance since their argument in front of his house.
Besides, she should probably start getting used to going out a bit more. She felt like she had put her social life on hold for almost two years, and now she was going to change that.
“Boys, our new star doctor is here!” Lucy announced as she stopped in front of a huge seating area. A dozen giants andtwo women were already sitting there. The women were Penny and Maddie, Matt Payne’s fiancée and Lucy’s sister. Altogether, there was a good-sized crowd. That was good because then she wouldn’t have to have contact with Lucas…
“Here, we saved you a seat,” Dax said and pulled her onto the bench next to him…directly opposite Lucas Moreau.
Oh, great.
Anna automatically pulled her legs in as she sat because the bastard had rather long ones, and she wouldn’t want him to think that she was deliberately playing footsie.
“It’s good that you’re here!” Penny called out, giving her the distraction she needed. She had no desire to greet or even look at the person across from her, even though she could feel his gaze on her. “We need a little more estrogen here.”
“No, what we need is ano women allowedsign,” Leon mumbled unhappily. Penny rolled her eyes and said something to him in Spanish, whereupon he promptly turned as red as the strawberry daiquiri that Lucy was setting in front of Anna.
“So, Penny will definitely get the Leon-tamer trophy,” Matt said, shaking his head.
“Unfortunately, there isn’t one,” Maddie said contritely, and the next moment, pulled a bulging jute bag out from under the table. She tipped it over and about twenty small plastic Oscar figures rolled out, each with a different inscription on the base.
“Why are there so many, Maddie?” Lucy asked, perplexed.
Her sister shrugged and turned pink. “Well, I made a few more participation trophies. I didn’t want anyone to be sad if they didn’t win.”
Matt chuckled softly and kissed her temple. “I’m sure we’ll all be okay if we don’t win the award for…” He pulled two of the Oscars toward him. “…Biggest Whipping BoyorMost Pathetic Funnyman.”
“Speak for yourself,” Leon shouted. “Biggest Whipping Boyis mine!”
“I don’t know,” Anna said doubtfully. “I’ve been studying a lot of medical records over the last week and Charkov leaves the ice with the most black eyes.”
“Which means he can win the trophy forBiggest Wimp,” Leon replied incredulously. “I’m just better at ducking than he is!”
“I no understand. I like ducks. Smart animals,” Charkov said, frowning.
That made everyone laugh and Lucy grabbed the first Oscar from the table with a grin. “Sorry, Leon. Anna is right, Charkov wins round one!”
The Russian smiled smugly and thanked her.
“Charkov,” Fox muttered warningly, “that’s not a good thing! It’s a hint that you should fightlessso that you don’t cost us quite as many penalty minutes!”
“Yeah, yeah. Only hit when nobody looking,” the defender replied and waved it off.
Fox groaned and Lucy snorted. Maddie grinned and pulled out theBiggest Clown on Icetrophy, which went unanimously to Leon, who had even outshone the mascot with some of his performances. The player seemed to be somewhat appeased by it…and Anna noticed herself relaxing. In fact, she was laughing more than she had in a long time. And she felt like she belonged. She had missed that, being out with friends and not stressed in the slightest.
The only tiring thing was ignoring Lucas. Whenever she saw him raise his beer to his lips, even out of the corner of her eye, her gaze was drawn to him. You’d think it would be easy to ignore the eternally silent guy, but the longer he remained silent, the more often Anna wanted to look at him. She was tempted to study his reactions. His posture, his face – all of that revealed somuch more about the man than his words. It didn’t help that she kept imagining his gaze on her. Every time she turned, though, he was talking quietly with Fox or staring at the glass he was turning in his hands.
A small black stone landed in her stomach. Shit, he really and truly didn’t care about her, did he? To him, it was as if nothing had ever happened between them.
“Okay, ladies and gentlemen,” Lucy announced loudly, banging her fingers on the table in a drum roll. “The last two categories for theCups of Shameare coming up. The moment we’ve all been waiting for! Who gets theScandal Cupand who gets theInnocent Lamb?”
A dignified cheer and applause went around the table while Maddie asked with a frown: “Why exactly is it a shame to be innocent? I mean, I’m an innocent lamb too.”
“Oh, really?” her sister commented with interest. “I saw three pairs of handcuffs next to your bed, which suggests otherwise.”
Maddie’s eyes widened in shock. “Lucy!”
“Yeah, seriously,” Matt replied angrily. “There are four now and…ouch, Maddie!” He rubbed his arm dramatically where his fiancée had hit him. “You insist on always being honest with friends!”
