Now where the hell did this boyfriend come from?
“Good for her,” Matt stated. “Anyway, can someone tell me why they don’t have Babybel at the minibar?”
“I’ll ask,” Lucas said, rising abruptly.
“Um…thanks?” The striker looked at him confused, but he ignored him and simply left his food and the rest of the team waiting there.
So, where the hell was Anna?
Chapter Sixteen
Sixteenth encounter
“You have a lot of ice cream in your fridge.”
“Define 'a lot.'”
“Three tubs.”
“That’s the minimum. I need that in case I’m feeling down,” Anna replied indignantly. “Besides, why are you peeking in my freezer?”
He lifted one corner of his mouth. “Ice cubes. Close your eyes.”
Anna stared at her reflection in the hotel elevator door and took a deep breath. She didn’t know what someone typically wore to meet their father when they hadn’t seen him in almost eight years. Maybe a shirt with a raised middle finger on it?
That might send a different message than the one she wanted to convey. She wanted her father to know she wanted to move on from her childhood trauma.
What she would say to him was probably much more important, anyway.
But she didn’t know what to say outright, either. All she had planned to do was listen to him because everyone deserved a chance to explain, right?
She nervously tugged at her sleeves. Dax would have a different opinion. Dax would claim that they’d already given him hundreds of chances and he’d wasted every single one. Anna, though, was an adult. She had her dream job and a group of friends, and she went out more often than before. And yet, she still felt restless. Still felt like she was holding back, and didn’t know why. She had the faint, secret hope that a conversation with her father might provide her with an explanation, might help her finally look ahead.
Anna jumped in shock when the elevator doors opened.
Lucas was standing there. Like a damn tree.
He stared at her silently, his face expressionless. His body, though, was so tense she could have set him like an arrow on a bow and launch him. Barely noticeable, his jaw was grinding, and his hands were clearly clenched in his pockets. As always, he only had control over his voice, not his body language.
She exited, looking at him with raised eyebrows. “Oh man, someone’s angry,” she said cheerfully, walking past him and crossing the lobby. She didn’t have time for angry Lucas. Let him take on the person who had provoked the anger.
Then she had the feeling that she was that lucky person, because he started following her.
Frowning, she glanced at him without stopping. “Can I help you with something?”
His jaw cracked.
She sighed. “You know, bottling up all that anger can’t be good for your blood pressure,” she said, stepping out the sliding door and heading toward the parking lot. “So, what happened?”
“What the hell, Anna?” he growled barely audibly.
“I have no idea what the hell is going on. Although this conversation with you is starting to feel like it is heading for a bad end,” she said, unfazed, pulling her car keys from her purse. She had done nothing to deserve his anger. “Could you make some less exasperated sounds and use words instead? I know you’re not into them, but sometimes they’re quite useful.”
“You have aboyfriend?” he spat.
She looked at him, irritated. “What? You’ll have to be more specific.”
“You have a boyfriend you met on Tinder?” he obliged.
