“I’m sending the rookie to get me another beer,” Jay said, jerking his thumb in Tommy’s direction. “You want one or are you gonna keep eye fucking the boss’s sister all afternoon?”
I grunted. “Can’t I do both?”
“Hey, Tommy,” Jay called out. “Get over here punk.” The tall kid joined us, running a hand through his mop of sandy brown hair.
“This house is nuts, man. Do owners always throw parties like this?”
I snorted. “Our owner in New York was an eighty-six-year-old billionaire. The only parties he threw for us involved raising money for his favorite charities—usually the opera or the ballet or some shit. Can’t tell you how many times I had to sit and listen to a bunch of people on stage bellowing in Latin.”
“Poor Cap,” Jay said, patting my back. “It must have been hard being one of the highest paid athletes in New York City.”
“Well, if Andrew Knight ever drags our asses to the opera, you won’t be so quick to laugh.”
“Big boss man must have some serious cash, huh?” Tommy said, looking up at the stone behemoth behind us with not a small amount of awe.
“Yeah, kid. The fact that he could drop hundreds of millions on a hockey team should have been your first clue.”
“Guy’s probably not too pleased with his investment so far,” Enzo said, sounding glum. Out of anyone on this patio, he had the least to feel sorry about—the kid had been kicking ass in the net. Now if only the rest of the team could get our shit together.
“It’s way too early to get all negative,” Jay said calmly. “The regular season hasn’t even started yet. Anything could happen.”
That was the line the captains had been spouting for the past three weeks, trying to keep up the morale in spite of the ass kicking we’d been getting at nearly every exhibition game. But in private, even Jay and I had to admit that the pre-season had been rough. No professional athlete enjoys losing, and doing it so thoroughly and consistently was starting to get everyone down.
“If coach doesn’t get his head out of his ass, I don’t see things getting much better,” Enzo muttered quietly.
“Kid has a point,” Jay agreed. Our performance on the ice had been far less than stellar, but the players were not the only problem on this team. It almost seemed like Dillion wanted us to lose, based on how little effort he was putting into his coaching duties. He was consistently underplaying the younger guys, even the ones who had been showing some real potential at camp. He definitely favored veterans, particularly the ones who came over from Atlanta with him. The last exhibition game, he hadn’t even called the lines, handing the responsibility off to one of the assistant coaches while he did little more than pace and sneak into the tunnel behind the bench to smoke cigars.
“Shit, now I’m depressed,” Jay muttered. He nudged Tommy. “Go grab us a beer, kid.”
“Be careful over there,” Dalton said, appearing at Enzo’s side. “Some blonde chick practically hopped on my junk in the middle of the party.”
“Was she hot?” Enzo asked. “Because I got to tell you, I wouldn’t mind a little junk hopping. It’s been a while.”
“Goalie needs to get laid,” Tommy grinned.
Jay held up a hand. “Hang on now. He’s been playing pretty damn good. Maybe celibacy helps his game.”
“Jesus, there’s a depressing thought,” Enzo muttered.
“So who was this blonde?” Jay asked, peering over to the patio where the beer tubs were. Gabriel scanned the area before nodding to a corner. “That’s the one.”
I had a feeling I knew who would be standing there before I even turned around. Sure enough, Gabe nodded at the little huddle where Gracie stood with her friends.
“Shit man,” Enzo said. “She’s a freaking knock-out. Why aren’t you all over that?”
Gabe shrugged. “I like a little subtlety in my women.”
Enzo made a scoffing sound. “A woman who looks like that doesn’t need to be subtle.”
I had stopped paying attention to their banter the second I set eyes on Gracie. Her cheeks were still a little pink, the sun shining down on the hair I loved, lighting it up with a thousand shades of gold and red, like a sunset or the deepest flames of a campfire.
Jesus, listen to me. Next thing I knew I was going to start spouting poetry in front of the guys.
I slipped my sunglasses off so Gracie could see me more clearly, and raised my eyebrows, tilting my chin a little.Come over here.
She hesitated, fingers rubbing her collarbone, eyes jumping from me to her friends and then the larger crowd around the lawn.
Then I guess I’m coming to you, sweetheart,I thought. But before I could take a step, a little body came barreling into my legs. “Daddy, I’m hungry,” Josie whined, pulling on my hand.
