I wish I was surprised.
Morgan
I’m not sure he understands the kind of team you’re building here.
Tucker
This guy’s a walking PR nightmare.
Morgan
Truer words were never spoken.
Tucker
Your call, AJ.
AJ
I’m on it.
Chapter Forty-Five
AIDAN
The air has that damp chill that always precedes a snowfall. Tonight’s impending storm is predicted to dump half a foot of snow by morning, as winter comes in with a bang.
With any luck, I’ll be watching the first flakes fall from my bedroom window, with Morgan tucked in beside me. It’s a ridiculous thing to hope for, given my inability to be honest about my feelings the last few times we talked and the fact that she’s meeting another guy for a date tonight.
I might be the underdog going into this, but I’m not giving up without a fight.
Small groups mill around outside the restaurant, grumbling about the wait and the weather, and blending in with them gives me the perfect cover to scan the well-lit interior of the restaurant, where I spy Morgan sitting alone along the wall.
I knew she’d be early. Banked on it, actually. Why this asshole isn’t picking her up for dates, or taking her home afterward, makes no sense to me. But tonight, it’s working in my favor.
I pull my collar up around my neck and keep my head down, hoping I’m not recognized before he arrives. Luckily, he’s righton time and comes strolling toward the door at a brisk pace, until I step into his path.
“Hey, man,” I say, and he steps back like I’m a danger to him. Which I am, but not in the way he first thinks. But then the recognition dawns in his eyes.
“Oh, wow. Hey. You’re?—”
“Yeah,” I interrupt before he can draw anyone’s attention by saying my name. Maybe no one out on this sidewalk is a hockey fan, but just in case.
“Are you...eating here tonight?” His brows scrunch together, clearly wondering why I’m standing outside this restaurant talking to him.
“Depends on you, actually.”
With his brows still low and one side of his mouth pulling back slightly, his face is full of confusion. “How so?”
“I have a proposition for you. What do you say I get you a luxury box for next season, and you don’t show up for dinner tonight?”
“Why...?” He drags out the question, clearly having trouble figuring out why I’d spend over a hundred grand to have dinner with his date.
“Because that girl you’re going to meet tonight? She has my whole heart. I’m pretty sure I have hers too.”
“Then why has she gone out with me several times?”
My lips twist together the same way they do when I’m physically in pain. “Because she needs a good guy in her life, and I fucked up. Now, I need a chance to make things right. Maybe she won’t take me back, in which case you get the girlanda luxury box.”
