But he just shakes his head and kisses my forehead. “Later,” he says in a rough tone. “Okay?”
“Sure. Later.”
He pauses. “Liam asked me to babysit tonight. We don’t have a game, and he and Cathy need a night alone. Do you want to come with me?”
I freeze. “To babysit your niece? I’ve never met her before.”
“So consider this your first meeting.” His eyes lock with mine. “What do you say?”
This feels like a date.
And Hunter and I don’t date. At least, we’ve never really tried to date. Because I think we both know how disastrous that could be.
But I want to see him with his niece, and I want to spend time with him far too much to turn him down.
So I answer with, “I say yes.”
* * *
Hunter
“What the hell was that kiss?” Jared asks me the moment I meet him, Max, and Liam at Café du Monde.
The four of us are interrupted by a slew of autograph and selfie seekers, and by the time we finally snag a private table in the back, I was sure everyone would forget Jared’s question.
No such luck.
Liam grins. “That’s Hunt’sI-don’t-like-my-housemate-can’t-you-tellkiss.”
I shoot him a dirty look. “Asshole.”
Jared and Max exchange looks. “She’s not distracting you from hockey, is she?” Jared asks me.
“Like Ashley can distract you?” I counter.
His lip curls in annoyance. “Leave Ashley out of this.”
“Why?” Liam says, his brow cocked. “Did you two…”
“Nothing. We were nothing,” Jared says quickly. “Friends. That’s it.”
Liam and I exchange a look while Max assesses Jared curiously.
“Was she the girl in high school who you said you…” Max doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence.
“I said to shut it about Ashley.” The hardness in Jared’s voice is unmistakable, and whenever he sounds like that, we all know to back off.
Liam quickly changes the subject, and the four of us chat about hockey. Of course, they make sure to give me shit about my slump, but I have the last word given my game last night, and they all know it.
“You could still win MVP,” Max says to me. “You’ve got the line for it, and if you keep playing like you did last night, it’s yours to take.”
“We’ll see,” is all I say. “I’m pretty sure your all-world captain’s got it locked up.”
“Who, Wild?” Max shrugs. “Declan Wild’s already won it three times in his career. Besides, everybody around the league knows that—despite your recent little wobble—” He flashes me a grin—“your play this season is a big reason why New Orleans has a shot to make something happen in the playoffs. And the league loves to give it to somebody new. That could be you, man.”
“Back to the previous topic,” Liam says to me. “The one that’s the name of this glorious season we’re currently in.”
“Jesus, Liam.” I glare at him. “Give it a rest, will you?”
