He looked at the bag like it was holy, then stepped aside. “That’s why Ilikeyou, Jay. You come bearing gifts even when I beat you to the prize.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped inside, seriously, the guy never quit. It made him damn successful on and off the ice, even if there were days when I got why he inspired the urge to punch him. She was seated at the kitchen island in a loose sleep tee and shorts, barefoot, hair up, one leg tucked under her while she worked at her laptop.
Her eyes lit up when she saw me. “Jay.”
Yeah, okay. That helped.
“Good morning.” I walked over and set the coffee and the treat down beside her. “Brought you breakfast. I wasn’t sure if you’d already eaten.”
She gave a soft, delighted sound and reached for the coffee first, eyes fluttering closed when she took a sip. “This might be love.”
“Better not be,” Rhett muttered from behind me. “Or I’m gonna have to start sleeping with the guy who owns that café.”
Wren snorted, then caught my gaze and—God—it did something to me. There was warmth there. Openness.Want.
I’d never considered myself someone who needed reassurance. But that look? That was my oxygen.
“I’d like to take you on a date,” she said, voice soft but sure.
That startled me a little. “A date?”
She nodded. “A real one. With food and…whatever you like.”
“Wait—you’reaskinghimout?” Rhett asked, grabbing an apple from the bowl and tossing it in the air. “I mean, I get it, the hair, the cheekbones, the intense brooding?—”
Wren reached out, placed a hand firmly over his mouth, and arched an eyebrow. “You’re not helping.”
His muffled laughter vibrated against her palm. But when she pulled her hand back, Rhett winked at both of us. “I fully support being romanced. Just saying. You want to seduce me with a charcuterie board and a night of bad decisions, I’m in.”
“Duly noted,” she said dryly, then turned her attention back to me. “But yes. If you want to, I’d like to take you out.”
A slow smile curved my mouth. “I would enjoy that.” Under-fucking-statement of the year, but I was definitely in.
She let out a breath like she hadn’t realized she’d been holding it. “Only problem is… I don’t want to be a distraction.”
That seemed fair. We had alotgoing on right now. Though, I didn’t think she wanted me to tell her that she was as far from a distraction as you could get. The games were a distraction, not her.
“The playoffs,” I said.
“The brackets drop today,” she confirmed. “Everything’s about to get louder and messier. I don’t want to pull you away from the focus.”
“I think you’re the one who’s beenhelpingme stay focused,” I told her. She needed to know that, if nothing else. Particularly with all the shit she was wading through to protect us—and the team. “But I get it. We’ve got a job to do.”
Rhett crunched through a couple more bites, his mood bright enough to light up a neon sign. “So serious. We’ll get through this, then we can take turns dating you while Jay files spreadsheets about my greatness.”
“I’m not putting that in a spreadsheet,” I said, not even having to put effort into my dry tone.
“Oh, but you’dreadit.” The man never shut up. At the same time, there was a happiness radiating off of both of them. A kind of joy I was more than happy to see.
Wren shook her head, laughing softly, and picked out a pastry from the bag, before breaking off a buttery corner. “I don’t know precisely who we’re facing yet,” she said after a beat. “But I have ideas.”
“So do I.” I sipped my coffee. “We’ll be ready.”
Her smile was there again, subtle but genuine. When she offered me a piece of the pastry, I opened my mouth to let her feed me. It was a little sweeter than I liked but no way in hell would I tell her no.
Leaning against the counter, I soaked in her good mood. Rhett finished his apple before he took another drink of his coffee and gave her little mournful eyes until she fed him some pastry too in between skimming her emails.
She shared more with me, but I was sure that was as much because I brought it as it was to give Rhett shit. Not that it mattered, I enjoyed her simple pleasure in the activity. Enjoyed even more that we just were, the three of us in her quiet kitchen before we had to hit the ice and the press.
