“It was me,” my confession spills out of me before I grab my glass and take a drink, my throat suddenly dry as hell.This ‘show her you’re more than your money’ thing isreallygoing well.
She blinks. “Why did you pay for my tab? I’m quite capable of?—”
“It was for Benny,” I say quickly, thanking all the hockey gods for helping me come up with that half-truth. “He was cool, and I wanted to make sure he had a nice send off.”
“For Benny…” she drawls, nodding slowly. “Right. Well, that was very nice of you to do that. ForBenny.”
“Yep. That’s me. Super nice doing things for only Benny.”
She leans back, breaking our connection. The amount of money I would pay to know what she’s thinking right now is endless.Does she know I did it for her?I love Benny, but this was one-hundo percent for her and her alone. Running my hand through my hair, trying to calm my nerves down and figure out how to quiet her suspicions, I’m saved by the literal bell ringing above the door to Walt’s.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Kennedy spits as we see a couple walk in, hanging all over each other.
I flinch as the woman trips over an occupied table, the man making no attempt to catch her.Did I say walking? I meant stumbling. They’ve both hadwaytoo much to drink.
And the man leading a very drunk woman to the bar is none other than Chadd fucking McDickwad, III.
33
jordan
“What the hell is he doing here?” Kennedy grumbles through gritted teeth.
Without a second thought, I put my arm around the back of her chair, the hand in my lap balling into a fist. The fucking audacity of this guy showing his face here. We deal with him as our pilot because we have to, but seeing him at Walt’s, at a known Riders bar? The enforcer in me wants to pummel him into nothing more than a heap of dust on the floor.God, if only I had this guy on the ice right now.
“And who the hell is he with?” I say to everyone and no one all at once.
As if summoned by magic, Tay appears behind us, leaning forward to almost whisper in our ears.
“That’s Mara. She’s the new production assistant for the broadcast crew. Just started a couple months back. Apparently, the former assistant Bridget got accused of selling her employee tickets online, which is a big no-no.”
I look over my shoulder as he smiles and walks away. “No wonder she looks familiar,” I mumble, a chill running down my spine at anyone who would be willing to be seen with Chadd with two d’s. “Are they together?”
“Apparently, the poor thing.” Kennedy clicks her tongue. “Why the hell is she wearing sunglasses inside? At night?”
I can’t help but snort. “I mean, if I were with Chadd McLoser, I would want to dull my senses so I couldn’t see him too.”
Kennedy chokes on her drink, slamming it down as she tries to swallow while gasping for air. After a moment, panic sets in as her cheeks redden, patting her chest to help swallow down the gin.Is she okay? Did I kill her with my joke?But she regains her breath and laughs hysterically, laying her hand against my arm. My fingers itch to cover hers. This patting my arm when she laughs thing is quickly becoming my new favorite thing in the entire world.Apparently, she likes my jokes.I gotta tuck that little nugget into my arsenal of Things Kennedy Likes because I could listen to the sound of her laugh every day.
“Oh my God! I would gouge my eyes out if I had to look at Chadd McDouchenozzle more than I have to. Sitting with him on a flight for hours at a time is astruggle.” She fakes a full-body shiver as Chadd tries to take his date’s sunglasses off, and she swats his hand away, sending both of us laughing at the sight of the two of them.
That’s when he clocks us, his eyes glassy but focused. I suck my teeth. I’m guessing drunk Chadd is not going to be happy seeing us here. Without saying anything to Mara, he glares and heads our way. Man…I hate being right.
“Is that our other pilot?” EJ asks down the table. My heart soars; everyone loves and knows Kennedy by name, while he’s nothing more than the ‘other pilot.’Serves him right for being a giant dick.
“Looks like it. What the hell is he doing here?” Larsy asks, the whole table quieting as he stumbles toward us.
“Kennedy,” Chadd singsongs with a goddamn smirk on his face. “I see you are still trying to cradle rob your way to the top.”
I grit my teeth wishing I could stick, gloves, shirt this guy and beat the shit out of him with only a five-minute penalty. I take a deep breath, calming the fighter in me, reminding myself that my off-ice personality is always supposed to be smiling and friendly, even if my smile is psychotic. I slowly stand to face him.God, do I want to punch his smug little face.But I keep my cool, like I always do, and chirp him like an opponent.
“Chadd McDoubleD! I see you’ve finally found someone to get your dick wet with. Was it hard to find one who doesn’t mind it being the size of a baby carrot?” Several of my teammates snicker, their wives just as pleased knowing how badly he’s treated my girlfriend. Fake or not, she’s mine to defend.
“Wow.Realmature, Boucher.” He takes a step toward me. “I guess when someone gold digs for money, they don’t exactly get the cream of the crop, do they?” he taunts as he pokes me in the chest.
As if we planned it, my entire team stands up from the table, like we’re reenacting a scene from a movie where someone pisses off the main character and the whole bar backs them up. I don’t bother hiding the smirk twisting my cheeks.God, I love these guys.
“You need to stop talking,” Vladi growls, and fuck if that isn’t scary.
