I place my hand on her arm, needing to calm her. “Take a chill pill. It really was a one-time spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. He wasn’t even there when I woke up.”
“What an jerk.” Hadley isn’t impressed.
“Can we forget about it?” I attempt to plead. We both notice Connor leave the box to hop back onto the ice.
She rolls her eyes. “Fine. But give him a piece of your mind after the game. You’re entitled to that.”
“No, Hadley. We’re all entitled to a no-strings night, and we agreed on the morning protocol. Now, will you focus on your man who just intercepted the pass?” I try to refocus her attention.
I’m very well aware that I might run into Vaughn after this game.
* * *
I shouldn’t do this.Not after that call. But I need to make one more attempt.
It’s the least I can do for him or her who is currently in my belly and causing my stomach to swirl. It’s as though the baby can pick up that I’m anxious and decided to make my stomach flop with nerves a few extra times.
I’m standing in the hall near the locker rooms for the opposition, thankful that I’m able to be back here. Still, I do my best to blend in and stay out of the way. The Spinners won, which means Vaughn probably isn’t in the best of moods. However, quite frankly, his dickish move of having someone else deliver the message that I’m never to contact him again causes me to not particularly care about his precious post-game feelings.
I nervously fidget with my fingers as I wait, reminding myself that I need to do this. My head perks up when I hear the door to the locker room open and a few players leave, but not Vaughn.
Oh great, let’s draw this process out.
I’m not sure how many times I glance at the door when it opens with a brief excitement that I can cut the tether on this situation off. Finally, the door opens, and my chest tightens at the sight of a freshly showered Vaughn in a navy-blue suit. I want to scold myself for melting a little at the image before me.
His head hangs low until it doesn’t. His eyes zap up because he caught sight of me in the corner of his eye. It surprises me that his mouth tugs, as if he’s happy to see me. He quickly scans the area to see if anyone would notice, but everyone seems busy with their own tasks. Vaughn takes a few steps in my direction.
“Hey, Isla.” His voice sounds soft. “Thought I might see you here.”
“Hi.” I give a ridiculous little wave like I’m a schoolgirl with a crush, but I clear my throat when sense hits me. “Uhm, listen, I know you don’t really want to see me?—”
“What?” Lines form on his forehead.
I glance away because his blue eyes on me feel too much, almost as if I should let him off easy. “Come on, Vaughn, I’m a big girl and got the memo that we are very much forgetting… late-season hurricanes.” I can’t muster the words to describe our explosive night.
He reaches out his fingers to gently touch my shoulder, and again, he studies the hall to make sure we’re under the radar. “Again, what?”
“Your… a woman delivered the message that you are very much occupied and?—”
Vaughn looks at me as if I’m an alien. “I’m sorry, I’mverylost. I know I didn’t text, which is kind of a shitty move considering we were bound to run into one another tonight. But I don’t understand about a woman delivering a message.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s okay, you don’t owe me an explanation.”
He seems to be thinking and then something dawns on him before he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Oh no. Ugh,” he grumbles. “Did this woman sound like Barbie?”
I lift a shoulder to my ear. “I guess.”
“Isla, she’s no one.”
I hold my hand up. “You don’t need to justify it.”
“Really.” He’s adamant, and his eyes bug out. “My neighbor has a crazy woman who visits their house, and she won’t get the hint that I’m not interested. She had my phone. You must be the call that she erased from my call log.”
I could cry. Hope fills me to the brim; this is a promising turn of events.
“She called you babe and said you two had to go somewhere for drinks.” I need to double-check that this beacon of light isn’t a lie.
He scoffs a sound. “Trust me, that never happened.”
