I nod but feel heat creep over my face. “Brie is great but—”
“She’s fantastic,” Len interrupts. “No buts about it.”
I nod. “But I’m not boyfriend material and she’s not the casual type.”
Len rolls her eyes so hard she looks like she’s having a seizure. “Oh come on. Don’t pretend that you’re some stereotypical hockey jock who wants nothing more than to get his hockey stick wet. You’re not. I already know that. Those types don’t volunteer with orphaned kids and they don’t save girls like Mackenzie from the street.”
“You’re right. I’m not like that,” I argue back. “But I’m not the type of guy Brie wants either.”
She frowns. “Shouldn’t you be talking to her about what she wants?”
“I will,” I say. “I’m on my way there now.”
Len looks disappointed. “Alex, I have to say if you truly feel that way then you’re right. Brie has been through enough in her life. I don’t want her to deal with a player. She’s better than that.”
I nod, not in the least offended. “She is.”
“It’s just, the way you are with the kids and with Mackenzie especially, makes me think you’d understand her past and you’d get Brie on levels that Victor never did,” Len says quietly. “On levels even I don’t get her on.”
She adjusts the bag on her shoulder and turns and starts up the stairs. I should walk away, head over to Brie’s and forget this conversation, but I can’t. I stare at her and as she digs out her key fob to open the front door I call out, “What’s her past?”
“That’s for her to tell you, not me,” Len replies firmly and now the smile she’s giving me is less friendly, less warm. “And she won’t. If you won’t let her in, she won’t let you in.”
She disappears into Daphne’s House. I pull out my phone to call a Lyft to head to Brie’s. What in the world could have happened in Brie’s past that Len thinks only someone as broken and fucked up as me would “get” her? Then again, Len might not know my past. She probably just sees me as a rich athlete. Let’s face it, most kids who play hockey grow up in comfortable families because hockey is not a cheap hobby and it costs even more if you’re trying to get your kid into the NHL with off-season training sessions and what not. I doubt my history has anything in common with a girl who spent her summers in that mansion in the Hamptons.
My phone starts ringing as I wait for my ride and I see Rose’s name on the call display. As soon as I answer there’s a trio of voices blurting things out.
“It’s Rose, Callie and Jessie! We’ve got you on speaker,” Rose says.
“We’re calling about that dinner we invited you and Brie to,” Callie pipes up.
“We’ve decided it’s going to be a small party instead,” Jessie adds. “At your house.”
“What?”
“Your new apartment,” Callie clarifies. “A housewarming.”
“Don’t worry,” Rose adds before I can say no. “We’ll do everything from invitations to food. You just have to text me your address.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Housewarmings are imperative or else it’s not a house. It’s just four walls and a roof,” Callie insists. “So if you don’t give us your address, I’ll make Devin do it.”
“It’s happening Alex,” Jessie assures me. “Friday after you guys come home from your game in Chicago. So try not to get punched for once. I want the steak to be for the guests, not a black eye.”
“Address?” Rose demands in a happy singsong voice but it’s still a demand.
I sigh as loud as I can so they know I am not pleased, even though I don’t think it matters to them in the slightest. I give them my address and I can actually hear them high-fiving each other in victory. Jesus, these girls are forces of nature, like tornados or hurricanes or tsunamis.
“Thanks, Rue,” Callie says happily. “You won’t regret it!”
“I already do!” I reply, but they’ve hung up.
I sigh. What fresh hell is this?
Chapter 15
Brie
