"I thought he was doing press." Tenley scrunches up her perfect little nose. "Anyway, Mallory is walking Liv and Dyllie Bear to the car. She'll be back in a minute."
“And hopefully she can hang for a bit,” Shelby adds. “Parents’ night out!”
“Liv is taking Dylan home. He’s exhausted and getting over a cold and Liv never parties anyway so this way Mal and Tater don’t have to rush home,” Tenley explains.
“Home to her place or Tate’s place?”
“Tate’s,” Tenley replies and blinks. “That’s your old house, right? I’ve wanted to ask you why you would give that place up. It’s amazing.”
“Too big for a bachelor,” I reply quickly. “I should go shower. Nice meeting you Shelby.”
“You too, Crew.”
I dodge people as quickly as possible and make my way back to the locker room without stopping for anyone else. Not even my brother who is at the end of the hall surrounded by reporters. He glares at me for a millisecond, something only a twin would notice. I ignore it, rush through my shower, and am out the door and in my car heading to Venice before Nash has even taken off his pads I’d bet.
I'm hellbent on having another conversation with Olivia but to what end? I mean she's right. She was a one-night stand. That night has come and gone. The deal is done. But the thing is, I wasn't clear on the details of that night and I don't think that's fair.
The streets are clogged like they always are in Los Angeles, but because it's a Tuesday it's not unbearable. I'm also grateful I can avoid the freeways and take regular streets from the arena downtown to the beach community where my former home, and my current home, are located. The only thing I really detest about California is the freeways.
I expect the call from Nash that lights up the screen in the dash of my Tesla. And I ignore it. I can drive to Tate’s house on autopilot because I lived there for years. I never wanted to live there, though. My ex Anne-Marie picked it out one day, from a real estate site, and insisted we go to the open house. I didn’t even know we were looking to buy. I mean… I wasn’t.
I’m slightly superstitious and I was in the first couple years of my first NHL contract. I didn't want to jinx anything by getting too comfortable. Tons of guys get dropped down to the farm team or traded away before their first contract ends. Committing to a house seemed like jinxing myself. But yet somehow I was signing an offer on the Tuscan-style McMansion on the Venice Canals by the end of the day. I would have done anything to make Anne-Marie happy. I loved her that much. But it was a trick because nothing I did could or would ever make her happy.
I push Anne-Marie out of my head as I turn down the narrow street I know so well and slide the car into the driveway behind Mallory’s car. I get out of mine and walk swiftly up the path that leads to the front door, located midway down the side of the house.
I'm glad this place is working out for Tate. He and Mallory have decided to buy it off me and we're just waiting for the lawyers to finalize everything. However, I'm not buying his townhouse that I've been living in since we decided to swap homes at the end of last season. In fact, I'm in the process of trying to find a new place to buy. I honestly can't decide where or what I want.
I ring the bell, a sound I always hated, and then knock on the door for good measure. Anne-Marie bought some custom bell that sounded like seagulls however it was a stupid idea because there are seagulls everywhere in Venice California. It's a beach community. I could never tell the doorbell from the birds outside, hence the additional knock.
I'm left there waiting so long, with nothing but the sound of the canal lapping gently against the cement borders of the walking paths that skirt the house, that I contemplate knocking again. Harder. But the outside light comes on suddenly and through the still-closed door I hear "Hello?"
It's Olivia, but her voice is abnormally low like she's trying to sound like a man. I smirk. "Hey. No human trafficker or serial killer here. Just the only guy you've seen naked."
The lock turns, the door opens, and she's standing there, still in the same clothes she wore to the game. Her gaze is hard and she shushes me. "Never say that out loud again. Also, you are not the only guy I've seen naked. Get over yourself."
Okay so me and my stupid mouth just made a bad situation worse. Nifty. What is it about her that brings out the stupid in me?
I swallow down the urge to turn and run and just leave her alone forever. “Can I come in?”
She lets go of the open door and steps aside, her non-verbal yes. I step over the threshold and am shocked at how I barely recognize the place. It’s not like Tate and Mallory have changed anything structurally on my old house. All the walls, windows, and doors are still in the same place. Hell, some of the furniture is still the same, but itfeelsdifferent. They painted the living room a soft, smoky blue and the couch is in a different place, swung around to have views of the fenced yard and the wide-screen TV. And it smells like cookies and ocean air. But it's not those small changes that make it foreign either. It's hard to explain but it doesn't just look lived in, it looks loved. When Anne-Marie and I lived here it looked pretentious and stiff and… unloved.
"What?" Olivia says, and I realize I'm staring off at the contents of the open-concept first floor and not at her.
“Sorry. I used to live here and it’s weird sometimes to be back.” I give my head an actual shake and focus on her. She looks uncomfortable. Her hands are tucked up into the sleeves of her hockey jersey and her cheeks are a little pink. She isn’t looking me in the eye but instead studying the very expensive travertine tile Anne-Marie insisted we install. “I’m also sorry about… that night in Vegas. I came on strong and went in hard and fast and I… had I known I would have?—”
“Not done it,” she interrupts. “Not done me. You would have looked at me like you did in the arena hallway. Like I’m a freak. A loser. And you would have bolted.”
“No.”
She looks up now, briefly, and then turns and walks into the living room. I follow. I don’t see Dylan anywhere. She must have put him to bed already. “You say no because you think it makes you a bad guy to admit the truth. But your eyes gave it all away earlier.”
“I was shocked, okay? That you’re Tate’s relative. He’s my best friend and teammate and like I said we had a pact. Also, I was a little confused as to why you didn’t mention you were related to him." She looks me in the eye only long enough to glare and then turns and walks to the bi-fold doors that lead to the small yard that backs onto the canal. "It might not have stopped me. I mean… I definitely wouldn't have wanted to stop or leave. If anything stopped me it would have been the pact, not the virginity thing."
She looks skeptical when I say that so I keep talking and pray I don’t stick another foot in my mouth. “I don’t have a kink for virgins or anything. But I’m not phobic over the whole thing either. I truly believe that it’s not a big deal either way, which I guess you believe too since you, like, just…”
“Fucked you?” The word fucked coming out of her mouth is somehow super-hot. So is that cocked eyebrow of hers. Olivia is sexy AF in every mood. At least my dick seems to think so.
“Why me?”
