Landon smiles.“Yeah, I heard from Redov that my sister disappeared early, too.”
I just nod and become super interested in the weave of my suit fabric, suddenly.When silence falls between us, I glance up and see he is, in fact, staring at me.So I squeak out a fact that shouldn’t get me in trouble.“We shared an Uber.”
“Cool,” Landon says, and Grady chuckles.
I lean forward to see him grinning like a shithead beside Landon.“Is that a code word I don’t know?”
“Hey, G, why don’t you shut the fuck up?”I say with a big smile.
“Look, if something is going on with you and Lola, I’m not going to freak out,” Landon says.“In fact, I don’t even want to know.But if you hurt her, I will make it a problem.”
“Fair,” I say.I glance up, and he isn’t smiling, but Grady still is.“If you hurt Grady, I’d be the same way.”
“Aww…” Grady puts a big hand over his chest.“Love you, cousin.”
Landon takes Grady’s hand.“I’m not hurting him.He matters.He’s the only one who can get Randie to sleep when she’s colicky.”
I laugh.“Yeah, he’s great at putting women to sleep.I should’ve guessed he was gay before I saw Grindr on his phone.”
They both laugh, but then Grady uses his free hand to flip me the bird, which just makes me grin deeper.Landon glances at Callan, and I realize he’s taken his headphones out.“I’m a little shocked Cal hasn’t tried to trip you in practice or something, at the very least.”
“I’m cool with it.They both say it’s not serious,” Callan says, and I start nodding.“And who am I to deny her fun, or him for that matter?”
Landon nods.“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.It would be hypocritical of you.And you’re right.Lola would never get serious with a hockey player after Cordon.”
I stop nodding.“Cordon?”
Landon looks at me, and his brow furrows.His gaze darts to Callan and then back to me.“Yeah.He was her first boyfriend, she dated him for years.”
“Ryan Cordon,” Callan grumbles out his full name, in case there was any doubt in my mind who Lola’s ex was.“The Thunder’s own pride and joy.”
He rolls his eyes, and Landon frowns.“Hate that kid.”
My brain digs through past games against the Thunder.When I was with Vegas, we played them a lot, whereas on the East Coast, we only play them twice a season, this being the first.Ryan has been with the Thunder for… two years?Which makes sense if he went to college and entered the draft from there.He was… not that remarkable.I mean, I don’t remember him standing out in any game.
“What?”Grady says, and my attention flips to him.He’s studying my face.“You’re scowling, T.”
“Oh.I’m just thinking about the game,” I mutter.
“Mmmm hmmm…” Grady says it like he knows my words are lies.I flip him the bird again.
I hit the ice for warm-up and immediately glide at top speed along the center line, so I can get a clear view of the Thunder as they hit the ice.I spot Ryan on my second pass.He’s helmet-less like most of us are for warm-ups, so I get a good look at him, something I’ve never bothered to do before.He’s got light eyes and dark hair.He’s shorter than me but not short.He’s probably five-eleven.He seems like he’s probably leaner than me, but it’s hard to tell with the equipment.I refocus on the net and skate by, taking a shot on Grady that he knocks away with his blocker.
I move to stretch by the boards and scan the glass.Callan mentioned his family has seats in the lower bowl, and while we were dressing, Landon said Randie would be up by the boards to say hi to her daddies.I assume that means Lola will be too.And… there she is.Holding Randie up to the glass and smiling.Fuck, why does she have to be so beautiful?
She takes my breath away and makes my chest warm, and I have a sinking feeling that’s about more than her looks.But she made it clear she doesn’t want to date.Not me, and I don’t blame her.I was the worst bet possible up until recently.And she’s been burned before.But damn, I have to fight a smile as our eyes connect.
We head off the ice as warm-up ends, and I pause at the bench to talk to Danny, one of the equipment guys, about my stick since the tape is fraying.The Thunder leave slower, always wanting to be the last to leave their own ice, and I look up as the equipment manager digs around for the tape I like.I see a Thunder player by the glass where Lola is.His jersey reads… Cordon.
What the fuck is he doing?
Cordon skates away a second later, joining his teammates and heading down the tunnel.I stare after him, the blood in my veins boiling because… did he just fucking talk to Lola?I get my stick back and turn back to where she was with her mother, but they’re barely visible now, sitting down and talking.
“Anything else, Theo?”
I shake my head and try to smile at Danny, then force myself to head down our tunnel because skating back out onto the ice would be an issue.Even though all I want is to head straight to her.On top of the hockey rules, why would a bed buddy have a right to know what’s going on with her and her ex?She made it clear she’s not interested in even talking to him, and even if she was, we haven’t had the exclusive talk, so I have no right to an opinion here.I should set that boundary, though, if we’re going to keep doing this.I just assumed because I wasn’t with anyone, she wouldn’t be either.I’m an idiot.
Callan keeps looking over at me as we tweak our equipment and chat with each other before the game.
