“Do you want to sit in Matty’s seats or Theo’s?” She pushes the button to call for the elevator. “Actually, we can see which has a better view.”
I laugh softly, unable to fight the smile tugging across my lips. “That’s a good idea. Are there seats not near each other?”
“No idea,” she shrugs as the elevator doors slide open and we step inside. “Guess we’ll find out.”
Our laughter fills the space as the doors shut and we ride up to the floor we need. We compare seats, which are both in the lower bowl, but we ultimately end up sitting in Matteo’s. His has a better view of the entire sheet of ice.
We have time until warmups start so we end up walking around, buying merch and some candy and fries. The concourse is packed full of people getting food and drinks and we duck into the section where we’re sitting, making our way down to the seats in the third row, just along the aisle.
“So, you and Matty have been spending a lot of time together,” she says casually as we settle into our seats and wait for the guys to come out.
My stomach does a somersault. “Yeah, we’ve been hanging out a bit.”
“He really likes you, Jade,” she says after a moment, her voice soft. “I’ve never seen him like this before.”
I turn to look at her, my eyes widening slightly. “We’re just friends.”
She tilts her head to the side. “I’m not so sure that’s what you guys are anymore.”
The lights grow brighter and the music grows louder, the bass vibrating through the floor. The crowd roars, echoing around the arena, filling the space. It’s my own personal reprieve from having to formulate a response to Lucy.
Matteo skates out, stopping for a drink at the bench before skating along the blue line. His head lifts, turning in our direction. His gaze flickers to mine and I don’t miss the way his lips curl upwards.
Lucy glances at me from the corner of her eye, shaking her head with a knowing smile. “Friends don’t look at friends like that.”
Matteo holds my gaze and my stomach flutters.
No, they don’t, do they?
The first and second period fly by and Matteo’s unstoppable on the ice. They’re down by one going into the third, but he scored a goal in the first and got an assist in the second.
Lucy and I rise to our feet. “Want to get a drink?”
I glance down at our now empty cups. The drink we got in the first period is long gone. “Sure!”
We head up the stairs to the main concourse and make our way over to one of the crowded bars. You wouldn’t think the Ice Hawks were losing with how excited and loud the crowd is.
Lucy grabs my hand, pulling me through a small gap to find us a place to stand and order our drinks. “Next game, we’re getting our food and drinks downstairs.” She shakes her head. “The boys need to just get us a suite.”
I laugh. “I wouldn’t be against that.”
“You tell Matty and I’ll tell Theo. Neither of them will be able to say no.”
The bartender comes over for our order and Lucy tells them two vodka cranberries, just to make it simple.
“Did you see the photo of Matteo Ford with a new woman on his arm at the charity gala?”
My spine stiffens immediately as I catch his name coming from another woman’s lips. I look past Lucy, over to a group of three women crowded together at the bar.
Lucy’s fact contorts. “What the hell?”
My stomach is on the floor. I give her a small shake of my head.
“I’m not surprised,” one of the other women chimes in. “He always has a new girl.”
I pull my eyes away from them, staring straight ahead at the rows of liquor on the shelf. This cannot be happening right now. Don’t these women have anything better to do than creep on professional athletes.
“How do you know all this?” the woman with red hair asks.
