His brow pulled together. “Let’s see.” He began counting them off. “First, like you’re the only thing he can focus on. Two, if he takes his eyes off you, you might disappear. And three, the best one in my opinion, the vibe he sends out that you are his.” He shivered dramatically. “Sexy as fuck.”
I tried to hide my smile. “He does not.” I knew he said it to me, but I had no idea he put it out there in a vibe.
“Trust me. He does.” He pointed to the ice. “Look at him. He’s all hot and bothered down there.”
My eyes went to Axel. The way his eyes fixed on me, then shot to Caden, made me smile. Maybe Caden was right. I winked at him, which softened his glare. He pointed to his eyes in thatI’m watching youthing that made me warm all over. Axel could have anyone he wanted, man or woman, but somehow, for whatever reason, he wanted me.
Until Williamson skated to a stop in front of him, taking his attention. Axel looked at him, then grinned. They fist bumped with their giant hockey gloves before skating off together. Unease set in as I watched them warm up together, and the smile I wore had faded a bit.
“Is he the ex you told me about?” Caden whispered.
“Yes,” I said, not taking my eyes off the ice. “That’s the one.”
We watched them warm up until Caden elbowed me. “That communication down there,” he pointed to the rink, “is work-related. They all look at each other like that. Like it’s the most fun they’ve ever had. It’s not personal between them.”
I swallowed, appreciating the reassurance. “How do you know?”
“Easy. It’s not the same smile. Not even close to the one he wears when he sees you. In my opinion, there is nothing to worry about.”
Relieved, I tried to let it go. “I need to introduce you to John. My roommate.”
“Is he hot?” Caden asked.
“Broadway understudy hot,” I replied. “He’s an actor. Search his name. You’ll see.”
While he went to work looking for John, my eyes went back to Axel. The team was heading into the locker room, and since Axel was the captain, he was the last one off the ice. When Karlsson walked in ahead of him, he turned and gave me a smoldering look before tapping his chest.
“Oh yeah. I’ll be very happy to meet him,” Caden said.
“I’ll make it happen.”
“I look forward to it.”
Taking a swallow of the overpriced beer Caden had bought, I let my eyes drift around the arena until I spotted him. There in the box directly across from our seats sat Davis Kennerly. I wonder if Axel knew his dad was here. Would he care?
“What are you looking at?” Caden asked.
“His dad is here,” I said, nodding toward the box across the way. “The luxury box behind the Nighthawks bench.”
Caden scanned the area. “Oh yeah. I see the resemblance. That’s a good thing, right?”
“I hope so.”
I split my attention between Davis and Axel. His unmistakable pride every time Axel’s line went in had to be a good thing. And when Axel scored a goal, I was so engrossedwatching his father’s reaction that I had to see the goal during the replay. Quickly taking out my phone, I flipped the camera to video and started recording him. Fortunately, they replayed the goal a couple of times during the time out, giving me time to record him. I wanted Axel to see his father during an unguarded moment. See the elation on his face. And the unmitigated pride of a father cheering for his son. So when the Nighthawks scored again, I recorded him again. The cheering was different because it wasn’t Axel who scored.
Unfortunately, the Nighthawks lost. Caden left, and I went to meet Axel at our normal spot. Leaning against the wall, I scrolled to the Nighthawks IG page for the replay of Axel scoring his goal so that I could save it to my phone. Scrolling backward, I smiled at photo after photo until I came to one. My gut churned as I studied Axel in an embrace with Heath. They were celebrating his goal, but as the camera caught a moment, the way Axel looked at him fed my insecurity. Doubts about our longevity crept into the back of my mind. If I didn’t know they had a history, would the photo alarm me? At some point, I would have to let this go.
“There you are.”
Looking up, I stuffed my phone into my pocket. Axel exited the locker room with Karlsson. And most importantly, without Heath. I was a jealous asshole. “Yeah, here I am.”
Axel looked at me warily. “Are you okay?”
Nodding, I pasted on a smile. “Yeah. I’m great. Nice goal.”
He shrugged. “You can’t win them all.”
“Hey, Luca,” Karlsson called, “Jenna wants to host Thanksgiving. She’s all into teambuilding and feels like the hockey mama. I’m telling you because the Brit here might try to get out of it.”
