“Come on, Evan, let’s get changed. We’re heading to Maguires for dinner,” Nightly said, tapping me on the shoulder as he made his way by me as well. “You can fill us in on your little crush.”
We satat our usual table at Maguire’s, the guys talking amongst themselves as I ordered my food. I closed the menu and handed it to our server and turned my attention to them, each one of them looking at me.
“So, Evan,” Carter began, “you want to tell us what went on today between you and Bianca? She looked pretty intense, as if you had pissed her off or something. Tell us, did we witness a lovers’ quarrel?”
“Yeah, and I noticed you two were in a rather intense conversation last week in the training room. I didn’t want to say anything then, but now that the question’s out there…was it?”
I should have known they’d notice something. These guys noticed everything, but it was hard not to when we spent as much time with each other as we did. They’d been watching me like a hawk ever since I’d taken that hit at the end of the season when I’d lay motionless on the ice for five seconds too long after being shoved into the boards in Vancouver.
“It was nothing,” I answered.
Carter and Logan looked at me.
“Callahan. Don’t you hold out on us.”
I already knew there would be no getting around this. We always told one another everything, and I knew I needed to tell someone, even if I could barely process the situation I was in.
I sat back against my chair and looked at my teammates.
“Bianca is living with me,” I said, trying to sound casual. “It’s temporary. Her condo flooded.”
The boys went silent, and Logan froze, his glass halfway to his mouth, while Carter’s eyebrows climbed toward his hairline.
“Bianca Alan,” Logan said, “the trainer, Coach’s daughter. That Bianca?” Logan asked.
“Yes, the same girl you thought I was having a lover’s quarrel with.”
“She is moving into your place?”
“Has…yeah.”
“Jesus…” Carter chuckled. “The same Bianca you were just eye-fucking an hour ago while simultaneously treating her like she has some disease.”
I swallowed hard. “I haven’t?—”
“Bullshit. You look at her like she is a bottle of Gatorade after you’ve been running drills all day, but whenever she gets close to you or wants to speak with you, you turn into an asshole. We have all noticed.”
“Does the coach know she is staying with you?” Cromwell asked.
I ran my hand through my damp hair, wincing from the motion and the question.
“He knows. He set it up. Apparently, I’m a safe option because I’m her colleague. He also thinks there is no possibility of anything ever happening between us.”
The guys all let out a laugh.
“Oh, hell, this is beautiful. Alan thinks you’re safe? The guy who looks at her like he wants to fuck the hell out of her every time she’s around,” Logan said.
“Shut up. I do not,” I said, swallowing hard, hoping I wasn’t that transparent.
“Bullshit…even the rookie picked up on it.”
“He’ll murder you,” Carter said. “You know that. If you touch his daughter, he will bury you under the ice and force us to run drills over top of you just to prove a point.”
“I won’t touch her,” I said, noticing the roughness in my voice. “This is all temporary, practical. Nothing will happen, and the coach won’t kill me because I’m keeping my hands to myself. Besides, she is a thorn in my side.”
“Oh, I’m sure she is. Probably just not the type of thorn you’d use that reference for, but I don’t know if you’ll keep your hands to yourself.” Logan chuckled.
“Yep, that is why you look like you’re about to crawl out of your skin every morning,” Cromwell added.
