Finn nudges me. “Want to go find a bar while they find Addie?”
I fight back a grimace. “Uh. No. I actually want to see your sister.”
He rolls his eyes. “Come on, there are female athletes everywhere. When they find out that you play for the Bolts and I play for the Revs, they’ll be lining up.”
Winnie smacks him. “One: that is sexist. And two: you’re an idiot. JJ only cares about one female athlete.”
I shrug. “She’s not wrong.”
“Fine. But once we find her, you are grabbing a drink with me.”
I’m not, but I won’t waste my breath arguing with him.
My pulse goes haywire every time I even think about wrapping my arms around Adeline again. I don’t know what to expect. Has she been as out of her mind as I have the last few months? Probably not. Her focus has been 100 percent on these games. Like mine should have been on my own. It’s my first goddamn season in the NHL, and the only thing I can think about is when I’ll see Adeline again.
“There she is,” Beckett says, pure affection and excitement in his voice.
I whip around and immediately zero in on my best friend’s big smile. Those brown eyes of hers look straight at me, shimmering. Then she’s launching herself into my arms.
“Ah. You made it,” she squeals.
I spin her around, then set her on her feet and pull back so I can look at her again. “Of course I did. I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
“I’m here too, ya know,” Finn grumbles. “Missing a preseason game for this. Do I get a big hug too?”
Laughing, she makes the rounds, hugging her family. As she steps to one side, sidling up to a guy I don’t recognize, my stomach sinks.
She shakes her head, still beaming, and turns to the guy. “Ah, sorry. This is Ryan Hobbs. He’s the goalie coach for Team USA. Ryan, this is my family.”
Beckett is the first to step up and shake his hand. Ryan is the same height as Beckett—so not as tall as me—and he’s got dirty blond hair tied back in a ponytail. He looks like he’s in his late twenties, but it’shard to tell since he’s in the Team USA sweats, which make everyone seem younger than they really are. But he’s muscular, and he’s wearing a perma-smile. One he keeps directing at Adeline.
“His family couldn’t make it for the ceremony, so I told him he could join us for dinner. You guys don’t mind, right?” Adeline peers around the group, only stopping when she gets to me.
Finn nudges me. “How ’bout that drink?”
“Of course he can,” Liv says. “I’d love to hear all about your time working as a coach for the Olympic team.”
Ryan answers a few of her questions as the group follows Beckett.
Lagging behind a little, I snag Adeline’s hand. “Hey.”
“Hi,” she says with a big smile. “God, it’s so good to see you.”
“You too.” I let out a breath. “I was hoping we’d have a little time by ourselves to catch up. Maybe skip out after dinner?”
She glances at Ryan, her teeth sinking into her lip. “Strict curfew,” she mumbles. “I’ve only got an hour.”
“Fuck,” I mutter.
She winces, her dark eyes sympathetic. “I’m sorry. You traveled all this way, and all I have is a free hour.”
“Worth it.” I lock eyes with her, hoping she can see in them that I’d travel anywhere for her. “I was just hoping we could talk.”
She nods. “Of course. You can tell me anything.”
I’d thought of this conversation hundreds of times over the last few months. Every time it ended with her and I together. There definitely wasn’t another man in the picture, that’s for damn sure.
I look her coach up and down. “Alone.”
