Gavin: Thanks girl! We’ll be home tomorrow. Celebratory drinks at Brayden’shouse?
Me: Wouldn’t miss it for theworld.
Gavin: Myla and Karla are settingitup.
Me: I’ll get the details from them and see youtomorrow.
Chapter2
Crosby
The drivewayand street in front of Brayden’s house were packed.Thank goodness for Uber.I got out of the back seat of the town car and made my way into the old Victorian. Right after ringing the doorbell, I was greeted by a sight for sore eyes: Jordan’s beaming smile. She opened the door and helped me inside with the ice and beer Ibrought.
“Always a pleasure, Ms. Bates.” I gave her a quick half-hug standing in the foyer of Brayden’s house. I could feel the goofy smile that had taken over from just the sight of her, and all I could do was hope it didn’t give away my feelings too much. There was something about Jordan Bates that sank deep down into me, but I didn’t have the nerve to tell her. The trepidation of rejection was too strong, and the dread of ruining our friendship was more than Icouldbear.
“The pleasure, like always, is mine.” Jordan’s honey-coated tone infused her words as I followed her into the crowded house and went straight for the kitchen. “Hey, that was a great game yesterday. I was able to catch most of it while I was working.” She looked over her shoulder at me as she poured ice into the open cooler on thefloor.
“Eh, it was Hayes and Cox that really did a number on the ice to be honest. They really made myjobeasy.”
She laughed a little as I limped over to lean on the counter next to her. “I’d say that pulled muscle would beg to differ with yourargument.”
Herlaugh.
Hervoice.
Hersmile.
I caught myself staring before anyone else seemed tonotice.
“Hey, there he is!” Brayden called over to me as he came into the kitchen with a few empty beer bottles and threw them into the recycling bin next to therefrigerator.
I shook my teammate’s hand. “Thanks for having all ofusover.”
He shrugged. “Thank the wifey—Karla is the brains behind this entireoperation.”
“Hey now, what am I, chopped liver?” Myla came up next to her brother, jabbing him in the ribs with a sharp elbow. She was wearing one of her many Otters shirts that hadMrs. Hayeson the back. It was adorable how proud she was to be thecaptain’swife.
“Myla, I hear congratulations are in order.” I hugged herquickly.
“Hey Crosby. Yep, pretty soon we’ll have another rug rat scampering around thisplace.”
Brayden shook his head. “Just what this lot needs—more screaming, jumping, psychochildren.”
Myla shooed her brother into the other room before turning to me with a crooked grin. “Nice defense. I was so pissed when you gotsubbedout.”
Myla was a spitfire if I had ever seen one in my life, tiny but mighty as hell. She was the sister of Brayden Cox and the wife of Gavin Hayes so she had to be tough to put up with the two of them. It could have been argued that she loved hockey and our team even more than we did asplayers.
“Yeah, trust me, I know the feeling, but I did need a little bit of a break and the other guys deserve some icetime,too.”
Myla reached up with her tiny hand and patted me on the shoulder. “You’re nicer than I am to have a thought processlikethat.”
I gave her a quick wink before she bounced over and ducked under her husband’s arm. Gavin and I raised our beers toward each other before he turned back to the group he was chatting with. I looked back over to where Jordan was, relieved that she hadn’t left thekitchenyet.
The sunlight danced in through the window over the sink to show that Jordan had done something different with her hair. To say something or not—that was the question that plagued me. Would it be too much to tell her I noticed the subtle hint of crimson infiltrating the jet-black pixie cut she wasrocking?
I chugged my beer for the sheer excuse to get next to Jordan and the cooler again. “How’s work been?” Simple and easy – the desperate attempt forsmalltalk.
She looked up at me while mixing tequila and lemonade together. Just the thought of those two liquids together was enough to make me want to gag. “It’s work,” she sighed, “The bar I’m training at right now is doing really well, so I guess work isgreat.”