Ice Contact (Milwaukee Steel Riders #1)

5. Hayes

5

hayes

O livia is my fucking dream girl. I’ve always had a thing for a redheads, but she’s something else entirely. Between her sultry voice, her petite, curvy body that would fit so damn perfectly in my arms, and those beautiful lips. I would give anything to pull her close and kiss her right here and now as I run my fingers through that gorgeous auburn hair.

Fuck. Get it together, Hayes.

You already told her she lights up the room, and now you’ve volunteered to walk her, and her equipment, to her car. You know for a fact she has a boyfriend. Albeit a really shitty boyfriend. I barely know this girls name, but I know she deserves better than that pathetic excuse for a man. It feels like a punch to the heart whenever I think of her being with him. What’s the male version of homewrecker called? That’s what I would like to do with their relationship. Technically, I don’t even know if they live in the same home, but I’d like to be the reason her relationship to that guy fails. Relationship-wrecker? I fight to hide the satisfied smirk on my face. That’s good. I’ll work with my agent on the branding.

On the other hand, I know what it’s like to be the other party in a wrecked relationship. My most recent ex, Chelsea, was cheating on me. And the cherry on top was she got pregnant with the other guy’s baby. It’s the main reason I’m here in Milwaukee. I needed to get away from that life, away from the hurt she caused me. I’m glad it ended before we got engaged. Or married. But the pain from time wasted on someone who wasn’t investing back in you hurts like a motherfucker. I suppose every relationship story has two sides, but I really felt like I tried my best. I thought I did right by her. I provided for her even though we weren’t legally tied together. I did things I thought were special like sending her gifts or flowers when I was out of town for games. I thought I was a good boyfriend, but it wasn’t enough. And that realization has gnawed at me for months. Every moment of silence filled with nagging thoughts of my failures. Even now, as I’m dodging puddles and carrying an enormous speaker, I can’t help but think about that toxic situation.

I force myself out of the darkness consuming my mind, gazing instead at a piece of the sun on Earth. Maybe I don’t want to be the person who wrecks Olivia’s current relationship. But the way she smiled at me earlier when I told her she lit up a room tells me she’s not getting told that enough. And that doesn’t mean I can’t hope Banks will wreck their relationship all by himself. My beer sits heavy in my stomach. That actually seems highly plausible if tonight was any indication of their normal interaction.

“How long have you and Banks been together?” I ask as we walk to her car with her equipment. Thankfully the rain let up a bit and is now just a slight mist. Though…if I learned anything about rain and romance from the movies…

“Banks?” she replies, her brows dipping together before quickly saying, “Ohhhh, you mean Cayden! Sorry. His name is Cayden Banks, but everyone calls him Banks. Except me and his family. I just always thought Banks was a dumb name, so I never called him that. I don’t think some people even realize Banks is not his first name.” She rolls her eyes. “We’ve been together for a year and a half.”

Well fuck. That’s longer than I was expecting. I hide my disappointment with a nod, thankful that she probably can’t see much of my face behind this big ass speaker. That’s more in the ‘will they/won’t they walk down the aisle’ territory than the ‘we’ve been together for two months and he sucks ass’ territory. But being the gentleman I am, I simply say, “Wow, a year and a half? That’s a long time.”

I want to tell her every detail about my encounter with him at the bar, but I refrain and relay just enough to let her know I got the gist of his attitude towards her. “He mentioned he got you this gig at Walt’s. That’s sweet of him. How long have you been playing here?”

She stops, and I walk a few steps past her before I realize what happened. “Wait…you talked to him?”

“Yeah, he was sitting next to me at the bar.”

“Oh. Gosh, I guess I didn’t notice. But I’m not surprised he told you he got me this gig. Classic Cayden.” She scoffs, quickly catching up to me. “Walt is neighbors with his parents, and Cayden introduced me to him at a barbecue they were having last summer. Walt mentioned he owned a bar and, somehow, the conversation turned into me stopping by during a happy hour to check it out. He said his usual happy hour singer just moved out of town, and he was looking for a regular replacement. I auditioned, and…well, here we are.” A nearly uncontained grin splits her face. She really loves this place. This job. “I’m not sure he ‘got me this gig,’ but he did introduce me to Walt.”

The rage brewing in me makes me want to beat this guy within an inch of his life. I officially hate this guy. He’s going around telling people he got her this gig when all he did was introduce her to the owner of the bar. My knuckles turn white gripping the sides of the speaker. I’m going to cut this guy’s nuts off if I ever see him again.

“Well, if you ask me, your talent is what got you this gig. I mean, if you were horrible, would Walt have hired you?” I ask as she opens the trunk of her car.

She looks into my eyes as if she’s deep in thought. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I never thought about it that way. He tells everyone he got me this gig, and I guess I just let him. It’s one of those ‘pick your battle’ situations where I give him that win.”

But the weight of disappointment I see in her eyes tells me she’s not happy he gets to win this battle. And she’s right.

“You shouldn’t let him win,” I say as I help her get the speakers, her keyboard, and other gear into the car. She shuts the trunk, biting her lip and refusing to look at me. “I’m probably over-stepping here…” I pause.

“But…?” Olivia looks back at me, curious to know my thoughts.

“But you should know you’re extremely talented. You should be damn proud of that. You can have a God-given talent, and if you don’t do anything with it, it just sits there unseen and unrefined. You have to work hard for it. You have to hone your craft to be good. From what I heard tonight, you’ve done that, Olivia. You’re phenomenal. Don’t let anyone but you take credit for that.”

I don’t know how the fuck the universe works, but as I talk to her about talent, I realize my talent and hard work is what got me here to Milwaukee tonight. Every practice. Every game. Every hard hit suddenly has meaning. It’s all led me to the back alley behind Walt’s on Water, my new favorite bar in the city. Staring at the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen, tears forming in her bright eyes. She jumps, her arms wrapping around me so tightly it feels like she’s never going to let me go.

If I’m being honest, I don’t want her to.