4. Libby
”Excuse me, sir,” I shake my empty glass, and the man turns around and places a full one in front of me.
”This is fun,” Kesley says in the chair beside me.
Zane has his arm over the back of her chair as he scans the room.
”It”s a full house. I didn”t think a bunch of smelly hockey players would attract so much attention,” he says.
I sip my newest glass of champagne and savor the bubbles as they fizz down my throat, opening my BlindBang app to check for messages from strangerDanger23—nothing.
I want to message him. To tell him I can”t wait for our date tonight. For him to make good on all his filthy promises. But I also don”t want to let on just how desperate I am for it.
So I suck down another glass.
”You wanna...slow down there, Lib?” my brother warns me. ”The auction hasn”t even started.”
I place the now empty glass on the table and give a hard and powerful ”Aaah,” just to get on his nerves.
He doesn”t get to fix his life up in a matter of weeks and then turn on me. No sir-ee. I was the responsible one long before he was.
He rolls his eyes and Kesley chuckles to herself.
Ryker strolls up to our table and slaps Zane on the back. ”Should we take bets on who”ll bring in the highest bids?”
Zane smirks. My brother loves a good bet.
”Not everything has to be a game,” Kesley says. But she pulls out her clutch from under the table and opens it, presenting a crisp hundred-dollar bill. ”But my money”s on Landry.”
I laugh as Zane and Ryker both drop their faces. ”Landry?” Zane asks. ”Why him?”
”He”s the team captain,” I answer for her. “And he”s been out most of the season. It”s like every woman”s fantasy to snag the team captain. Supply and demand, bro.”
Zane raises a brow and asks his wife, ”And is it your fantasy?”
”No, caveman,” she reaches for his cheek. ”I prefer hot-headed defensemen. Obviously.”
Zane settles down and kisses her on the neck. I turn to scan the room again. There”s chatter all around us. Women are dressed to the nines, some accompanied by their husbands who, no doubt, are looking for a good tax deduction and figured this would be as good a cause as any.
”These ladies do know they”re not actually going to sleep with any of them, right?” Zane asks nobody in particular.
”Have you met your teammates?” I reply. ”Don”t put it past them. Some of these guys would sleep with them just to say they banged the dude”s wife from the Houston”s Hugest Overstock Warehouse commercial.” I mimic the loud announcer that everyone recognizes from his over the top voice.
”Shhh,” Kesley chuckles and nudges me. ”He”s right there.”
I look at the table she motioned toward and sure enough, there”s Houston”s Hugest Overstock Warehouse guy.
”It”s like seeing a celebrity for the first time,” I smirk, as I watch him interact with the other well-known patrons at his table.
You have to have money to be here tonight. PR Queen Rina Lopez made sure to invite the Who”s Who of Houston. You had to be willing to drop eight grand on a plate just for a seat.
But as Rina says, it”s for the children.
The music lowers, and the lights go down as the mic gives feedback, and Rina steps onto the stage.
She”s dressed in an all-black glimmering ensemble that perfectly hugs her curves and towers over everyone in four-inch heels. Her sleek black hair is pulled into a high pony that shows off her high cheekbones. In another life, Rina could have been a model.
”That”s my cue,” Ryker says, taking his seat on the other side of our table. Izzy, his fiancee, is snapping photos near the stage. She, too, looks like a vision. Her dark hair tumbles down her back. Her teeny baby bump just barely poking out under her mermaid gown. I almost never see her dressed up. The girl is a walking billboard for #yogapantlife.
The crowd dies down as Rina begins. ”Ladies and gentlemen, in partnership with the Children”s Hospital of Greater Houston, the Heatwave and their staff want to thank you for participating in tonight”s first annual Date-a-Player Charity Auction.”
The room erupts into applause as Rina takes a moment to acknowledge everyone who made it happen.
”First annual? You mean we gotta sit through this shit once a year?” Ryker complains.
Only three guys on the team are exempt from being auctioned off—and that”s only because they have significant others. Tonight, all the Heatwave singles will be sold to the highest bidder for a date of their choosing.
”You gonna bid?” Kesley whispers to me as Rina continues thanking sponsors.
I snort, ”Are you kidding? I”m desperate but not that desperate,” I whisper back. ”I”d never date a hockey player. No offense.”
Kesley smirks, ”None taken.”
”Some taken,” Zane admits, rolling his eyes.
”Oh, please. Would you want me to date one of your teammates? That”d be your worst nightmare.”
“No, you”re right. You definitely can”t date one of my teammates. We need you and your cheers. And if it didn”t work out—I’d have to find a way to get rid of them and that would suck. Don’t ever put me in that situation.”
I laugh a little too loud. “You”d pick me over a teammate? Aww.” I place a hand on my chest and give him puppy dog eyes.
”Shut up,” he mutters.
Rina continues, ”So without any further adieu, let”s meet our players for tonight”s auction!”
Cheers erupt around the room, followed by whistles and women waving their napkins in the air.
”Wow, excited crowd, ” I remark.
”First on tonight”s roster, we have Trevor Sincaid,” she continues as Sincaid appears from behind the curtain and swaggers onto the stage in a three-piece suit, his curly hair barely controlled. I”ve only ever seen him as the youngster of the group. But somehow, between the three champagne glasses I just inhaled and the handsome swagger of a man in a suit, I admit—these boys sure do clean up nicely.
”Trevor is the Heatwave”s rookie defenseman. He”s twenty-two and has quite the date planned, ladies. He enjoys sunset horseback rides through the beachfront sands of Mustang Island off the Texas coast. Our Cali-born star always finds his way back to the water, and on his date, he wants to take you on a ride you won”t soon forget. So pack a bathing suit and sundress,” Rina recites from the card in her hand.
The whistles continue with one woman shouting, ”Will he be shirtless?”
The women whistle all around me, and I can”t help but laugh as I flag down another waiter for another glass of champagne.
I”m not here to participate. I”m just here to give my donation and drunkenly gawk at the very excited bidders in the crowd.
”That”ll be up to our player,” Rina laughs, giving Trevor a glance as he shrugs and purses his lips in consideration.
He reaches for the mic and says in a low voice, ”I guess that depends on how high the bid is.”
The women whoop and holler all around the room, as the waiter drops off another glass. I give him a grateful smile, and he gives me a wary side glance.
”We”ll start the bidding at $500. Do we have $500?” Rina begins from the stage.
A woman who could be my grandmother raises her paddle excitedly.
”Five hundred. Do I hear six? Six hundred?” Another excited paddle waves in the crowd.
Paddles go up all around me, and I snort again. Kesley kicks me lightly under the table.
”Sorry, this is just so funny to me.”
”It”s for the kids,” Kesley whispers to me.
Zane reaches behind him and produces his wallet, pulling out another hundred-dollar bill. ”I say Hicks.”
”If the rookie is getting this much attention, then I can”t imagine what they”d do to get their hands on our playboy.”
Ryker looks at the money on the table. ”Seriously?”
”Well, who do you think will get the highest bid?” I ask Ryker.
”You first,” he eggs me on.
I look at the pictures of all the men on the rotating slides near the stage. They”re all handsome in their own right. They used the team photos Izzy shot just before the playoffs, all fierce and looking their best.
Landry is the obvious choice. Hicks is cute. He has that silly charm. A picture of Michael Ferguson flashes across the screen next. His bright blue eyes catch my attention. And the simple, boy next door smile of his is warm. I wonder what a guy like Fergie would offer for a date?
The good boy. He probably wants to serenade you with a hymn and give you a tour of his daddy”s mega-church.
I scoff, mostly to myself, remembering the way his brother used to avoid that place like the plague. I grew up living next door to the Ferguson boys. Both have changed so much since our childhood.
Just as the thought passes, my brother”s voice tears me back to the present, ”Hey, isn”t that Jonah Ferguson?”
The champagne glass making its way to my lips halts as I freeze. My eyes shift around the room before I turn to my brother, ”Where?”
He tilts his head to the far corner of the room where, no doubt, Jonah and his perfect fiancee are seated at a table surrounded by other well-known Houston business owners.
They”re all laughing at something Rina just said from the stage, and as if some inexplicable thread connects us, Jonah”s gaze wanders and lands right on me.
Shit. Twice in one week. That”s got to be bad juju.
He probably noticed when three people at my table stared in his direction simultaneously.
”Who are we looking at?” Izzy takes her seat next to Ryker and grabs a glass of water from the table.
”Nobody,” I say, clipped, turning back to my table mates and sucking down more of my champagne.
”Well, Nobody is coming this way,” Kesley announces.
”What?” I nearly spit out what”s in my mouth. When I hear the deep timbre of his voice just a few feet behind me.
”Hello, there. You all must be Mikey”s friends,” Jonah says. The pretty, doe-eyed Lillian is still laughing with the other attendees at their table. But her eyes are on me.
”Yeah, only we call him Fergie,” Zane says, stiffening beside Kesley. Something about Michael”s brother always put Zane on edge. He didn”t like him much when we were dating. Maybe deep down, Zane knows that he”s hiding something.
”Fergie,” Jonah repeats. ”Cute. Well, let”s hope he wins himself a good date tonight. That boy needs all the help he can get.”
Ugh. He”s so smug. I don”t care what kind of title he totes these days...he”s still a slime ball.
”I”m sure he will,” I say, before turning my back to him.
Rina finishes the bid for Sincaid. ”Six thousand dollars—sold!” she hits the mallet against the podium. We all look up.
”Damn. The rookie brought in six g”s. Not too shabby,” Zane says.
Rina introduces the next player. And feeling Jonah”s presence behind me has me wanting to do something.
”My money”s on Fergie,” I announce to the table as I dig out my Amex and toss it into the pile of cash.
Jonah coughs from behind me. ”Like I said, he needs all the help he can get.”
I flush with anger at his comment. I hate arrogant pricks, and Jonah Ferguson might be the most arrogant of all the pricks I”ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. Much less have inside of me. I shiver at the memory.
He might have everyone else fooled. But not me, I know just what he”s capable of.
”Your brother is twice the man you could ever hope to be,” I say, rising from my chair and brushing past him as I head to the auction table to grab the paddle I left behind when I walked in.
I”m going to make sure Michael Ferguson gets the highest bid tonight if it”s the last thing I do. And I can”t wait to see Jonah”s look when I walk up to claim my prize.
How do you beat an arrogant asshole? You gotta play like one.