3. Grayson #2
I let out a descending whistle. “It’s nice to see you, too. Me? I’m doing great. You look ravishing tonight.”
“I’m not interested,” he said flatly. He looked to Sawyer for help, but the goalie was texting.
“That makes two of us,” I said, then bit my speeding tongue. “Can’t a guy just talk to you?”
Caden crossed his arms and leaned against the green and brown wall. “I’m not feeling conversational, Reed. What do you need?”
“Jeez,” I moaned.
“Besides, it’s not a good look, conspiring with the enemy captain,” he added testily.
“I’ve seen your game this season. It’ll take more to convince me that you actually care what this looks like.” I laughed to soften the blow, but it was one I couldn’t resist.
“Why don’t you walk away now while all your teeth are still in place.” Caden said quietly, seething.
I lifted my index fingers, one hand still holding my cold beer. “Because I need to humble myself by asking for your help.”
Caden stared at me. Not even a ‘go on.’ His lips were pressed into a tight line.
After a moment of awkward silence, I found my balls. “I would appreciate it if you could give me Avery’s phone number.”
“Why?” His frown was outrageous.
I rolled my eyes impatiently. “I’m trying to reach him about his car’s extended warranty.”
Caden wasn’t amused. But the goalie lifted his gaze and spared me a smirk.
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” He pointed somewhere behind me and my heart freaking tap-danced.
I spun away from the moody prick and discovered my target’s expressionless face.
He was holding the fake invite and an increasingly intoxicated frat bro was shaking his head while clasping Avery’s shoulder.
I marched toward him immediately, not even caring that I didn’t have an opening.
“…asked around. Nobody I know sent them, but you’re welcome to stay anyway,” the drunk host said.
I grinned. “So weird, huh? We all got these mysterious invites. It reminds me of Agatha Christie.”
Avery turned his cool, gray gaze to meet mine. It was all-consuming and focused like a needlepoint. “Reed.”
I shrugged and pushed myself right into the small group. “Let’s hope we all survive the night, huh?”
Avery tucked the invite into his back pocket. “What’s up?”
The frat bro sauntered away when a few of his buddies chanted the chugging call. “Hanging around,” I said. “Funny I should run into you.” I barely kept the smirk off my face.
“Why is it funny?” Avery asked, deadly serious.
“No reason,” I said, remembering that I was talking to an actual wooden doll who had wished to be a real boy. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you last night.”
“That’s correct,” Avery said.
It was lucky I was an avid gym goer. Few people had the back muscles to carry the conversation like me. “You kind of ran away from me.” My grin softened the jab in my words.
Avery narrowed his eyes and I wondered why that made him twice as sexy.
Damn. He was something. I was grateful for the crowded space when someone passed behind me and I scooted closer to my unsuspecting date-to-be.
“I would never run,” Avery said. “How many times have I crashed you into the boards instead of running?”
My temper flared faster than I could tame it.
“Crashed me? Please…” I bit my tongue. I had outdone him more times than I could count.
And the number of times he had hard checked me was far inferior.
But I remembered what my purpose here was.
I licked my lips and then stretched them into a warm smile.
“Anyway, I was going to join you for a drink when you…left.” Not ran.
“I didn’t realize you were going after me.” Avery’s expression was as blank as ever.
I frowned. “Seriously? I asked to sit next to you in an empty bar.”
Avery shrugged. “It was the nearest chair to the tap. Maybe you wanted your beer extra fast.”
“I wanted to talk to you,” I insisted.
My prey lifted his gaze to somewhere behind me. He gave a little nod of greeting to his friends, then looked at me again. We were nearly the same height, although his shoes might have given him an extra inch. His smooth face and sharp lips pulled me in. I found myself wanting to lean in. “Why?”
“Oh, wow, okay. Straight to the point.” I forced out a laugh. “If you really wanna know, I was going to ask you out.”
“While being out and sitting next to me?” Avery asked, cocking his head.
“Well, yeah, but it’s not the same. Dude. I wanted to ask you out on a date.” My words left my lips, but it was hard to tell based on his statuesque expressions whether he comprehended them.
“Er…” He cleared his throat. “Look, my friends are waiting for me.” He winced a little.
I grabbed my chest. “You’re breaking my heart, man. They can wait a minute longer.”
He visibly held his breath.
“So, from one to America, how free are you next weekend for a date with me?” I had an urge to cross my arms protectively, but I didn’t want to send any mixed messages. The truth was, I was scared to hear his answer.
He didn’t laugh. “Why would you want to go on a date with me?” he asked. That was as close to a genuine surprise as I had ever seen him. “You don’t even know me.”
I bit my tongue for an instant. “Do you know what? That’s exactly what I was thinking. And it came to me that when two people don’t know each other, they arrange a time and a place to correct that error. You know? Like a date.”
“Are you being condescending?” he asked, eyes narrow in suspicion.
“I’m making a joke, Collins,” I said lightly.
“That’s your idea of a joke? I think you need to work on the delivery as well as the punchline.” He deadpanned so well that I barked out a laugh.
“That’s a good one.” I dared to clasp his shoulder.
Fuck. He was tense and muscled. I wondered what it would feel like if he wasn’t wearing a shirt and an undershirt.
My fingertips tingled when I touched him and I just knew a lot more would buzz in my body if we got to touch each other more.
The fact that he was so composed and cool made him a million times sexier.
And the fact that he was practically immune to my charm frustrated me as much as it inspired me to do better.
“Not a joke, Reed,” Avery corrected me, but his tone was a little more melodic and amused.
“Come on. It’s just a date. How horrible can it be?” I pressed on.
“At best? As bad as this. Can you give up, please?” He didn’t step back, though. He let me hold his shoulder. It was electric and exciting. Warmth pooled in my stomach.
I shook my head while smiling. “Charming. But no. I’d like to get to know you. I think we have a lot in common. We’re both wingers. We’re both loyal to our teams. We’re both handsome as fuck. Wink, wink.”
He didn’t bite. “We’re opponents, Reed,” he said flatly. “You’re a Blizzard Loser; I’m an Arctic Titan. You’re my worst nightmare out there. And we should remain loyal to our teams.” He sighed. “So, this,” as he gestured his hand back and forth between us, “is not gonna happen.”
And yet, he wasn’t pulling back. But I knew how far I could stretch a rubber band. “Look, I’ll cut you a great deal. I don’t want to turn on my stalker mode, but I will if I have to. So, I’ll let you go now, but you have to let me keep trying.”
The corners of Avery’s lips quivered. There was pure suspicion in his eyes, but I was getting to him a little.
“Give me your phone number. I swear to use it only when it’s appropriate. And only to convince you to go out with me.” I pulled back from him and extended a friendly hand for a handshake. “What say you?”
Avery hesitated. He could have told me he didn’t want to be convinced. He could have told me to go fuck myself. Yet he said neither of those things. “You’re really hell-bent on trying, huh?”
“You know it,” I said. “Gimme.” I pulled my phone out and handed it to him.
Reluctantly, Avery took my phone and typed in his phone number. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered. And, as he handed me back my phone, he looked into my eyes warningly. “This is not a yes. Don’t get your hopes up.”
I grinned with unfiltered pride. “You won’t regret it.”