Chapter Ten #2
“What? No way. Are you fucking with me?” I turn, realizing too late that Owen’s face is right there. His mouth is inches from mine. Too close. Close enough that I don’t have time to pretend it doesn’t matter.
“No,” he says. Low. Controlled. And entirely too distracting. “You’d know if I was fucking with you.”
“What?” The word comes out as a hiss of air. I’m still watching his mouth. His thigh is still pressed against mine. “What do you mean?”
“I’m a bad liar, Remy.” Owen’s shoulder brushes mine.
“Wow. Okay. So, um.” I lick my lips. A mistake. I know it the second I do it. Then I remember how Owen’s pulse beat jackrabbit fast beneath my fingers yesterday. What were we talking about? Right. “Is anybody else married to anyone else’s sister?”
“Yup.” Owen points to the coach. “Viktor’s sister is married to Coach Metcalfe.”
“What? No way.” I shake my head in disbelief.
“You know half of these guys are the kids of former players? They all grew up here, going to Venom games, attending school together, all that shit. Dante’s kind of obsessed with building a legacy team.
It’s part of the magic he’s always talking about from his first two Stanley Cups, almost thirty years ago. ”
“But you weren’t part of that. Because you’re from Boston.”
Owen’s mouth presses into a thin line. “Yeah.”
Dammit, I didn’t mean to shut him down. He was finally talking to me. “Is that weird for you? To be the odd man out?”
Owen shakes his head. “Not really. I’m used to it.”
That lands harder than it should.
Before my mouth can get ahead of me and ask any more ill-considered questions, someone bumps into my back.
I’m pushed even closer to Owen. Our lips almost meet, but I have the presence of mind to turn my head at the last minute, so that my face ends up pressed into his neck instead.
For a split second, I don’t move. I don’t think.
I just… Then I come back online, my nostrils tingling with the scent of mint and pine. Why does he smell so good?
That’s not a question I should be asking.
“Sorry, Remy!” Viktor says.
“Stop roughhousing,” Knova scolds him. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head at me. “I apologize for my husband. He was raised in a barn.”
“I was giving Adler room to show off his signature move,” Viktor explains.
“Oh, God.” Owen presses the back of one hand to his eyes. “Please don’t.”
“I’m doing it.” Adler stands next to the table in a space that the other guys have cleared for him. “This is part of my elite training regimen. The secret to my success. My dad was famous for it back in the day.”
Owen slaps his palm onto the table. “No.”
“Yes!” Adler shimmies his hips. “Are you watching, Remy?”
Knova clicks her tongue. “Please leave the poor woman out of this.”
“Come on, it’s a thing of beauty. Who has a phone? Someone, film it for the ‘Gram. I want to share this thirst trap with the world.”
Lenyx and Cam pull out their phones. Satisfied that he has an audience for whatever is about to go down, Adler places his hands on his hips. He spreads his feet in a wide horse-stance, lowers himself into a deep squat, and inhales.
“I’m going to murder him.” He means it just enough that I notice.
I whisper my response from one side of my mouth. “As your crisis manager, I didn’t hear that.” Barely.
The boys start clapping. Adler coils his spine, drawing his butt backward.
“Ready?” Adler asks.
The WAGs groan. The players cheer.
Adler drives his pelvis forward in a move powerful enough to shift tectonic plates. I nearly choke on my own tongue.
Adler flourishes his hands and drops into a bow as the rest of the team applauds. He winks at me. “If you need pointers, I do private lessons.”
Beside me, Owen’s entire body goes rigid. This isn’t about his teammate anymore. “Knock it off, Adler.”
“I’m just making Miss Callahan feel welcome.”
I barely manage to swallow a hysterical laugh. What have I gotten myself into? “I certainly feel something.”
Adler wiggles his fingers suggestively. “A little tingle, maybe?”
Owen’s body is tight with tension. “Adler. Sit down.”
“You heard the man,” Viktor agrees. He raises his beer in a toast. “Nice hip flexor control, by the way, but be careful. You don’t want to torque a nut.”
This time, the manic cackle escapes me without warning.
Knova rubs the furrow between her eyebrows. “Remy, blink twice if you want a different job.”
“Yeah,” Bowen agrees. “Say the word, and we’ll tell Dante to trade him.”
Knight sits on the far side of the table with his arm draped around his wife’s shoulder. “Is this Latham’s fault? This feels like Latham’s fault.”
Camden gives him a thumbs-up. “Yup. I fear the hip thrust is how he got here. I feel bad for your mom, Adler. How many mattresses have your parents gone through?”
The chirping continues, but Owen doesn’t join in. He’s silent, but his eyes remain locked on Adler like he’s identifying weak points.
Knova sweeps in to rescue me. “Come with me to the bar,” she says.
I waffle for a few seconds. I don’t know what’s going on with Adler and Owen, and I don’t want things to escalate if I step away. On the other hand, Adler seems to be using me to needle Owen, and while I don’t get why, taking a minute to step out of the picture might be a good thing.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Owen.
He only grunts. Of course.
Knova loops her arm through mine and steers me out of the private room. Violet joins us as we pass.
The rest of the bar is much quieter. The voices of the players still filter out, but I can finally hear myself think.
“So,” Knova asks, “you’re sleeping with the grumpy goalie?”
I choke on empty air. “What? No!”
“Really?” Knova bellies up to the bar and narrows her eyes at me, assessing. “You two were getting pretty cozy over there.”
Violet stands at my other side and leans forward to address Knova. “It’s true. That’s why Adler’s, you know. Being Adler. To get under Owen’s skin.”
“He’s my client!”
“Mm. Understood.” Knova waves to the bartender. I don’t think she understands anything, but after my conversation with Cara the other night, I don’t think anything I say will convince her that I’m not attracted to Owen.
Because you are. And not just in an abstract sense. You want him to touch you.
Violet interrupts my unwelcome revelation. “So, Remy, what brought you to Vegas? I hear you’re from the East Coast originally.”
I push aside thoughts of Owen and let the WAGs draw me into small talk.
They’re much more interesting than I expected.
Knova’s brand of dry humor would do well in New England, and Violet goes out of her way to make me feel included.
Eventually, Sofia joins us, and I learn all about her jewelry business and her first-time-mom panic.
The ladies are good friends, but they aren’t stuck up about it.
Eventually, people start to peel off. Sofia and Knight leave together. A group of the newer players decides to play paintball together and order a couple of Ubers. Lenyx and Adler agree to join them.
“You want to come, Owen?” Adler calls.
If looks could kill, Owen’s glare would be instantaneously fatal. “No.”
“We’ll miss you!” Adler blows him a kiss. “Remy? You want to join? I bet you’re a good shot, right?”
Lenyx grabs him by the arm. “Keep it moving, or we really are going to get Dante to trade you.”
Adler waves at me on their way out. Owen stews in silence. I can practically see the steam billowing out of his ears.
Violet might be right. Owen doesn’t want Adler anywhere near me. For reasons I don’t care to examine, that thought makes me smile.