Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Josie
“I hear you’re officially one of us,” Jenn says from the other side of our table at a downtown Mexican restaurant.
I furrow my brow. “Not sure what you mean.”
Elena laughs from beside me. “Did you and Dane really think you could sneak out like that, all dressed up and looking like you were about thirty seconds from ripping each other’s clothes off, and no one would notice?”
Oh. Our practice date the other night. My face heats as it sets in that we’re the object of team gossip now. If this somehow gets back to my aunt, I can kiss that promotion goodbye.
“It wasn’t what it looked like,” I assure Jenn and Elena.
Jenn raises her empty glass as our server walks past our table. “Hey, can we get another round?”
I groan. The margaritas here are so big that I’m lightheaded from the first one I finished. And the more I drink, the more likely I am to spill my guts about how I really feel about Dane.
“It was a practice date,” I tell my new friends. “He’s going out with a med student when we’re in Chicago next. She hit him up on social media and I think it’ll be good for his image.”
Elana shakes her head, looking amused. “There’s so much to unpack there.”
I’m enjoying our afternoon together so much that I’m likely to tell them anything they want to know. Aiden is hosting a cookout for the team, but it’s players only, so Jenn and Elena asked me if I wanted to window-shop and have lunch. I jumped at the chance for some girl time.
“Whose idea was this practice date?” Jenn asks, air-quoting practice date .
I pinch my brows together, trying to remember. “I think his.”
“And the practice part is...what? Because Dane doesn’t know how to go out on a date?”
I take a sip from the fresh margarita that was just delivered, trying to figure out how to diplomatically answer that.
“Well, it won’t be good for his image if he asks her which hole she wants it in thirty seconds into the date,” I say, shrugging.
“If she’s trolling athletes online, she’s hoping he’ll bring two teammates and fill all her holes at once,” Elena cracks.
Jenn has already drained a third of the second margarita. She’s flushed and full of smiles.
“I can’t wait any longer to ask,” she says. “Did you guys practice sleeping together?”
I cringe. “God, no. Nothing like that.”
Elena looks like she’s about to burst with excitement. She grins and gently smacks the table. “This is the tension part. I read lots of romance novels. Dane has to pretend he doesn’t want her and she pretends she doesn’t want him, but they’re secretly sneaking looks at each other and coming up with things like practice dates as excuses to be together.”
I laugh. “I mean...have there been moments of attraction? Yes. But Dane and I would drive each other crazy.”
“How are you pretending you’re not crazy with jealousy over him taking another woman out on a date?”
I take a break to eat chips and salsa, hoping one of them will bring up another subject, but they turn into the two most patient people ever, just waiting for me to stop eating and answer the question.
“I told you, it’s not like that with us.”
Elena scoffs. “It is, though. Aaron said you two spend every second together.”
“We kind of have to, I’m his glorified babysitter.”
“Aiden said Dane’s pissed about Lucas paying so much attention to you.”
I shake my head and laugh. “Your husbands sound like gossipy teenage girls.”
“That’s how it is on a team,” Jenn says. “Everyone knows everyone’s business.”
“Deep down, Dane’s a really good guy,” Elena says. “It hurt him really badly when his wife cheated. He acts cynical now, but I don’t think he really is.”
“Do you guys know anything about what happened with his ex-wife?” I ask. “How did he find out about it?”
Jenn’s shoulders sink. “He walked in on them. He was out of town and his trip got cut short, so he wanted to surprise her and come home early. He had flowers for her in his hand when he found them going at it in his own bed.”
I close my eyes, imagining how hard that must have been for him.
“He and Sam had a huge fight then and there,” Jenn says. “Sam ended up running out of the house naked, with blood running down his face.”
“If he played for another team, how did he know Dane’s...” For some reason, I can’t call her his wife. “His, um...ex.”
Jenn lets Elena take that one.
“Dane and Sam used to be teammates.”
I bury my face in my hands, then sigh heavily and look at Elena. “Poor Dane.”
“Yeah. Now you know why everyone’s so happy he’s into you. There hasn’t been anyone serious since Cruella.”
I arch a brow, amused. “Cruella?”
“It’s what we call his ex,” Jenn says. “She’s tall and villainous, so it fits.”
Our food arrives and I take the opportunity to change the subject.
“Catch me up on what’s happening with you guys,” I say. “Let me live vicariously through you.”
Elena laughs. “Well, I’ve changed a whole lot of diapers and prepped a whole lot of baby food in the past couple of weeks. It’s exciting.”
“Beats following a hockey player all over the country,” I say.
“Ugh.” Jenn rolls her eyes. “I’d travel with Aiden if I could. It gets old going to bed alone. No vibrator compares to him.”
“I used to think that, too,” Elena says. “Now I just enjoy the extra sleep.”
“We need all the details on the practice date,” Jenn says, back on the subject of me and Dane.
I can’t get out of it, so I answer every question they ask me. I leave out the part about our almost-kiss though, because I still haven’t sorted out my feelings on it.
I wanted him to kiss me. I know it’s a terrible idea and will likely end with me getting hurt, but the one thing I’m not at all confused about is that I’m very attracted to Dane.
And now that I know he’s attracted to me, too, the only thing keeping us apart is my fading willpower.
“There she is!” Dane cries when I walk into Jenn and Aiden’s house a few hours later. “My bodyguard’s here to carry me home.”
He’s trashed. I can tell from his slurred words and the way he’s about to fall off the barstool he’s sitting on.
“We got in the hot tub,” he says merrily. “There were no hot chicks in there, just a bunch of dudes. Zero stars, do not recommend.”
I quit drinking halfway through my second drink, and we shopped for a couple of hours before taking an Uber home, so I’m completely sober.
“Are you ready to go home?” I ask him.
“Hell no!” Aiden walks over and puts an arm around Dane. “The party’s just getting started!”
It’s cool outside, but Jenn and Aiden have outdoor heaters on their patio. A few guys are still in the oversized hot tub.
“Put on your suit,” Dane says to me. “I want to get in the hot tub with a hot chick.”
“I don’t have a swimsuit.”
“You can borrow mine,” he offers, sliding off the barstool and stumbling.
Lucas puts an arm out to stabilize him and Dane scowls.
“I’m fine,” he says sharply. “Just need to get these off.”
He starts to pull down his swim trunks and I rush forward to stop him, trying to pull the waistband back up.
“Oh, you want to do this right here?” He grins.
“Pull your trunks back up.”
“I’m gonna...borrow ’em to you.”
I meet Jenn’s gaze across the patio. “Is there somewhere he can lie down for a little bit?”
“Yeah, use one of the guest rooms upstairs. Any of them you want.”
Dane laughs into my neck, putting his arms around me and letting me pull his trunks up all the way. “Is it nap time? Can I take a nap on top of you? Naked while thrusting my hips?”
“Aaron just threw up in a bush,” someone says. “Can someone help me carry him to the couch?”
“Let’s go,” I tell Dane, putting an arm around his waist to help him walk.
“It’s naked nap time!” he yells, pumping his fist.
Aaron is arguing with the teammates who are trying to help him to a couch. At least Dane is a happy drunk and not a belligerent one. It looks like the teammates hit the whiskey pretty hard this afternoon.
I manage to get Dane up to a guest room, where he lies facedown on the white quilt covering a king-size bed.
“Don’t violate my ass, Nosy,” he mumbles.
Shaking my head, I go to the bathroom. When I return, he’s out cold, snoring hard. I lie down next to him and get out my phone.
Everyone out back probably thinks we’re screwing, but I’m playing a crossword game while Dane sleeps it off. The truth doesn’t keep the rumor mill churning, though.