32. Xander
Itug at the tie I’m wearing as I ride the elevator from my room to the main floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, where the fundraiser is being held tonight.
I catch my reflection in the shiny steel doors. “I look like a penguin.”
Next to me, Blomdahl laughs. “You and me both.”
We’re both wearing the same style of tux: black suit jacket, black dress pants, and straight black tie with a white dress shirt.
The elevator doors open to the main floor and together we walk out into the lobby. We spot Theo, Isaac, and Dylan getting off the elevator across from us. Together we head to the main ballroom.
As I walk, I can’t help the excited feeling coursing through me at the thought of seeing Sophie all dressed up tonight.
I haven’t seen her all day and fuck, I miss her. She, Dakota, Maya, and Ingrid all decided to get ready in the same hotel room tonight, so I’ll be seeing her for the first time at the fundraiser.
I bite back a smile. There’s zero doubt in my mind that she’s going to look absolutely stunning.
We head into the ballroom, which is already pretty packed with members from the Bashers, Sea Monsters, and Wolves teams.
I head over to the far side of the ballroom so I can check on my mom. She’s sitting at a table with a bunch of my teammates’ parents.
When I walk up to her, she’s in the middle of talking to Blomdahl’s mom. When she sees me, she smiles.
“Oh sweetie, look at you. So handsome.” She kisses me on the cheek when I lean down to give her a hug.
“Thanks, Mom. You look really pretty.”
She smiles and waves a hand. “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a chance to get all dressed up. Glad I remembered how.” She chuckles and gestures at the dark blue dress she’s wearing. The ladies at her table laugh with her.
I ask if she needs me to get her anything for her hotel room.
She pats my hand. “I’m doing great, sweetheart.”
“Just let me know if you think of something. I’ll come to your room and get you whatever you need.”
She gently pats my cheek. “My sweet guy. Always taking care of me.”
She tells me to go hang out with my teammates, so I head to the open bar where they’re all gathered and order a whiskey.
Theo raises his glass of bourbon. “Good luck on the date auction tonight, boys. Here’s to raising tons of money for a good cause. And here’s hoping that we all get high bids during the dating auction so we don’t look like losers.”
We all laugh and raise our glasses to toast.
I’m in the middle of sipping my whiskey when over the rim of my glass, I catch a glimpse of Sophie walking into the ballroom.
I almost choke on my whiskey.
Fucking hell. She’s stunning.
She doesn’t see me yet as she walks over, chatting and laughing with Dakota. Good. I probably look like my eyes are about to bulge out of my head.
I take in the sight of her, how she looks like a gorgeous angel in that long, silky, light pink dress.
Her strawberry blonde hair is styled in soft waves and it’s all swept over her right shoulder. And she’s wearing this deep red lipstick that makes her lips look even more luscious.
Someone elbows me. I peel my gaze from Sophie and turn to look at Theo.
“You’re drooling, dude.” He laughs.
A second later Sophie walks up to me. My jaw unhinges now that she’s standing in front of me and I can get an up-close look of her.
She flashes a wide smile and holds up her arm at her side. Her other hand is clutching a small golden purse.
“So? What do you think?” She asks, her voice shy.
I try to speak, but I can’t. I’m too stunned by her beauty.
After a few seconds of trying to say something, I give up and shake my head.
I grab her hand and pull her against me. And then I press a soft kiss to her lips, careful not to mess up her makeup.
“I’m not an eloquent man, so you’re going to have to cut me some slack, but…you look fucking hot, Sophie,” I say. “Like, five-alarm-fire hot.”
Her cheeks flush and she bites her lip. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” I slink my arm around her waist. “This dress…” I rake my gaze along the length of her body. “It looks incredible on you.” I lean my mouth to her ear. “But it’s going to look even better on the floor of our hotel room later tonight.”
Sophie lets out a giggle. She raises an eyebrow at me, a playful smile on her lips. “I can’t wait.”
She looks me up and down, her gaze is bright and fiery. “You’re ridiculously hot in this tux.”
I grin. “Yeah?”
She nods. “Like, unfairly hot.”
My ego swells at hearing Sophie rave about how I look.
Everyone in our group starts chatting. I grab Sophie a glass of water and together we stand and visit for the next few minutes.
Just then I see Coach Porter walk in with Alan Arden, the general manager of the Bashers. He’s frowning like always as Alan talks to him. But then he spots Sophie and that frown melts away.
When he walks up to her, she beams.
“Hi, Dad.” She hugs him.
When they break apart, he keeps hold of her hand, a tender smile on his face. “You look beautiful, honey,” he says.
I can feel the nerves inside of me fire off. I know Coach Porter said he’s fine with me dating Sophie, but I still can’t help but feel a little nervous. We haven’t talked much since then, outside of games and practice. And he hasn’t actually seen Sophie and me together in a while. And now we’re here, at this huge event in front of everyone he works with, together as a couple. I’d expect him to be a little uptight about it.
“Thanks, Dad,” Sophie smiles at him. “You look pretty handsome yourself.”
He starts to smile. When he turns to me, he sticks out his hand.
“Xander. Good to see you.” His tone is firm, but I can tell he’s being friendly.
My nerves begin to ease as I shake his hand in return. “Thanks, Coach.”
He nods once before saying hello to the rest of the guys on the team, then he goes over to the far end of the bar.
Blomdahl turns to me. “He didn’t murder you. Congrats, dude.”
I chuckle. Sophie does too.
We all sit down at our tables for dinner. Sophie and I are at a table with Theo, Maya, Ingrid, Blomdahl, Isaac, Isaac’s wife, Dylan, and Dylan’s wife.
I’m on my last bite of filet mignon when I look up and see Del Richards scowling as he weaves his way through the tables, sitting at one on the other side of the ballroom.
“Thank fuck that guy’s not sitting near us,” Theo mutters to me.
“I know, right?” I sip some whiskey from my glass.
“You think he volunteered to be part of the dating auction?” Theo jokes.
I chuckle. “No way. Who the hell would want to spend money to go on a date with that grumpy fucker?”
He laughs. The servers come around and collect our empty dinner plates before dropping off dessert.
“You guys ready for the auction?” Ingrid asks Theo and me.
We say yes. I give Sophie a quick kiss.
“Good luck.” She winks at me.
I get up and head to the stage with Theo and Ingrid.
I chuckle and follow Ingrid and Theo backstage. After everyone gets settled, Ingrid heads out to emcee the auction.
“Good evening, everyone! I’m so excited to be hosting the main event for this evening: the date night auction!”
Even from backstage we can hear the entire ballroom breaking into loud applause and whistles.
“Tonight you have the opportunity to bid on a date with some very handsome hockey pros,” Ingrid says. “Don’t be stingy, okay? This is the time to make it rain.”
Everyone chuckles.
“Every dollar of the winning bids will go to the Cancer Research Foundation. And you’ll get to go on a date with a handsome hockey hunk. Win-win!”
More laughs.
“Our first hockey hunk is Xander Williams!”
I follow my cue and walk out onto the stage. I smile at Ingrid, who’s standing at the podium on the left side of the stage.
“I’m sure you’re all aware of just how amazing Xander is as the top scorer on his team—and one of the top scorers in the whole league.” She turns to me and grins. “So I think we should start the bid at a thousand dollars. Do I have one thousand dollars?”
Someone raises their hand. “One thousand!”
It takes a second before I realize it’s my mom. I let out an embarrassed chuckle.
“Thanks, Mom,” I holler. The crowd laughs.
“Aww first bid goes to Mom. So sweet!” Ingrid coos. “How about fifteen-hundred?”
Someone yells fifteen-hundred.
“Do I hear two thousand?”
“Two thousand!”
“Do I hear twenty-five hundred?”
“Twenty-five hundred!”
“Three thousand!”
“Four thousand!”
“Five thousand dollars!”
“Fifty-five hundred dollars!”
Ingrid chuckles before turning back to me. “Wow, Xander. You’re quite the hot commodity.”
I shrug and flash a smug smile as the crowd chuckles.
The bids keep going up and up. I can’t believe it.
“Nine thousand is the current top bid,” Ingrid says. “Nine thousand going once, going twice…sold!”
Everyone claps, and Ingrid points to the person who won the bid. When I look over and see it’s Sophie, I my mouth falls open. I’m smiling though.
I wave good-bye to the crowd and head backstage. I wish the rest of the guys good luck and walk back to my table while Ingrid gets the crowded riled up to bid for Theo.
I sit down next to Sophie, taking the coy smile pulling at her plush mouth.
I drop a kiss on her lips. “You didn’t have to spend money to go out on a date with me.”
“I wanted to.”
“It’s a lot of money, Sophie.”
She grins. “My hot hockey star boyfriend is worth it.”
I smile so wide my cheeks ache.
We sit and watch the rest of the auction. At the end, Ingrid announces that the date auction alone has raised $100,000 dollars. Everyone cheers.
As the night winds down, we all get up from our tables to talk and mingle. I run over to check on my mom. She’s still chatting and laughing with all the other hockey moms. When I ask if she’s feeling tired yet, she waves a hand.
“Oh, sweetie. I’m having a blast. I’m not even tired yet. You go have fun with your friends and Sophie.”
I kiss the top of her head and tell her to call my phone when she’s ready for me to take her up to her room. She promises she will.
I head to the bar to top off my glass. I catch eyes with Sophie as she walks out of the ballroom.
She grins and mouths, “bathroom” to me. I flash a thumbs up and watch her walk off, my gaze glued to her incredible ass as she disappears out of sight.
I start to turn around and bump into someone.
“Crap, sorry…”
When I see Del glaring at me, I glare back.
“Watch where the fuck you’re going,” he mutters to me before walking up to the bar and asking for a vodka on the rocks.
“Nice language,” I mumble as I start to turn around.
Del scoffs. “Oh now you’re wholesome all of a sudden?”
I turn to him. “It’s a charity event. Maybe not the best place to be dropping f-bombs.”
He lets out a bitter chuckle. “I love it. The guy who fucks another man’s woman is suddenly wholesome.”
“This again? Dude, you two were broken up. Get over it.”
He steps up to me, glowering. “You little f?—”
Just then McKesson appears, grabs Del’s arm, and holds him back.
“Let’s get some air,” McKesson says, pulling him away.
I shake my head, annoyed that asshole was on the verge of picking a fight with me in the middle of a charity fundraiser. I glance around, relieved that everyone is so engrossed in their own conversations that they didn’t seem to notice the scuffle between Del and me.
I walk over to where my teammates are standing a couple dozen feet away.
“…because if Del gets traded to the Bashers, it’s gonna be hell.”
I whip my head up to look at Theo after hearing what he just said. “Wait, what?”
Theo glances around before he turns to me. “Look, don’t say anything, okay? I’m not supposed to know that, but I heard Porter and Alan the other day talking in Porter’s office about a possible trade with Nashville. Apparently they’re trying to get rid of Del, and Denver might be the place he lands.”
“He’s a solid player though,” I say. “I mean, he’s a piece of…” I trail off, catching myself. “But he’s a high scorer. That’s nuts they’re thinking of getting rid of him.”
Theo shrugs. “I don’t know the details. All I know is that he might get traded.”
I exhale sharply. The rest of our teammates shake their heads. Trade rumors happen all the time in the league. It’s not something most of us take seriously until we hear an official announcement.
Still though. Even just the possibility that Del could end up in Denver makes my blood boil. He’s the biggest asshole in the league. I don’t want him anywhere near my team.
I let out another heavy sigh. “Whatever. I don’t want to think about that guy anymore.”
“Cheers to that,” Blomdahl says as we all sip our drinks.