Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
ADDISON
It had only been twenty minutes, but I was already bored out of my mind on this spite date. I’d know from the guy’s profile that he wasn’t exactly a winner, but I’d hoped he’d be interesting enough to at least get my mind off a certain infuriating hockey player for five fucking minutes.
Sadly, this guy couldn’t even manage to snag my attention for a singular minute. I was certain watching Levi hand-sand a boat for hours on end would be more interesting than sitting across from Chad.
What was interesting was Chase’s reaction to me back at the inn.
Having him walk in on me getting ready definitely hadn’t been in the plans, but it should have been, considering his reaction.
Witnessing the emotions flit across his face had made up for how uncomfortable this dress was and how precarious these shoes were and how absolutely little I wanted to be here.
Lust had blanketed Chase’s features as he’d swept his gaze over me from head to toe. Then had come the realization that he’d seen me in this dress before. And every one of those memories we’d made while I’d been wearing this the last time had played across his face, making me relive them, too.
When he’d shown up at that New Year’s Eve party, his gaze had found mine the second he’d walked through the door. That always seemed to happen with us—we were like magnets, always being pulled together, no matter how hard either of us fought it.
His attention had never left me as he’d woven his way through the crowd, people attempting to catch his eye to no avail.
He’d been popular, even back then, having just signed his second contract with Vancouver, which meant he couldn’t stride up to me without being noticed.
And if there was one thing neither of us wanted to be noticed, it was him stalking through the crowd toward his best friend’s little sister, looking like he wanted to eat her for dinner.
As soon as we’d been tucked away in a secluded alcove, as hidden as we could be while being feet away from a raging party, he hadn’t said a word before he’d cupped my face and kissed me. It’d started slow and sweet, just the brush of his lips against mine, before turning hungry in a blink.
The thing about kissing Chase was that it was always all-consuming. Every single time, without fail. He had a way of making me feel like I was the only person in the world…in the whole fucking universe. Made me feel like I was the only one he ever wanted.
But that was clearly me being disillusioned because he’d proven just how little he wanted me this past year.
“So, what do you think?” As if Chad knew I hadn’t been paying attention, he rapped his knuckles twice on the table in front of me, pulling me out of my memories.
“What do I think about what?”
He lifted his brows and gestured toward the menu I was looking over. “You want to know what I like so you can order something from that list? That way, I can finish the meal for you. You’re a tiny little thing. You probably don’t eat much.”
I flashed him my teeth in what he probably assumed was a smile but definitely was not. If he tried to eat my food, he’d be missing a finger by the end of the night. “No, I don’t think I’ll be doing that.”
“Oh,” he said, shock ringing in the single syllable. When I simply met his gaze with an unflinching stare of my own, he cleared his throat. “Okay. So, you got any plans for the Super Bowl next month? ’Cause I’m having a party if you wanted to come.”
“I’m not really into sports.” As long as you didn’t count watching hundreds of hockey games featuring one very specific team over the past ten years. And I definitely did not.
He winked at me—actually winked, like a fucking creep. “Give me a couple dates, and I bet I could change that.”
This guy certainly gave new meaning to the term cocky.
Chase had exuded it for as long as I could remember, and while it had oftentimes irritated me, it had never made me cringe.
The difference, though, was that Chase could back it up a hundred times over.
And the guy across from me didn’t have a leg to stand on.
I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. “How about we get through this first date before we start banking on any others.”
Chad laughed as if I was joking, but I just raised a brow and lifted my drink to take a sip. God knew I was going to need every drop of alcohol I could get to make it through this date.
How long did I have to suffer through here?
We hadn’t ordered dinner yet, so maybe I could misconstrue what this really was and assume we’d just been going out for drinks and appetizers?
Where was Avery when I needed her? I was so far out of the dating game, I couldn’t begin to guess what was appropriate.
Though, truthfully, did I really care what was “appropriate” with a guy who was going to fight me about paying and who told me to order his favorites so he could eat my meal?
Before I could send an SOS text to Avery to get me out of here, Chad said, “If you’re not doing anything this weekend, maybe you want to come hang out.
We can—holy shit!” His wide-eyed stare was fixed on something behind me.
Without taking his gaze off whatever had caught his attention, he leaned toward me over the table and hissed, “You’re never going to believe who’s walking this way! ”
My shoulders stiffened, my back going ramrod straight as goose bumps prickled my skin. With that reaction—one I was unfortunately intimately familiar with—I didn’t have to guess.
I knew exactly who was headed in our direction.
Chase
One benefit of being a professional hockey player was that I could get pretty much anything I wanted when I wanted it. Pair that with being back in my small hometown, and the fine people of Starlight Cove were willing to do just about anything to give me what I asked for.
I made it a point not to abuse that. Tried, in fact, to never use it at all. But when my girl was sitting in the middle of this restaurant across from some douchebag wearing a ratty graphic tee and a baseball hat when she looked like fucking fire, I intended to use everything I had at my disposal.
So, when I strolled into the restaurant I’d correctly guessed they’d be at—bonus points for small-town living—and requested the table that had just opened up one over from them, I got it, no questions asked.
The host was a kid, probably fifteen or sixteen, and he stared at me with wide, starstruck eyes and an open mouth. “Holy shit, you’re—”
I dipped my chin in a nod and shot him a grin. “I am. And if you put me at that table right there—” I leaned on the stand and pointed at the table as close to my girl as I could get “—I’ll sign whatever you want before I leave.”
The kid was nodding vigorously before I’d even finished the sentence. He started walking that way before smacking a hand on his forehead and turning around to grab a menu while shooting me a sheepish smile.
I followed him, adjusting my cuffs as I kept my eyes trained on Addison. That meant I didn’t miss her reaction when her date leaned toward her and said, “You’re never going to believe who’s walking this way!”
Her shoulders stiffened, and even though she hadn’t turned around, hadn’t even glanced behind her, I had no doubt she knew exactly who he was talking about.
With how short her hair was now, her shoulders and back were bare above the strapless dress, and it was fucking torture that I couldn’t go up to her and brush my lips all over that smooth, soft skin.
Couldn’t suck that spot on her neck that always made her melt into me.
Couldn’t reach around, cup her tits, and run my thumbs over her nipples while kissing along every exposed inch I could reach…
“Let me guess,” she responded flatly to the douchebag. “The NHL’s biggest idiot.”
“What?” he said, shaking his head. “No, it’s—”
“Chase Lockhart,” she interrupted. “Yeah, yeah, it’s very exciting.”
“How did you know it was him?” he asked.
“Lucky guess.”
“Actually…” I stepped up to their table, bracing my hands on the back of her chair, my fingers lightly brushing against her skin. “Addison and I go way back. Isn’t that right, Addie?”
“Unfortunately,” she grumbled into her glass before downing the rest of her wine.
“Seriously?” Douchebag asked, his wide eyes flitting between me and Addison. “That’s fucking awesome! Do you want to… I mean, if you’re eating alone anyway, do you want to join us?”
“Excuse me?” Addison hissed. Her tone was frosty enough to have a grown man’s balls shriveling up, but Douchebag just looked at her as if he didn’t have a clue.
I held up a hand. “I really don’t want to impose.”
Addison shot a glare at me over her shoulder. “Good, then you should—”
“Definitely sit with us!” Douchebag finished for her. Then he snapped his fingers at the host and pointed to the chair between him and Addison. “You can set that down right here, my man.”
“I really don’t want to interrupt your…date.” I nearly choked on the word, and from the smug look Addison shot me, she could tell.
“Are you kidding?” Douchebag asked. “We want you to!”
“And does Addison agree with that?” I asked, since he didn’t seem to care at all about her opinion.
“Of course she does!” he said. “Don’t you?” Before she could answer, he snapped his fingers at the host again. “Right here, my man, like I said. And get this guy a drink.” He hooked a thumb in my direction. “Whatever he wants! It’s my treat.”
My entire plan in coming here had been to sit close.
Keep an eye on her. Make sure she was okay.
And, yeah, hopefully ruin whatever vibe she had going with the asshole who was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of her presence tonight.
But now? Fucking right I was going to join them.
This guy was an asshole and an idiot. I knew Addison could handle herself—especially with a guy like this.
She’d chew him up and spit him out before he even knew she’d taken a bite.
But that didn’t mean she should have to.
So, I unbuttoned my suit jacket and took the seat between them, my gaze locked on her the entire time.
Though it was clear she was trying to ignore me, she shot several glances my way, her gaze flitting over every inch of me she could see.
Her eyes were filled with unmasked irritation, but something else was hidden in their depths.
Hunger.
There was no denying how it heated her gaze, and my dick shot to attention immediately at her interest. That, combined with how snippy she was with Douchebag, and I knew there was no way she’d set this up as anything other than a revenge date, just as I’d thought.
And after hearing him cut her off, disregard her wants, and basically ignore her in favor of kissing my ass? Yeah, I was going to make sure this guy was put in his place before the night was through, and I was going to enjoy every fucking second of it.