Chapter 11 – Victoria
eleven
Victoria
“The suite was nice. I think we had a similar one when we went to watch the basketball team,” Elliott says and then stops talking when he looks over and sees Jaxon coming our way.
I look over at Jaxon and I smile, seeing he’s got his ‘don’t fuck with me’ face on.
I secretly want to warn Elliott, but I don’t say anything when I look over his shoulder and see him.
Zane. His eyes are directly on me and my mouth goes dry.
He comes to stand next to Jaxon. The light suddenly shines on him and I see his green eyes looking darker.
“Hey,” he says, pulling out the chair next to Knox.
“Nice to see you again.” He nods to me, and it feels like all eyes are on me.
“Um,” I say, picking up my wine glass and taking a sip before I talk, “it’s nice to see you again too.” I put the glass down. “I’m so sorry, but I forgot your name.” I make a face and look over at Jaxon. “I know he’s the coach but—” His eyes flicker and I can see his jaw get tight.
“Zane,” he supplies his name, and my nipples perk up as he extends his hand to Elliott, “I’m the Warriors’ head coach.”
Elliott reaches over and shakes his hand. “Wow, nice to meet you,” he says. “Good game tonight.”
“Thanks,” Zane’s voice is gruff, “but I wasn’t the one on the ice tonight.” He looks around at the players at the table and I see Knox move to the side, so Jaxon grabs a chair from the other table and sits down between them.
He shakes his head. “Nice win, lucky win.” I bite down on my teeth and want to tell him to just stop talking.
“A win is a win, right?” Zane’s eyes don’t leave him.
“This is my brother.” I hold up my hand to Jaxon. “Jaxon. Jaxon, this is Elliott.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jaxon gives the guy a nod and then looks up at the server, who stops by the table with a tray full of drinks. “Can I get a burger,” he holds up his hand, “and a salad on the side?”
“That’s gross.” I point to him. “You are going to eat the burger, might as well add some bacon to that and a plate of fries.”
“Well, not really,” Elliott says from beside me. “It’s about moderation.” I smile at him and turn to look at him. “He’s not depriving himself of having the burger, but he’s also not pushing it.”
“Exactly,” Jaxon agrees as I hear Zane.
“I’ll take the same with bacon and fries.” I try not to look at Zane, but my eyes are not in sync with my head, apparently. “So, Elliott,” he looks at the guy, “what do you do?”
“I’m a lawyer,” he replies and I smile a big fake smile. “Dealing with mergers and acquisitions.”
“How did you two meet?” Zane asks him and I look at him, biting my tongue.
“Ran into her in the coffee shop.” He looks at me and I stare into his brown eyes, waiting to feel that tug for me.
And it comes up empty. Actually, the whole fucking night I’ve been trying to find something, anything, that excites me about him.
I have to be honest, every single time I thought I felt something for him, his mouth just ruined it.
Every time something happened or someone said something, he always had something to say.
“So you asked out a random stranger?” Jaxon grills him.
“Better than swiping right,” he chuckles, “if you get my drift.”
“I don’t,” Zane says, and I try not to glare at him.
“How did you like the game?” Jaxon leans back in his chair.
“It was good fun,” Elliott answers. “I’ve been to the arena often enough.” And here we go, I think to myself as I drain the glass of wine. “Our law office has box seats for the basketball games. We sometimes go for hockey.”
“Fun,” Zane deadpans and I think about maybe kicking him in the shin, but then I don’t even bother, because ignoring him is better than making a scene, “but you can’t compare basketball to hockey.”
“No offense,” Elliott says, and I think I hear all the girls at the table groan, because he’s been saying this fucking line all night long, “I’m more of a basketball type of guy.”
“Yeah,” Zane tosses out, “you look like it.” My mouth opens.
“You do,” Jaxon agrees next. “Hockey isn’t for everyone; you need heavy cardio for hockey.”
“I would think that isn’t the case,” Elliott disagrees.
“You would think wrong,” Zane grumbles. I hold my hands up and fold them in front of me, hiding my mouth that has my lips rolled together as I try to fight off the laugh.
“Have you ever played hockey before?” Jaxon asks him.
“I mean, how hard can it be?” Elliott quips and, I swear, I glance over and see Knox and Kirby looking like they want to say something but are biting their tongues. “It’s ice skating with a stick.”
“Yeah, it’s just ice skating with a stick,” Jaxon mimics. “You should come to one of our practices. Should be easy enough.”
“That would be dope,” he says, and I literally look the other way.
“So you said you deal with mergers and acquisitions.” Kirby tries to bring down the tone. “How do you like it?”
“It has to do a lot with contracts and negotiations,” he answers him. “Not sure how much of that you would understand.”
“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” I announce, knowing it was a dig at Kirby. Even though I want to tell him he’s an asshole, it’s much more fun watching Zane get irritated. “I’ll be back.”
I grab my purse and head to the bathroom, closing my eyes when I get inside and then hanging my head.
Okay, fine, maybe accepting a date from a total stranger wasn’t the best idea I’ve had, but I was sitting down, pining for a man who didn’t even want me.
It was time to get off the fucking pot and do something.
This was that something. I walk over to the mirror and look into it.
My hair is down and around my face, my makeup on perfectly.
Did I do my makeup thinking of Zane? Correct.
Did I dress sexier than I should to go to a hockey game?
Also correct. Who the fuck wears high heels to a hockey game?
No one, but what is on my feet right now?
Stilettos because that is the journey I am now on.
My blue jeans fit tight around my hips, clinging to all the right places, and showing off my ass in the best fucking way.
The black shirt is tucked in and has the sleeves rolled up to my elbows and the neckline goes off one shoulder, but you can’t tell because my hair is draped over it.
Opening my purse, I pull out the lip gloss, apply it to my lips, and take a huge inhale before I close my eyes and head back out there.
I shouldn’t have left Elliott alone, but I had to get away from Zane.
His smell had invaded my senses, and along with him staring at me half the time even though I avoided looking in his direction, I felt his eyes on me.
I pull open the bathroom door and I take a step out and see him leaning against the wall beside the door.
His feet are crossed at the ankles, his hair is pushed to the side like it always is.
His beard makes my hands itch to touch it, his shirt—again open at the collar—and I want nothing more than to lick up his throat while I ride him.
“Jesus.” I put my hand to my chest. “What are you doing lurking near the women’s bathroom, Zane? ”
“Oh, now she knows my name,” he goads, and I can feel the tension in the hallway. It’s thick and the walls are closing in on us.
“What are you doing waiting for me in the dark hallway?” I ask as I try not to get too close to him, fearing I’m going to try to touch him and he’s going to turn me down, yet again.
“No, what are you doing is the question of the night,” he fires back. I fold my arms over my chest and my tits push up more.
His eyes roam down as he takes in my action.
“I don’t know what you mean.” I smile at him, a fake smile just like I gave Elliott before.
“Right now I’m having the best night I’ve had practically all year long.
” I shrug my bare shoulder and his tongue comes out to lick his bottom lip, mine wanting to come out and touch his.
“I might even end the night with Elliott and me rolling around in—”
“Victoria,” he says my name and the minute he does, my whole body starts to tingle. My stomach flutters. My heart speeds up. My nipples tighten, and a certain part of me demands to be played with.
“Yes,” I reply, pretending that him saying my name does nothing to me, “what can I do for you?” He just stares at me and his look is one where I want him to pick me up and push me against the wall, which pisses me off.
“You know what, I don’t care what you have to say,” I hiss.
“It’s been a week since I called you, one fucking week.
” I hold up my finger and he takes a step closer to me.
“And you haven’t done anything. Not a call. Not a text. Nothing.”
“So you date that guy?” He points to where the table is.
“Why shouldn’t I? What do you want me to do, stop living my life?” I roll my eyes. “I’m twenty-five, not ninety-five.”
“That guy is a fucking tool, and you deserve better,” he says softly. My eyes burn and my nose stings, knowing he’s right, but not wanting to give him the satisfaction.
“Better?” I tilt my head to the side, hoping my voice doesn’t crack. “Do you mean I should be with someone like you?” He glares at me. “Because, I believe, I made myself pretty clear to you when I called you,” I hiss, my head advancing into his space, “that you could have had me.”
“It’s not that easy,” he deflects, and I shake my head.
“But it could be,” I say and walk away from him to head back to my date.
I walk out of the darkened hallway and head to the table, seeing Elliott is there on his phone.
Jaxon and Ariella are across from him, the two of them in their own conversation.
Knox, Kylie, Kirby, and Lexi’s chairs are all empty.
“Where did everyone go?” I ask, sitting in the chair beside him, his eyes glued to his phone.
“They called it a night,” Jaxon answers me. “The sitter just called us.” He looks at me and then back at Elliott. “We have to go. Jagger is being really fussy. We’re just waiting on the bill.”
“Oh no,” I say, sitting down.
“Yeah,” Jaxon confirms. “Do you want to come with us?” He raises his eyebrows.
I look back at Elliott and then look over toward the bar, seeing Zane come back out from the bathroom.
He looks over at us and I dare him to come back.
Dare him to finally come after me, and he looks to the right then toward me again, and before he can make his choice, someone comes up to him and starts to talk to him.
The server comes over and hands Jaxon one bill and then the other bill to Elliott, who takes out his credit card and hands it to him. “That one might be heavy,” he brags to the server, “it’s platinum.” He looks over at me and winks.
“So did you have fun tonight?” I ask him as we wait for the server to come back with his platinum card.
“It’s been alright,” he replies, and I throw my head back and pretend he just said something funny. Zane, always watching me, looks over at me confused.
“We’re going to go and say bye to Coach,” Jaxon announces.
“Elliott, I hope to see you again,” he says and then mumbles “never” under his breath.
I roll my lips and close my eyes. The server comes back and hands Elliott his card, and I get up at the same time he does.
He puts his hand on the lower part of my back and ushers me out.
I can feel Zane staring at me. I can feel his eyes on me, but I ignore the feeling to turn and go toward him and instead walk out with Elliott.
He walks us to his brand-new BMW. He made a point to tell me that he just got this car last week.
It’s the newest one on the market, they brought it in specially for him.
I tried not to roll my eyes at him, since it’s actually not brand-new to the market because my uncle Nico got his seven months ago.
I wait for him to walk over to my side of the door and open it for me, but he just takes his keys out of his pocket and unlocks the door. Okay, that would be the nail in the coffin at this point. “Oh God,” I say, opening my own door, “I got this sudden headache. Wow, it’s like a pounding.”
“I had one of those last week,” he says, and I look over at him. “You need to drink lots of fluids.”
“Thanks,” I tell him, rolling my eyes, and when we pull up to my house, I look over at him.
“I’m really sorry. I would invite you in, but my head.
” I hold my hand to my head as I reach for the door handle.
“Thank you for tonight; it was fun. Text me.” I get out of the car before he tries to lean over and kiss me, and I make my way to my front door, almost jogging.
I close the door behind me and for the millionth time I wish it was Zane coming home with me.