11. Chloe #2
Eventually, I come out of hiding when there are only a few people left waiting for their players.
Liam is one of the last ones out with two guys flanking behind him.
All three men look like they belong in a fashion magazine with how they are dressed. Seeing them like this gives me a clue as to why there were so many women in the stands tonight. They all want a piece of a sexy man in a suit.
If I wasn’t in the middle of an existential crisis, I would.
The Chloe of this yesterday would take Liam home this very second and peel off that suit bit by bit, until each and every one of his tattoos was showing. Then I would map them each out with my tongue.
The Chloe of today is trying really hard not to cry as the man in question looks up and meets my gaze.
What the hell have I gotten myself into? How did we even get here?
A handsome man and lots and lots of sex. That’s how.
Liam sends a smile in my direction, but the smile that I send back must have been too tight because his expression quickly shifts.
He looks worried, just like he did earlier when he came to talk to me during his warm up.
And just like when I first saw that expression earlier, I want to yell out my secret to him but I hold it in.
The three men approach me, well Liam approaches me and the two other guys follow, and when they are about a foot away, I can’t help but stare at them with my mouth wide open.
They are seriously gorgeous.
Are hockey players always this hot?
I thought the majority of them had broken noses and missing teeth.
“Hi,” I say, my eyes dancing between the three men.
Liam gives me an intense look, his eyes not moving from my face. His friends on the other hand, are looking at me like I appeared out of nowhere.
Eventually they both compose themselves. One of them gives me a smirk and the other keeps looking between me and Liam, trying to figure out who I am to him.
The one that is smirking, looks over at Liam and throws a nod in my direction.
“Are you going to introduce us?” He asks, his smirk getting bigger.
Liam doesn’t even look at his teammate. “No.”
The intensity in his stare is enough for me to shift on my feet.
Is he always like this or is it only when he is trying to figure something out?
The dark haired teammate gives Liam an eye roll and turns back to me.
This time the smirk is gone and in its place it’s a smile that I’m sure has helped land a woman or two into his bed.
“I’m Christian. This ill-mannered idiot’s best friend,” the dark haired man says, nodding toward my baby daddy.
I give Christian a smile. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Chloe, the idiot’s,” I pause. What the hell am I to him? There aren’t many things I can call myself so I settle with what is easier. “Friend.”
The way Liam flinches at the word friend doesn’t go unnoticed.
Does he want us to be more?
Well, little does he know we will be if I decide to go through with this.
“I’m Blake,” the other teammate says, holding out a hand for me to shake.
He looks younger than Christian and Liam do and has a boyish charm to him that seems sweet.
“Nice to meet you, Blake.” I say shaking his hand.
“You too, Chloe,” he gives me another smile but it quickly turns into a smirk that matches Christian’s from a few moments ago. “How do you and Liam know each other?”
It’s a simple question, it really is. I just don’t know if I want to tell two complete strangers that I’m Liam’s one night stand from weeks ago.
I guess Liam noticed the predicament I’m in because he finally drops his staring contest with my face and turns to his teammates.
“It’s none of your business how we know each other. Don’t you two have shit to do or something?”
Blake and Christian look at each other before they both shrug and start walking away.
“It was nice meeting you, Chloe.”
“Bye, Chloe.”
I watch both men leave and once their backs disappear, I turn back to Liam.
His intense stare is back.
He looks both hungry for me and confused and I’m sure once I tell him my little secret, that expression is going to shift into something else.
What, I don’t know.
“Hi,” I say again, my voice a lot smaller.
“Hi,” he responds, his gaze not wavering.
This is definitely going to be an interesting conversation to say the least.
“You played a good game and that’s coming from someone that doesn’t know much about hockey.” I say, trying to give him a big smile.
The small smile he gives me tells me that my smile wasn’t big enough.
“Thanks,” he says, “Where’s Betty?”
“She went home,” I answer, wishing again that she was here as a buffer.
He nods, finally taking his eyes off me and looking around. “Want to get out of here and have that conversation?”
I give him a nod and he starts guiding me away from the remaining friends and family.
His hand lands on my lower back and for a long minute, I wish we weren’t in this position. I wish that life hadn’t changed this morning and that he was leading me back to his to have his way with my body.
But life did change and now we have to have a conversation that will possibly change us forever.
I haven’t said a single word about what I want to talk about, so I can’t help but wonder what Liam thinks this is all about.
From the way he flinched at me calling myself his friend, he no doubt thinks I’m friend zoning him.
And in a way I am.
I need to figure my shit out and I can’t do that and figure out how to start a new relationship.
That will just add more fire to the chaos.
Liam and I make it out of the arena and to the parking lot, where he leads me to the fancy car he drove the night of the ballet.
It’s like we’ve come full circle.
When we make it to the car I think that Liam is going to open the door for me to get it, but he doesn’t.
He just lets out a sigh and leans against the passenger side door.
I guess we’re having this conversation in the parking lot.
Great.
We’re both silent for a long minute, both of us just looking at each other, waiting for the other to speak.
I should start.
I should break the silence and just let it spill out that I’m pregnant. I should do that.
So why they hell am I terrified to do it?
It’s two simple words. Just two. I can say them. I can say them right now.
Just say them, Chloe.
SAY. THEM.
“Look, Chloe. We’re both adults. If you no longer want to see me or just want to be friends, just tell me and–”
“I’m pregnant!”