Chapter Three
Denis
After his rude behavior toward me, I wanted to say something cutting to Sterling but couldn’t. Call me shallow, but he was melt-my-bones-like-butter hot. Blue eyes as clear as an endless summer sky, glossy dark hair, and a jawline that could cut diamonds.
Sterling Forest was perfection.
Until he opened his mouth.
“I hardly think a few words exchanged in a bar qualifies us as friends.”
I pretended to think hard. “Did I say that? I wasn’t aware.”
Neil grimaced. “Denis.”
I tipped my head, attempting to be gracious. “It’s good to see you again, Neil. Where is your beautiful wife?”
Rip and I might’ve made up and put our past behind us, but Neil and I hadn’t. “She’s here somewhere.” He spoke directly to Sterling. “Would you excuse me, please?”
He hurried off, and Sterling’s lips quirked. “What did you do to piss him off? Or was it simply you being you?”
“What is your problem?” I took a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing server and handed it to Sterling, then took one for myself.
“I don’t recall saying I wanted a drink,” Sterling grumbled.
“I don’t drink alone. That would be pathetic.”
He raised a brow but took a sip. And another.
We watched the crowd filter in.
“I thought this would be small. Adrian used the word intimate.” Sterling glanced around. “There are over fifty people here.”
“At least. But Rip has the team, his friends from GAINS, and other people he’s close with. He’s not the type to leave someone out.”
“And you’d know his type, how? Because you’ve played on the same team for a few years? You’re his best friend?”
I studied his face to see if he was joking, but he remained unreadable. Did the man not know our history?
“We play hockey together, plus at one time…we played in the sheets.” At his stare, I laughed out loud. “As a newsman, you didn’t know? Rip and I were lovers.” I drained my glass.
For the first time I saw this uptight man at a loss for words. “Yet you’re here? And Adrian invited you. I was there.” He dropped his voice to a growl. “Don’t tell me he doesn’t know, and you’re lying to him.”
Hmm, he was even hotter when he turned growly. My dick twitched. Merde. I must be hard up if this jerk is getting to me. I needed to get laid.
“I see you too have fallen under the spell of our Adrian. No, no. Not at all. Adrian knows everything. But Rip and I…it was a long time ago. We’re adults, and we’ve put the past behind us.
” Surprisingly, that shut him up, and I couldn’t help poking the bear.
“That’s the mature way to handle it, don’t you think? ”
“The smartest thing would have been to never sleep with someone you work with in the first place.” He finished his glass.
In the distance, I watched Rip and Adrian laughing with Seb, Varhov, and some of the others. Once I’d split with Rip, I’d been frozen out of their little friendship club. I pretended not to care. I pretended a great many things.
“L’amour, Sterling. Sometimes the passion is too great. Too strong.” I met his eyes and took a step closer. His breath hitched. “You get caught up and can’t help yourself.”
His gaze clashed with mine. “Boundaries need to be set and respected.”
My lip curled. “Some people can’t live within boundaries and fences. They need to be free. Free to be who they are without fear of repercussions or that they won’t be liked.”
“Is that what happened to you? Someone tried to cage your untamed spirit and you broke free?”
You have no idea, and you never will.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you sarcasm is an ugly habit?” Without breaking eye contact, I beckoned a server carrying champagne. I gave him our empty glasses and took two more. I handed Sterling one. “Here.”
He took it, our fingers brushing, and every hair on my body rose. I covered by gulping more champagne. Sterling held his glass but didn’t drink.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I couldn’t answer as I still struggled to bring myself under control. What the hell? Maybe I should slow the drinking. It was beginning to affect my judgment.
“Nothing. Let’s get back to you. Are you saying you’ve never been attracted to someone you’ve worked with? Not our beautiful Adrian because he is madly in love with Rip. They are the perfect couple.”
Did I sound bitter? I didn’t believe so, but I must’ve failed miserably because something that looked like pity filled his eyes.
“I’m sorry. Were you and Rip together long?”
“Two years. But it was my fault. I was stupid.”
“You cheated.” His voice turned flat.
I lifted a shoulder. “I said I was stupid. There’s no need to get into anything else. Rip and I are friends now, and that’s all that matters.”
“For him, maybe. It proves he’s a nice guy. But you?” Forest shrugged.
“I guess you’ve never made a mistake?”
“If I believed in relationships, I would never cheat.”
“A cynic. How sad.”
His mouth tightened, and some demented part of me wanted to kiss the scowl right off his face. I’d probably get punched in the nose, but it might be worth it. Maybe under that buttoned-up exterior lay a tiger waiting to be unleashed.
Rawr.
He grimaced. “I’m not a cynic. I’m a realist. Statistics prove most marriages end in divorce.
In the research I once did for a news story, a scientist came up with a theory that mating for life in humans wasn’t natural.
From the fifty percent divorce rate and all the commitment phobes, I’m betting he’s right. ”
I made a face. “A clinical cynic. The worst kind. Bah.”
Now he smiled, and his eyes sparkled in the sunlight. “You don’t believe in science? In facts?” He sipped his drink.
“Where’s the room for passion? For being swept off one’s feet?”
“You’re kidding.” He chuckled, and I stared—I’d never seen him with anything but a scowl. But I wasn’t laughing, and the smile faded from his face.
“No, of course I’m not. Sometimes you see a person and it clicks. You can’t stop yourself. You want to know what they sound like. Feel like.” I brought the glass to my mouth and drained it. “Taste like.” I swiped my tongue over my bottom lip. “You get caught up in the moment, helpless to stop it.”
Our eyes locked, and I watched the pulse beat at the base of his throat. His chest rose and fell, and my heart pounded. I enjoyed the sparring, but he didn’t act as though he were ready to get naked. He gave off more of a don’t-touch-me vibe. Which, curiously, only made me want him more.
“Denis, the ceremony is starting.” Seb clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Take your seat.”
“Okay, best man.”
Seb winked. “Finally he acknowledges the truth.” He strode away, pointing the others to the filling seats.
I snickered and shook my head. “Don’t push your luck, wingman,” I called after him and walked along the lawn, noticing after a few steps that Sterling wasn’t following. I stopped and turned around. He stood awkwardly, out of place. “Are you coming?”
He frowned and straightened his shoulders. “I have to sit in the last row. I’m leaving right after the ceremony.”
My turn to frown. “Why would you do that?”
“I only came to show support for Adrian.”
“Which you do by staying for the dinner. There will be music…dancing…”
His lips thinned. “I don’t dance.”
“Quelle surprise,” I murmured but continued. “A delicious dinner.” I sat in one of the gilt chairs.
“I’m on a strict diet.”
“God, you’re such an uptight hard-ass.”
“And you’re a hedonist,” he sniped right back.
My brows shot up, and I grinned. “Thank you. Maybe I’ll tell my agent to put it in my bio.”
He snorted. “You would.” Ignoring the empty chair next to me, he deliberately chose a seat several rows behind.
The ceremony was brief but meaningful. Rip had always spoken about wanting a family of his own, and Adrian was his perfect match.
Adrian’s parents beamed, Rip’s father wore an ear-to-ear smile.
Neil and Seb stood up for them. It was a picture-perfect wedding.
Everyone was filled with joy and happiness.
So why did I feel like a black cloud hung over me? It wasn’t that I’d lost out on a forever with Rip. I hadn’t lost it; I’d thrown it away. And to be honest, we’d never had what he and Adrian did. They truly loved each other in a way that went beyond the physical.
Maybe I didn’t believe I’d ever find that all-encompassing love.
I huffed and made my way to the bar. Why was I stressing?
I didn’t need love or even a boyfriend. All any relationship had shown me was that I was bad at them.
But sex? That I excelled in. So I might as well give up trying for something I kept failing at and couldn’t possibly find, and instead keep on doing what I did best: having fabulous sex. Spread the wealth, so to speak.
Rip and Adrian had created a signature drink—a champagne cocktail—and I sipped it, watching them take pictures with their families and close friends.
“They’re going to be deliriously happy, aren’t they?” Seb stopped by on his way to the shoot. His hands were jammed into the pockets of his pants, and that earlier friendly face? A distant memory.
“I think they are.”
“Just stay away from them. I know we’ve all made up and play nice now, but if you pull any shit, I swear—”
“Fuck off, Seb. Go find your beautiful wife and leave me the hell alone.”
He glared at me but left, and I watched him take Jolie’s hand and join Adrian and Rip.
Perhaps I’d deserved the warning. In the beginning, I had tried to get between the two of them, but it had been more because I was unhappy in another failed relationship at that time than wanting Rip back. Plus, I didn’t go after married men.
As I drank a glass of water, my gaze lit on Sterling sitting at the end of the bar, his eyes pinned on Adrian and Rip. I crooked my finger at the bartender.
“Send a double of the special cocktail to that gentleman.” I pointed toward Sterling, then pulled a hundred out of my wallet and handed it to him.
“Sure thing, Mr. Bouvier.” He mixed it up and brought it over to Sterling, who turned around.
I grinned and wiggled my fingers. Of course that earned me a frown and a shake of his head.
I picked up my glass and joined him. I was already a little buzzed and had a feeling I’d be calling a car to take me home or finding a hotel room for the night.
“You can’t say no. I had him make it special for you.”
Sterling snorted. “Sure you did. But I’ve had enough. More than enough, for that matter. I don’t usually drink so much.” A slight smile lifted his lips. “Unfortunately, I have a weakness for champagne.”
“As do I. I keep a fabulous collection in my apartment.” I leaned in close and felt him stiffen with shock. It gave me the opportunity to breathe deep of his scent. Hot and sweet. Like honey. “Maybe you’ll come see it sometime.”
“Is that the new come see my etchings? An excuse to get me alone?” he rasped.
Well, well. The iceman’s blood runs warm.
“Do I need one?”
“I watched your game,” he murmured.
Now I was actually shocked. I pulled away and stared him in the face. “You what?”
He took a drink of the cocktail. A long one, I noticed.
“I wanted to see what the hype was all about.”
Amused, I leaned on the bar. “And?”
“You—I mean the Blades—are good.”
“So we live up to the accolades.”
His cheeks flushed pink. “I guess. I mean, it was a winning game, so yeah. It was good.”
The music stopped, and Neil took the mic. “Dinnertime, everyone. Take your seats.”
People filed off the dance floor to the tables placed around the perimeter, but Sterling and I remained at the bar, him sitting and me standing by his side.
“I’m not really that hungry,” I told him. “Are you?”
A tiny shake of his head.
“So.” I shifted closer. “You thought we were only good. How many games have you watched?”
His lashes fanned down. “It was my first.”
“Incroyable,” I muttered. “You only think we were good. In the final game of a seven-game championship series with a 1-0 score.”
“Yeah. Okay. It was very good.”
I loomed over him, and his blue eyes blew open wide. “So this is how it’s going to work. You are going to come to preseason opening day and watch us play. Then you’re going to come opening night at Blades Arena and watch the game.”
He had the nerve to glare at me. “No.”
“No? Why the hell not?”
“Because, if you thought about it for a moment, you’d realize I have a job that requires me to be at the station for a six p.m. and a ten p.m. show. I can’t just take off to watch you play your games.”
Dammit. I hated that he was right. But…he didn’t say he wouldn’t come. Merely that the time wasn’t right.
“That’s fine. You can come on the weekends. We play afternoon games sometimes.”
“I never said I wanted to.” His brows knitted, and I grinned.
“You haven’t said no.”
“Since when do I owe you explanations for what I do? Listen, you’ve attached yourself to me this whole afternoon. Why don’t you go play with your other little hockey friends and leave me alone?”
“Attached? Play with my little friends?” I sputtered. “Did you seriously say that to me?”
He pushed off the chair and knocked against me as he walked away. “Deal with it.”
“Obnoxious prick.”
I decided to stop drinking completely before I made a fool of myself, and I asked for water. I refused to allow Seb, Neil, or anyone to think that seeing Rip find love and getting married in such a warm and accepting environment hurt like a kidney punch.
“Stupid fool,” I muttered, seeing Neil stop Sterling, put an arm around his waist, and lead him into the house.
Was I talking about him or me?