Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Ashton
Thursday
While it had been nice to have some time off, it felt great to get back on the ice with my team. Finals started in two days.
Kai let us know that the aunties were going to come to the game and we secured their seats.
I also picked up a shirt for Kai. Not a jersey, just a T-shirt.
Okay so it wasn’t just a T-shirt. It didn’t come from the team shop.
It was a limited edition left over from an event.
I’d gotten a few of my teammates to sign it.
Now I stood in our bedroom, trying to figure out which shirt to wear. For some reason I was nervous. This was just dinner. We were simply showing Kai a good time and going to Steven’s favorite fancy restaurant.
Maybe we’d bring Kai home… and make their fantasies come true.
If they wanted, of course.
Should we stay up late? No. But if we did, it would be worth it. Last night was extraordinary.
The doorbell rang. Steven came out of the bathroom, only in his underwear, and gave me a look.
“Is that for you?” I frowned, we weren’t expecting anyone.
“I ordered condoms. And more movie snacks. And a scented candle to make it romantic. I promise I won’t play with the wax.” His look went bashful.
The fact he wanted to make it nice for Kai meant everything. I wanted it to be nice, too. Grabbing the order from the door, I put everything away.
The cleaning service had come while we were at practice, so the place was neat and tidy. The sheets had been freshly changed. I still had that bottle of scotch and the champagne. Steven had ordered some groceries, too, in case we needed a snack.
Steven, now half-dressed, stood in front of the mirror, holding two shirts up.
“That one,” I pointed to a light-green button down.
“I think I’ll wear this one.” I pulled out a dark-green button down.
“Matchy-matchy. I like that as much as you’re going to like the pirate costumes I ordered.” Steven grinned as he buttoned the shirt.
“That sounds good.” It sounded fun.
His arm sneaked around my waist. “I’m sorry I never asked you the right questions about outfits.”
“I never realized those things were possible,” I replied. “I like being comfortable, but I also want to make you happy. If being a pirate does both, then why not?”
Steven kissed me. “You already make me happy, even if you never dress up.”
We finished dressing and I put my hair up, carefully selecting a hair tie from my jar of scrunchies. Some of them were from the store. Some had been bought at farmer’s markets and craft fairs. Others I’d traded fans pucks for, or people had made or given me. I chose a dark-green one.
Dressed and ready we went down to our cars.
“Let’s take mine,” Steven said.
The two of us got into his black sports car, which was a four-seater.
“I didn’t see Marilyn today, did you? I thought for sure she’d corner me and grill me.” Steven rolled his eyes. “I really haven’t texted her back, other than the bare basics, because it feels weird.”
“She probably has a lot to do with the finals coming.” Which was better for us. We were upholding our part of the bet and showing Kai the best time.
That was all we were supposed to do anyway.
I’d also been hiding from Marilyn, not wanting any pressure. Because I was catching feelings for Kai and didn’t want her to say I told you so.
Who was I kidding? I’d already caught feelings for them. Which was silly, because we were geographically incompatible. Also, Kai had just gone through a messy breakup.
I pushed those feelings down. This wasn’t about me. This was about showing Kai a good time.
Still, Kai smelled so good. We got along so well. They fit.
Steven drove to the hotel, and I texted Kai to let them know that we were on the way. When we pulled up, Kai was waiting, wearing boots, black slacks, a high-necked, sleeveless, black top, hoop earrings, and a little bracelet.
“You look great.” I got out of the car and opened up the door for her, like Steven had been doing.
“Thanks, you too. This car.” Kai whistled as they climbed into the back.
“This is Steven’s baby. He’s been talking about it since high school. This season he finally broke down and got it,” I said as I got in the front seat.
“I can see why,” Kai replied.
We drove to the beautiful brick building, decorated with lights. It was an understated iconic restaurant, serving elevated southern cuisine. Everything about it whispered wealth and power.
This place had no need to shout. Steven was also obsessed with their barbeque.
“Mr. Andromeda, is there a special occasion we’re celebrating today?” the host asked Steven when we checked in for our reservation.
Kai looked baffled.
“Kai’s visiting, so we’re out for a nice night on the town,” Steven said.
“This is our go-to special occasion place. They have excellent gooey butter cake,” I explained.
“This looks like a special occasion place.” Kai glanced around as we were led past the polished wood bar, and through a room with hardwood floors, and gleaming chandeliers, to a smaller room, with a fireplace, mirrors, fresh flowers, and crisp white linens.
“They have a private room in the wine cellar, which is great for romantic birthday dinners.” Steven winked at me.
He pulled out a chair for Kai. I pulled out the chair for him.
“I don’t even know what to order,” Kai said, a little overwhelmed, looking at the menu.
“You can’t go wrong with ribs or brisket,” Steven told them.
“Ribs?” Kai frowned as they perused the menu.
“All of their steaks are nice.” I looked over and realized Kai’s menu had no prices… and didn’t have everything on it.
They’d given Kai the omega menu. Sometimes high-end restaurants did this, though the practice was becoming less common. Most of the items were smaller portions or dainty fare. The petite filet was on there… but not the giant bone-in ribeye that was my favorite.
And apparently there weren’t any ribs either. It also seemed heavy on the luxury extras.
“If you don’t see what you want, try my menu. I know what I want.” I handed her mine. “And don’t worry about the prices.”
“Thank you.” Kai looked over my menu. “Why’s mine different?”
“Omega menu,” I explained.
Her eyebrows rose. “What in the Southern is that?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.” I shrugged. “Order what you want. Ribs. Bone-in pork chops. Giant steaks.”
Steven was looking at Kai’s menu. “Honestly, the filet with the lobster tail is really good. So are the loaded mashed potatoes. You can try some of my ribs–and Ashton’s giant steak.”
“Would you like to order some wine tonight?” The sommelier came over with a wine menu.
“Can we have a wine that goes well with steak and ribs?” Steven asked. “That wine we had last night was so good,” he added to me.
“I think it was a Bordeaux?” I didn’t remember, though I had told my agent it was quite nice.
“I would recommend a mature Bordeaux or perhaps a Burgundy Pinot Noir.” His eyes flickered over to Kai. “We also have a robust Blanc de Noirs if your companion prefers champagne?”
All of this meant nothing to me.
“I’m going to get the ribs, he’s going to get a giant ribeye, what are you going to get, Kai?” Steven asked.
“Honestly, the filet and lobster sounds good,” Kai replied. “I do love mashed potatoes.”
“Yeah, so why don’t you bring us a bottle of whatever goes well with all of that,” Steven told the sommelier.
“Very good, I think I have the perfect thing,” the sommelier told us and left.
That just sounded expensive.
“If you don’t like the wine, you can get whatever you want. I just thought it would be fun,” Steven said.
“It does sound fun,” Kai replied.
The server took our order. The sommelier returned with the bottle and the menu, then came to me. I guess I looked like the one paying the bill.
“Just to confirm, you’d like this one?” He indicated it on the menu. “We have some other options. Especially if the omega prefers champagne.”
Ooof. While it wasn’t completely ridiculous I’d never paid that much for a single bottle of wine before.
But it wasn’t like we couldn’t afford it.
“That’s fine,” I replied.
He made a show of opening it and pouring a taste for my approval. It was wine. Nice tasting red wine.
“Excellent choice,” I told him.
The sommelier poured it for the table and left the bottle for us.
“This is nice. Are omegas supposed to prefer champagne? Usually, I just drink beer or whatever’s at the party. I’ve been ordering fancy drinks because my aunties are paying,” Kai replied.
“I have no idea,” Steven replied. “Oooh, this is yummy.”
For the price per bottle, I should hope he’d like it.
“How did practice go? I’m still not taking from your focus, am I, because I don’t want to do that,” Kai said.
“No, not at all. Everything’s going to be fine. Well as fine as it can be,” Steven said.
“One thing we did was that we went over a bunch of strategies and studied our opponents,” I told her.
Kai frowned. “Okay? I don’t really understand what you do.”
“Oh, okay. So, the goalie, the guy in the net, stops the puck. My job is to get the puck past him and score. I watch for things like what side do they favor? What’s their weakness? What would be the best way for me to score on them,” Steven explained.
“Oh, that makes sense. So, you study the way your opponent plays for each game and modify a strategy based on the team’s overall strengths and weaknesses. Got it. If your job is to score, what does Ashton do?” Kai asked.
“I protect our goalie. I work in a pair with Rhett,” I replied, showing her a photo of my teammate on my phone.
Our food came, and as we ate, we explained the basics of the game. We also showed Kai some video clips to get a better understanding.
“Steven, why do you have multiple fight montages to music?” Kai looked up from their phone.
Steven flashed a bashful grin. “If someone messes with my teammates, I’ll punch them. Also, fights happen in hockey. It’s a big reason why people like it.”
“And how he lost the bet. He got in a fight and got a timeout for it,” I added.