12. Bryce
Bryce
The locker room is loud.
Too loud, especially since we lost.
Some of the guys are quiet, probably thinking about what went wrong and where we need to improve for Friday’s game. I should be thinking about my game, too. Instead, I can’t stop thinking about Hadley.
I zoned out twice while I was on the bench, watching her watch the game and wondering what she was thinking.
I grab my phone and shoot her a text asking her to wait for me. I feel bad asking her to wait, but I want to see her, to tell her goodnight.
I drop my gear and strip out of the sweaty jersey and pads, ready to rush through cool-downs and the shower.
“Rough night,” Colt says, coming to stand beside me. “I can’t believe we lost.” He shakes his head. His usual cocky demeanor is subdued.
“You’re telling me,” I reply. “If I hadn’t sent the puck wide…” I let the sentence drop off.
“Yeah, it wasn’t just that, though. East was on tonight.” He shrugs.
“Good thing we still have at least two more games to play,” I say. “I’m going to cool down. Hadley’s waiting for me.”
Colt smirks. “How’s that going?”
I think back to when her hand was in mine and smile. “It’s good.”
“I’m glad,” he says, slapping me on the back. “Wait for me and we’ll head back to the hotel together?”
“You better hurry,” I say, already headed toward the showers.
Forty minutes later, we’re walking out of the entrance, hats pulled low, and I spot Hadley standing with Paige. They’re laughing, and the sight makes my heart squeeze in my chest. I want to see her laugh like that every day.
I’m so focused on getting to Hadley that when Lacey steps in front of me, I nearly knock her down. “Lacey!” I say, grabbing her to keep her from falling. “What are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t make it! How’d you know where to find me?”
She holds up her cell phone. “Life 360. I was going to wait and surprise you at the hotel, but then I saw you head this way and changed course.”
Knox steps into view, wrapping his arms around Lacey. “We could get away after all.” He grins. “Surprise!”
I glance over Lacey’s shoulder and see Hadley watching us curiously. “Come on,” I say. “I have someone I want you to meet.”
Lacey’s eyebrows rise, but I ignore her and step around her toward Hadley.
“Hey,” I say, drinking her in for a moment before pulling her in for a quick hug. “Thanks for waiting for me.”
She smiles. “You’re welcome.” She nods her head at Colt, who’s standing back, waiting for an introduction. I glance at Hadley’s friend, Paige. She’s staring at Colt, her mouth slightly parted and her eyes wide.
Right. There are other people here.
“Hadley, Paige, I’d like you to meet my sister, Lacey, and her husband, Knox. And this,” I say, tilting my head toward Colt, “is Colt Bradley. A teammate.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hadley says, smiling softly and shaking hands with my sister and brother-in-law. Colt is grinning as Paige shakes his arm off. “Okay, Paige. Let his arm go,” she says, grabbing her friend. “He probably needs that to play.”
Paige giggles. “Oops. I can’t believe I’m meeting Colt Bradley!”
“She’s going to need a minute,” Hadley says under her breath.
Everyone laughs, and Paige blushes.
“How long will you be in town?” I ask Lacey.
“We fly home tomorrow evening,” she says. “I couldn’t leave the kids too long, but I wanted to come support my big brother.” She grins and points to her shirt that says “Bryce is my brother.”
I laugh. “Did you have that custom-made?”
“She did,” Knox says. “She wanted me to wear one, too.
Lacey frowns. “Yeah, and you told me no.”
“Lacey, your shirt has sequins on it. That’s not really my vibe.” Knox says, pulling her close and placing a kiss on the top of her head.
I wonder if Hadley would wear my jersey. The thought stops me in my tracks. I’ve never once wanted ?a girl to wear my jersey before. I sneak a glance at Hadley, who’s watching the surrounding banter with a grin on her face.
Yeah. I want her in my number.
It should feel too soon.
It just feels right.
Lacey glances between us, a knowing smirk on her face. “So, we should have lunch tomorrow,” Lacey says, looking at Hadley. “Do you think you can get away from work? We’d love to get to know the woman who’s captured my brother’s attention.”
“Lacey,” I warn as I watch Hadley’s cheeks turn a brilliant shade of pink. Thank goodness the arena’s lights are still on. I’d hate to have missed that.
“I’d love to,” Hadley says. “As long as you don’t mind eating somewhere near the library.”
“You work at the library?” Lacey asks.
“She’s a librarian,” I say, rocking back on my heels and grinning. “We actually met at a bookstore.”
Lacey laughs. “You were at a bookstore?”
I nod. “I went to find some books for Matti. Figured since he’s excited about reading, we should support that.”
Lacey grins. “That’s sweet. Thank you.”
I shrug it off, not liking the attention on me.
“So, tomorrow? Lunch?” Knox asks, hiding a yawn. “Sorry, it’s been a long day and it’s already after 11 central. I’m tired.”
I chuckle. “The time change is tough. I’ll text you details in the morning. You guys go, get some sleep.”
I hug them both and promise to text in the morning before they say goodbye to Hadley, Paige and Colt, and walk out to their rental car.
“I should go too,” Hadley says. “It is getting pretty late and I have to work in the morning.”
Colt and Paige drift away giving us some space to say goodbye privately. “Thank you for coming,” I say, when we’re alone.
She laughs. “I mean, Paige has tickets to every game, so we’ll be here for however many that ends up being.” She smiles at me shyly.
My heart warms in my chest. “I’m glad,” I say. “So, lunch tomorrow? Are you really okay with that? I won’t make you go to lunch with my sister if you’re not up for it. I know that’s a lot.”
Hadley hesitates, and my heart skips in my chest. “Seriously, it’s okay. I’d like to go,” she says. “They seem nice, and they flew all the way out here to support you. That’s kind of amazing.”
I grin. “Yeah, my family is pretty great.”
“Okay, then. Lunch. Text me and let me know where. I can meet any time after noon.”
“Okay,” I say, glad that we have a later practice time tomorrow.
We stand there staring at each other, neither one of us ready to walk away.
“Goodnight, Hadley,” I say finally. I lean in slowly, giving her time to back away if she wants to.
She doesn’t. So I press a soft kiss to her cheek.
“Text me when you’re home so I know you got back safely? ” I ask.
She nods. “Goodnight, Bryce.”
Paige walks over, and loops her arm through Hadley’s. “It was nice meeting you,” she says. “Maybe we’ll see each other again soon.” She waves to Colt, and we watch as they walk toward the nearest parking garage.
“Ready to go?” Colt says. “I’m starving.” Drawing my attention from Hadley’s retreating form.
I laugh. “Yeah, I could eat.”
“We missed the bus back.” Colt looks around. “I guess that means you’re paying for an Uber.”
I laugh. “Sure.”
We ended up grabbing fast food before heading back to the hotel.
Now I’m back in my room, and I’m still hungry.
Stepping into my slides, I head to the elevator and make my way to the lobby snack shop.
When the doors open, I let out a sigh of relief.
The lobby is empty other than the staff.
Which is good because it would be weird to bump into a fan this late in my old baseball shorts and faded t-shirt from my college days.
Probably should’ve thought of that before sneaking down here in the middle of the night.
I browse the terrible selection and grab enough to leave some snacks in my room for later. After I pay for the food, I tear open the beef jerky and take a bite. I’m turning the corner when I bump right into Tyson Lane, our Stars captain.
“Dude, what are you doing out so late?” Tyson asks.
I lift the beef jerky. “Snack run. Emergency beef jerky. Emotional support chocolate. You know, all the necessities.” I glance at his very empty hands and guilty face. “What about you? What are you doing out so late?” I ask, eyeing him.
“Oh, yeah, same. I needed a food run.” Tyson responds quickly.
I glance at his empty hands again. “Where are your snacks?”
Tyson puffs out his chest. “I ate them already.”
I nearly laugh at that. “Wait a second… Do you really think I’m that… I think you were out setting up a prank.”
“Me? No way.” Tyson says. “I wasn’t doing that, but I bet you were. You’ve got a guilty face.”
I shrug. “My face is naturally guilty. Unlike yours which looks like you just?—”
“Are the fastest guy on ice, ever,” Tyson says, cutting me off.
“That wasn’t what I was going for,” I say. “You aren’t that fast.”
Tyson points to the food stuffed in my pajama pockets. “Well, maybe if you didn’t eat so much, you’d skate faster.”
At that, I do laugh. “Whatever. I’m headed back to my room. You keep sneaking around to set up your pranks.”
I’m almost to the elevator when I hear him mutter. “It’s not me.”
“Yeah,” I mutter, stepping into the elevator. “Sure.”
Reaching for my phone as soon as I wake up has become a bad habit. I never used to grab it before I rolled out of bed. Then Hadley came along. So, when I swipe my phone open and see thirteen missed texts, I can’t help but grin.
This girl has a hold of me in a way I’m not sure I’m ready to examine too closely.
I click the text app and my smile falls. All thirteen messages are from my sister.
Lacey: It was so fun to watch you play last night!
Lacey: Are you still sleeping?
Lacey: Hadley is cute *heart eyes emoji*
I rub my hand over my face and drop the phone onto the bed. Lacey can wait until I’ve had a cup of coffee.
I throw back the covers, sit up, and swing my legs over the bed, taking my time to stretch my arms over my head. I wince when my muscles protest. I should have spent more time cooling down last night. I’ll pay for that on the ice later.
After using the restroom, and making a passable cup of hotel room coffee, I read the rest of Lacey’s messages. I’m assuming Knox took her phone or something because she abruptly stopped messaging an hour ago.
Small favors and such.
I type out a quick message letting her know I’m glad she came and giving her the name of a local diner near the library that serves breakfast all day.
Lacey: I can’t wait! We’ll be there. I have so many questions for Hadley!
I groan.
Bryce: No. You don’t.
Lacey: LOL Are you scared I’m going to run her off or something?
I sigh. My little sister is unique. When she and Knox met, she was working as a barista at the Piney Brook Coffee Loft in our home town sporting blue hair. To be honest, how Knox, a doctor at Piney Brook General Hospital, and my sister got together… a true case of opposites attract, I suppose.
Bryce: It’s new. And complicated.
Lacey: Aww!!! *heart emoji* You LIKE LIKE her!
I swallow hard, my mouth is suddenly drier than the Sahara Desert.
Bryce: I like her, yes. She’s sweet and funny. And she deserves to eat in peace
.
And not interested in me because I’m a hockey player. In fact, I get the feeling that’s a drawback for her.
Lacey: You, my dear brother, have got it bad!
I suppress the urge to roll my eyes.
Bryce: What is this? Middle school?
Lacey just sends back a laughing emoji. Some things never change.
I should warn Hadley. She has no idea what she signed up for when she agreed to lunch with my sister.
I open the text thread and hesitate. What do I even say?
Hi, Hadley. I hope you are having a good morning.
Listen, my sister is a lot, like over the top, talks a mile a minute when she’s excited, doesn’t know personal boundaries.
So, it’s fine if you want to skip meeting us for brunch. I probably would if I were you.
I blow out a breath, and wipe my suddenly sweaty palms on my jeans.
Bryce: Hi Hadley. Good morning! I wanted to check in and make sure you were still up for meeting us for lunch today?
There. Totally sane and normal thing to say. I nod my head and then feel foolish since I’m in the room by myself.
While I wait for a reply, I gather the things I want to take with me to the practice facility this afternoon and pile them up by the door. You never know when you might need an extra pair of socks. Especially since it seems like someone is playing pranks left and right.
My mind goes back to the strange encounter with Tyson in the lobby. He was definitely up to something, but he doesn’t strike me as your typical prankster.
My phone chimes with an incoming text, and my heart starts racing. I don’t think I realized how nervous I was for Hadley to answer until I see her name pop up on the screen.
Hadley: Absolutely! It sounds like fun. Where are we meeting?
Relief. I shouldn’t feel so relieved she agreed to come to lunch. But I am. There’s something that feels right about having Hadley spend time with my sister.
Or, maybe I took too hard of a hit last night. I didn’t bang my head, but I do feel a little weird.
What else could explain these strange feelings swirling around inside me right now?
Bryce: I’ll meet you in front of the library and we can walk over together. It’s not far.
It’s also the gentlemanly thing to do. My momma raised me right.
Picking up Hadley has absolutely everything to do with manners and nothing to do with the fact that I want some alone time with her before sharing her with my family.
Sure, Bryce.