Chapter 23 #3
I chuckled as he moved around me, skating back and forth just to be annoying.
“You weren’t too bad yourself. Although…
” I laughed after leaving the sentence open ended.
I was damn proud of him, although I had to admit, making the Wild team when I wasn’t certain if I’d be playing at all in a couple of months did sting.
However, he’d earned the spot. I slowed down even more while glancing up in the stands. Some guy had been sitting with Georgia for at least half an hour.
Beck flanked my side, following my line of sight. “Who do you think she’s talking to?”
“Hell if I know. But he’s in a suit,” I threw back.
“You don’t think that’s the ex-asshole, do you?”
Now I snorted. “He’d be flat on his back if that was the fucker.” I’d checked on her damn boyfriend. The asshole was a piece of work. In fact, I’d dug up a little dirt on the man just in case he’d decided to come crawling back. So had my father, even collecting a file on the man and his father.
God help the jerk if he threatened her again.
I continued to stare at them as they talked, every muscle stiffening.
“Are you jealous?” Beck asked.
“Do I need to be?”
“She is a beautiful woman.” Thankfully for my brother, he moved far enough away I couldn’t reach him even with my stick.
But I tried anyway.
“Hey, Wolfman, do you want to go again?” Finn barreled in our direction.
“Absolutely.” I turned my head, eager to get back to it when something made me shift around once again.
I’d be damned if the stranger didn’t have his hand on the small of her back, leading her away from the stands.
Cole skated closer. “Who is that guy? She was very happy to see him when he arrived.”
“Oh, really?”
He threw up his hands. “I’m sure it’s nothing, brother.”
I tried to tell myself the same thing, but I wasn’t going to stand for her being hassled. Not a chance in hell.
“Tell you what. I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Beck warned.
“Who, me?”
I glided through the ice, jumping off when I could and grabbing the plastic skate guards. They’d already disappeared and I had a very bad feeling about the dude’s sudden appearance.
With long strides, I moved into the back hallway, unable to catch sight of them. But I tipped my head back, taking a deep whiff.
Not only could I easily grab his stench, but I was rewarded with a hint of her subtle yet enticing perfume. As I stormed down the hallway, I tried to curtail my anger. I really did. Nothing good would come out of losing my temper, even if I did want to create a new landscape with her ex’s face.
But all bets were off when I rounded the corner of the maze of hallways, finding the stranger leaning over her in a way that clearly indicated she could be in distress. Her body language was tense, the scent she gave off full of pheromones and the dude was definitely crowding her space.
That was the end of my patience and any concept of corralling my rage.
Fortunately, my approach was silent and within two seconds flat, I managed to grab him around the back of the neck, pitching him against the wall opposite of where they were standing.
“You’re going to stay the hell away from her. Do you hear me? Haven’t you already done enough?” Unable to help myself, I jerked him a couple of inches off the floor just to ensure he didn’t think he was going to get out of this mess without facing the consequences.
“Whoa. Ford. Stop. Stop that right now.” Georgia’s voice was tense, ripped with anger. She moved off to the side so she could drag my attention away from killing the asshole.
“He was trying to hurt you.”
“No, he wasn’t. Will you put him down? Please?”
I dragged my gaze from the asshole who had a smile on his face, taking several deep breaths as I did. But I did as she asked, releasing my hold.
She cursed under her breath in such a whispered voice that only I could hear it.
And the nasty words were directed entirely at me.
“I thought he was trying to hurt you.” My insistence sounded contrived.
The guy smirked while fixing his suit jacket, bending over and picking up the phone he’d had in his hand. That’s what they were doing. Looking at something on his phone.
“No, he wasn’t going to hurt me and he’s not my ex,” she tossed out, still grumbling.
“Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Kendrick,” the guy said. “But I am happily married.”
Great. He knew my name. So the hell what?
“Then who is he?”
She took her time, tilting her chin toward me, her eyes flashing as if she was the wolf instead. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the jerk was slowly allowing the smirk to shift to a full grin.
With a shake of her head, she took a deep breath. “Ford, meet Abbott Young with Creative Sporting Enterprises. I asked him to do me a huge favor in coming to see you play in hopes that he would consider representing you as your sports agent.”
Oh. My. God. Creative Sporting Enterprises was the best agency in the country if not the world.
And I’d just fucked it up.
“I don’t know what to say,” I managed.
“To the contrary, Mr. Kendrick.” Mr. Young told me. “You seem to have a great deal to say.”
His words were chastising.
Even worse, I could tell by the look of sheer disappointment on her face there was a good chance I’d lost something even more important.
Her.