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Maybe not physically, that tiny little voice in my head, the one that seemed to still be doubting every single one of my decisions, whispered nastily.
I shook it away. I’d made the decision to try and that meant pushing down all of my insecurities and paranoia.
“I know,” I told him, but I wasn’t quite sure if he believed me.
But he didn’t push, instead he just leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead before changing the subject.
“Where did you find that place anyway? I’ve never had such good Thai food before.”
I’d taken him to a little hole in the wall place that was almost a secret in downtown Seattle because we had to go into an alley, down a flight of stairs, and into what looked like a creepy basement before we entered the cozy space that was packed full of locals eating dinner. But the food had been mouthwatering and we’d both eaten our fill of Pad Thai, dumplings, and sauteed chicken and veggies.
I grinned. “Wilder takes all of the credit for this one.”
Out of everyone, Aurelia’s alpha knew the most about the Seattle food scene. I’d called and begged for his current favorite restaurant, promising my babysitting services in exchange.
It was a win-win for me. I’d get to hang out with Charlie and Tobey and I now had a new favorite place to eat.
Leith’s lips tilted up, drawing my eyes to them. I wanted to pull him in for a kiss, the people around us be damned, but I had more plans for the night and kissing him now would cut them short.
“Come on,” I said, hurrying ahead and pulling him with me. “We aren’t done yet.”
“What else do you have planned?” Leith asked but I pretended not to hear him.
Our next excursion was all thanks to Aurelia and as soon as we stepped onto the Pier it became obvious where we were going.
People were waiting in a line in front of the aquarium, dressed in nicer clothes than the tourists filing out of the building and they chatted amongst themselves.
“So this is why you asked me to dress nicely,” Leith said from behind me, putting his hands on my bare shoulders as we joined the line. “I nearly left the house in jeans. I thought Artie and Wiz were going to crucify me right then and there.”
I turned to find his expression twisted into a grimace and a giggle bubbled out of me.
“Wiz’ll be here tonight with the rest of the team,” I admitted a bit sheepishly. “It’s technically a very expensive fundraiser for the Complex.”
The Seattle Sports Complex was sponsoring this night event and it would be a night of music, dancing, and unrestricted access to their exhibits. It also gave donors and shareholders a chance to meet the Seattle Stallions players and chat about the upcoming season.
Once the rest of the daytime tourists had left, a nicely dressed employee stepped out and began to usher everyone inside.
“The main hall is still being prepared and should take another fifteen to twenty minutes. Please feel free to tour the exhibits while you wait,” he called, offering us a smile as we passed.
“So, how’d you manage to snag tickets?” Leith asked as we stepped into the intimately lit aquarium and followed the crowd to the left which led off into some of the exhibits and down a large aquarium tunnel.
“It pays to have a very well-connected brother-in-law, though truth be told he’s been trying to get me to come to one of these things ever since I brought home the gold this year.”
Many of the non-hockey athletes felt as if they were thrown to the wayside in comparison to the Stallions, but also hated being trotted out in front of donors the way that the hockey players were every chance Colt got.
I tugged Leith down close so that my mouth was next to his ear. “Promise you’ll drag me away if someone tries to chat my ear off?”
“Cross my heart,” he said and pressed a quick peck to my cheek before straightening and looking up at the fish overhead.
“My mum used to bring the lot of us to the Loch Lomond Aquarium whenever she needed a break. Used to pile us all into the car and make us use a buddy-system and everything.” Leith’s eyes were on a shark that was shimmying along the glass above us, but his smile was nostalgic. “But that place wasn’t anywhere near this size.”
“You should see the Georgia Aquarium,” I told him, giving his hand a squeeze as we shuffled through the tunnel behind other well-dressed couples who were ooh-ing and ahh-ing up at the fish. “The dads took us once when we traveled there for a competition. I felt completely dwarfed by it all.”
“I’d like to see it…” Leith said, turning to me again with a soft look in his eyes. “With you and the rest of our pack of course.”
The next exhibit was the otters who were lazily floating in their dimly lit tank, clearly peopled out for the day as they shot sideways glances at the people staring at them.
“We’ll have to try and go before Artie loses more of his eyesight.”
