Carlos stroked my hair. “Always.”
“Um, where are you?” Saoirse’s voice came over the earpiece.
Not sure I wanted Hale to know that Carlos diverted his street racing to pick me up from a hit. I texted her.
Me
With Carlos. He was part of the street race. Where should I meet you?
Saoirse
Of course he was. Have him drop you off at the train station.
Someone tapped on the window and Hale rolled it down.
“Nice job, Cowboy.” A woman removed the blinking monitor from the windshield. “Phone?”
Hale held up his phone. She tapped her tablet to it.
“It was a pleasure doing business with you,” he drawled.
“Now go, before the police get tetchy,” she told us. “They don’t like us hanging around.”
“Understood.” He rolled up the window and looked at us. “Where to?”
“My place?” Carlos kissed me.
“I need to meet Saoirse at the train station. But thanks for theride. I appreciate it. I wasn't expecting the street race.” I kissed him again.
“Anytime. To the train station. We don’t need to make Saoirse cranky,” Carlos replied. “That’s a very important tip for our trip, Hale.”
“Noted. Hungry? We can bring her something?” Hale offered as he drove.
“I wish. But I’ll see you in a few hours. I can’t wait to get to know you, Hale–and meet Dusty. When will I get to meet your hockey friends?” Inwardly I groaned at how needy that sounded. The omega in me thought everything was moving far too slowly in our relationship.
After all, he’d met some of my friends.
“New Year’s.” Carlos nodded firmly. “We have an afternoon New Year’s Eve game. Dusty’s singing the national anthem. If you want, I can get seats for you and Saoirse. That night, my teammate Dimitri’s having a party and you can meet my hockey friends. You and Saoirse can spend the night at my place. The next morning, the Knights are playing the Brooklyn Box Munchers, in a charity game, at the outdoor rink at Roganfort Center. The team is having a family brunch afterwards and you can join that, too.”
The thought of all this warmed my heart. He wanted me to go to his games, a party,anda family brunch?
Ireallyliked Carlos and wanted this to be as real and as good as what I had with Saoirse.
“Brooklyn Box Munchers? New farm team?” Hale snorted.
“They’re a recreational team. They’re really good players who happen to have other careers. Dusty’s on it,” Carlos explained.
“I love that. An outdoor charity game sounds like tons of fun. I’ll talk to Saoirse and see what her schedule is, but I’ll be there. I’m excited. Dimitri’s parties sound amazing.” My fathers’ New Year’s Eve party could wait.
“Can I go? Dimitri’s parties are great–especially if Dusty’scoming,” Hale asked.
“Of course. I can get tickets for you to everything, too, if your sister hasn’t already,” Carlos told him.
“Does your sister play hockey?” I asked. Carlos talked about a teammate named Gwena lot.He said they were just friends, but the possessive omega in me wanted to check out the situation personally.
Hale laughed. “No. Verity’s just mated to three of his teammates. So, train station?”
“Yeah, we’ll drop you off at the rideshare stop,” Carlos told me.
