Page 85 of Hard to Get

“Okay, good. I’ll make a reservation at a hotel⁠—”

“But I can’t.”

Not this again. I try not to show my disappointment. “Oh.”

“It’s my brother’s wedding.”

“Oh.” At least she’s not doing a hot oil treatment on her hair or something.

“I’m sorry.” She bites her lip.

“We can do it another time.”

“So you don’t have a game that Saturday.”

“No.”

“Would you… like to come to the wedding? As my plus one.”

That gets my attention. “I fucking love weddings.”

A laugh escapes her. “You do? Don’t most men hate weddings?”

“I’ve heard that. And maybe it’ll be different at a wedding where I don’t know anyone, but when my teammates get married, it’s a good time. Open bar, free food, dancing.”

She cocks her head. “You like to dance?”

“Oh hell yeah. You should see my moves.”

She rolls her lips in. “Will I get to see them?”

“Yes. Yes, I’ll come to the wedding with you.”

That’s a big step, right? Meeting her family. Probably some friends. Maybe I should be more leery, but… I’m down bad for this woman. And maybe… she wants to take that step.

“Okay.” She smiles. “Good.”

“We’ll find another time that’ll work for Whistler.” Am I getting ahead of myself? Maybe. Again, I should probably be more… restrained. I don’t want to come across as desperate. I need to be cool. Casual.

“Sure.”

We chat while the dogs play but it’s dark and damp and I think Stella is shivering despite her warm jacket. “What do you want to do? We could take both dogs to my place and leave them there. Or your place. Or we could meet at the restaurant.” We decided where to go as we talked, a casual barbecue and blues place.

She shifts her shoulders side to side. “Your place. It’s on the way.”

“Sounds good.”

We lead our dogs the short jaunt to my condo.

“Frank had dinner before we came, so he’s good,” I say as we drop them off. “Does Betty need food?”

“No, I fed her.”

“Okay, you two, behave.” I point at the dogs. “No shenanigans. We don’t want any unplanned pregnancies.”

“Betty’s spayed,” Stella whispers to me.

“Yeah, Frank is denutted.”