Page 29 of Date With Skates

Étienne gives me a questioning look.

“What was it that you were saying?” he asks, batting his lashes at me.

“It wasn’t important.”

“Are you sure? It sounded important. Very important, actually. I’m very interested in what you were saying.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Kearns adds.

“You’re good.”

“McVoy here was just telling me what his plans are for the rest of the night,” Étienne adds with no amount of shame or shyness. He’s sitting at a table with a bunch of pro hockey players, and there’s not an ounce of self-consciousness.

Though I guess when you have a famous family member that you’re close with, fame doesn’t hit the same way. Which is what makes me realize Étienne isn’t interested in me because I’m famous. It’s because I play hockey. And something about that is kind of hot.

Chapter Fourteen

Étienne

“You don’t remember?” he asks me. I raise a brow, wondering what he’s going to say. He certainly won’t go back to what he was really saying. There’s no way he’ll admit he was thinking about bending me over this table that we’re all eating on to fuck me. “You said you were helping me with my French today.” Roman’s eyes widen, and Nico stares at me like I’ve grown another head.

“You’re teaching him French?” Nico asks, sounding way too annoyed.

I wave him off. “It was a comment made in passing.” I look at Connor. “I couldn’t possibly teach you French in such a short amount of time.”

His eyes shine with humor. “I only need the basics. Enough to get around while I’m in Montreal.”

Roman and Nico share a curious look. No doubt they’re confused.

They don’t know what’s going on between us, but Nico has asked plenty of questions. He knows I’m hooking up with someone, and I don’t know why I haven’t told him who. I’ve never hidden my hookups before, even when they were married men—which, I am unfortunately guilty of. I’ve made some stupid decisions in my life. Too much alcohol and a hot, older man will do that to me. It’s why I know I could never settle down. I’m not made for married life. I don’t even respect other people’s marriages.

I try, of course. I really do. I don’t want to be looked at like I’m a terrible person, because I know that’s an awful thing to do. I’m not a homewrecker and I don’t want to be. Deep down, I’m a good person. I just… get caught up in things sometimes. Impulse control problems.

I’ll do better.

“Étienne is not a very good teacher,” Nico says, almost as if he’s scared that anyone would allow me to teach a thing. “Trust me.”

“Rabat-joie,” I hiss under my breath.

“What does that mean?” Roman asks.

“Yeah, what does that mean?” Connor butts in. “Let’s start the lesson early.”

I narrow my eyes at him, feeling a growl rumble in my chest.

“He’s calling me a buzzkill. I’m always ruining his fun,” Nico explains, turning his attention toward Connor. “Trust me, you don’t want him teaching you anything. He will give you wrong information, and before you know it, you’ll be telling people you wish their cat was dead rather than telling them to have a nice day.”

I gasp, putting my hand on my chest. “I would never.”

A bunch of the guys around the table laugh. I didn’t realize they were listening. Oh, but I love this. The attention? I’m going to eat it all up. Let’s talk about me more.

“That’s exactly the thing you would do,” Nico says, mocking sweetness, but I hear the bitterness beneath. “You’ve done it to me. Many, many times.”

“You don’t speak French?” Connor asks.

Nico rolls his eyes. He’s sick of the question because he’s always asked it, especially during interviews. It’s the one and only thing he is self-conscious about, because it’s something people expect from him, yet he can’t do it.

It’s not really his fault, either. Our parents pushed us to speak English, and so most of our generation does. I think the only reason I speak it so well is because my parents always spoke French at home, while Nico’s parents chose to speak English to help Nico learn English. And it’s not that he knows nothing. He knows plenty and can understand a lot, but it’s like he gets tongue twisted or something.