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“Nothing, nothing.” He put his hands up innocently. “You gonna tap that or what?”
My jaw clamped shut over him talking about her like that. “Watch it,” I demanded.
My reaction just made him cackle, and I swore under my breath over showing him my hand.
“Well, if you’re not gonna, can I?” he asked.
The idea of that made me see red. I threw my crutches against the boards and turned to him, but he just threw his head back laughing.
“Ball of hate is back in business, baby!” he called out.
I would’ve given anything to be able to check him right off the boards and into the teambox.
When he finally calmed down from laughing, he said, “Well, the Kessel girls will probably be at Bullfrogs tonight,” he said, wagging his eyebrows. “Addie usually comes. She lives in the apartments right across the lake from it.”
I raised my own eyebrows at that tidbit of information, then scowled at the fact that he knew more about the Kessel girls than I did. That just felt wrong.
“Hey, Reggie.”
He looked at me in question.
I smiled calmly. “Just know, if you talk about her like that again, I’ll fuckin’ wreck you.”
With that, he hopped off the boards and skated away laughing, making me wish I wasn’t hurt for the millionth time.
“Make sure you’re nice and pretty by 8, babe!” he called back to me.
_________
The sun was just setting by the time we made our way into Bullfrogs. I’d heard a lot of stories about this bar growing up, but I was never able to go seeing as I left when I was just a teen… but now, I realized why so many people liked this spot. It was a large cabin-looking bar that sat on the edge of the lake and next to the golf course. Tons of people who enjoyed boating or golfing would come here at the end of the day to wind down. They also had a huge screened-in deck that housed an outside bar, and that’s where a lot of the hockey guys were currently sitting, as well as some figure skating instructors…
Including Claire and Addie.
And Claire looked fan-fucking-tastic. She was wearing a sleek, black halter-top shirt and cut-off jean shorts which showed off her muscular butt and legs. It was the first time I’d seen her out of skating clothes, and I couldn’t stop stealing glances at her.
God. I needed to get her out of my mind…
I dropped my head and closed my eyes tightly, trying to erase the fact that I just ogled her. I wasn’t about to date anyone, so why was I so focused on her? We werejust friends, I repeated to myself.
I forced myself to pay attention to Tampa’s Conference Championship game playing on the TV above the bar. They were kicking ass this year, and they definitely had my vote of confidence that they’d take home the cup. I was trying to find holes in their defense, but every couple of minutes, I found myself straining my neck to see who Claire was talking to… I told myself it was just because I was feeling protective over her and I didn’t want her getting mixed up with any assholes at the bar… but in the back of my mind, I knew I’d be jealous the instant she started talking to anyone…
I clenched my jaw and forced myself to look in the opposite direction of her, and that’s when a welcome blast from the past came walking directly into my line of sight in the form of a low-cut shirt with boobs spilling out of it and legs for days.
“Duke Callahan!” Daniella called out from across the bar deck. “Is that really you?!”
I put on my best flirtatious grin and nodded.
She scampered over to me with her friends flanking her sides. She looked like she was about to launch herself into my arms, but thank God she pulled back at the last second seeing as I wouldn’t be able to catch her.
Her eyes were a little unfocused from drinking. “How are you?! It’s been so long!” Her whole face lit up with a wide smile.
Daniella was a very pretty girl with olive Italian skin that always looked sunkissed. She had always been nice to me back in the day… more than nice in some ways. Hell, she was myfirstkiss. But she just wasn’ther. She never held a special place in my heart the way Claire did. I knew I was a total prick for thinking about it like that, and I had no business dating her back in high school in the first place, especially because I knew that I would never be hers, and she would never be mine… but I think she knew the score and didn’t mind. She was all about the game. She had fun bouncing from guy to guy, and I think the only thing she feared was settling down.
“Not bad,” I chuckled tightly and took a swig of my beer. “How about yourself?”
“Better now that you’re here.” She dragged her long fingernails up my stomach, and I almost choked on a sip of my drink.
I pulled back a little with a hesitant cringe on my face.
