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I had to be careful around Colton. He was one of the team, but he was also the son of the owner. “Of course,” I added.
“Go. Have a drink with your team.”
“Aren’t you coming?” I asked.
A smile crept across Colton’s face. “My fiancée is coming to give me a massage.”
The raucous laughter that swept through the loft could’ve been heard on the street forty stories below. “A massage.” Smitty laughed. “What kind? A dick massage?”
Silence fell over the room until Colton laughed. “Grow up, you assholes. I like to preserve my energy the night before a game.” It was code for saying he didn’t have sex the night before. A lot of players were superstitious about blowing their load too close to a game. “And you’d all be wise to do the same.”
More laughter erupted and I wondered if I was going to regret the next few hours of my life.
Norman’s furglowed under the twinkle lights that were strung over the outdoor patio of the small pub. The waitress had delivered a couple jugs of beer, and our glasses weren’t even poured before we were spotted by some bunnies.
I didn’t know that they were bunnies at first, but then I recognized one of them – Maria. No, Patricia? I couldn’t think of her name, but she hadn’t forgotten mine. “Gunnar,” she purred and stood beside me.
“Hi…” I let my voice trail off, hoping that she’d fill in the blank where her name should be. But instead, she dropped to a squat and squealed in a baby voice, “Who is this?” She scratched Norman’s ears and he tilted his head in appreciation. He was definitely a petting slut, he’d take them from anyone.
“This is Norman.”
Jamie and Hammer grabbed some chairs so the bunnies could join our table. I sighed. Any chance of having a fun conversation had disappeared with the arrival of the bunnies.
“Hi Norman,” the pretty girl cooed. “I’m Paula.”
Paula. I was close. Thankful that she’d introduced herself to my dog and I wouldn’t look like a total dick, I gestured to an empty chair. “Would you like to join us?”
She took the seat next to me. “I’m so happy you’re here. Hammer didn’t mention that you were going to be out with the guys tonight.” Ah, so Corey had alerted the bunny patrol. A pretty blond with a very low-cut top was already leaning heavily into his shoulder as he showed her something on his phone.
“Hey Mike?” I poured a glass of beer and handed it to Paula. “What did you think about that play we analyzed tonight, the one where Liam Bradshaw deked out Kinger?”
“What does deke mean?” Paula’s eyes were wide.
“Enough hockey talk.” Mike sipped his beer. “Let’s have some fun.”
Hockey talk was fun; meaningless conversation with dumb women was excruciating. I looked around the table and each of the guys was already draped with a bunny accessory. Norman groaned and rested his head on his paws. He was bored too.
I finished my beer and slapped a fifty-dollar bill on the table. “Norman’s still recovering. I’m going to get him home.”
“See you, Norm,” Jamie and Mike said at the same time.
“Later, Mr. Perfect,” Hammer shouted from the other end of the table.
“It was nice seeing you again, Paula.” Her face lit up when I said her name. “Come on, Pal.” I tugged on Norman’s leash.
“I’ll walk with you.” Paula stood and chugged her beer, then tried to hide a burp – something that Everleigh would never have done. “I’m just a few blocks away from here, and I was going to head out anyway.” She had already sidled up beside me. I wasn’t interested in her at all, but it was the city, and I wasn’t a total asshole. It would’ve been rude for me to let a woman walk home by herself.
“Alright, let’s go.”
She slipped her hand around my upper arm. I took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to tell her that whatever she thought would happen between us, wasn’t going to happen.
“Norman loves getting walked by pretty girls.” I offered her the handle of his leash. She smiled and took her hand off me, wrapping it around the leash.
Her heels clicked on the sidewalk as we walked. “You don’t go out with the team very much. I haven’t seen you since the pool party.”
“I’ve been busy,” I grumbled. She was sweet, but her eagerness to sleep with me was unattractive. She didn’t know anything about me. If she was a keen bunny, she might know my jersey number. But she didn’t see the real me. All she saw was a hockey player.
A pang of guilt stabbed in my chest. Was I any better? I didn’t know anything about her except that she was a bunny. I was a huge hypocrite. My nights of deep conversation with Everleigh were behind me. Maybe I needed to be more open.
