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First things first, though—the festivities we’d come here to attend.
Emily and Buckley’s wedding was late in the afternoon, and I was genuinely amazed the tuxedoed half of the wedding party didn’t collapse and die in the first five minutes. The tropical heat and humidity had already settled in this morning when Tanner had gone for a run, and it was thick and heavy now. The reception was, mercifully, being held in a banquet hall with industrial-grade air conditioning.
The minute the ceremony was over, we all trooped into that banquet hall, and not a moment too soon, either.
“Holy shit.” Tanner fanned himself as we walked into the cold building. “I’m telling Coach to make him bag skate for a week when practice starts up.”
“Ugh.” I unbuttoned my jacket. “Make it two weeks. Just for me.”
“Deal.” We fist-bumped over it and laughed even as we wiped away sweat.
Fortunately, we all cooled down pretty quickly. Some cold drinks and appetizers helped, as did peeling off jackets for a little while. I suspected once the deejay started up the dancefloor, everyone would be ready to cut loose and work up a sweat, but for now, we were all enjoying being out of the heat.
Now that I was more comfortable and we were all starting to socialize instead of focusing on the ceremony, I took in my surroundings a bit more. Not the banquet hall, but the people who were here with us.
And… whoa.
Post-game partying with his teammates had been one thing. Everyone had been fairly casual those nights, and it had felt a lot like I was just hanging out and having beers with some regular guys.
Here? Oh, fuck. I was seriously out of my element. It was a wedding, so obviously everyone was dressed to the nines, but most of Tanner’s team was dating or married to actual models. Every woman attached to a hockey player at this function looked like she’d strolled off the cover ofVogueor something. Perfect hair and makeup. Perfectly fit. Perfectly fitted dresses.
Here I was in a suit from Men’s Wearhouse, and every other man in this building was probably wearing something that cost more than my car. Including my own boyfriend. There were times when I could ignore those persistent feelings of inadequacy, but this was very quickly becomingnotone of those times. I genuinely felt like the pimple-faced kid tagging along with his friends to prom in his dad’s outdated tuxedo. At least I had a date, right?
Anyone who notices us is probably wondering why the fuck Tanner is with someone like me.
And Tanner wondered why I didn’t want to hang out with the other partners during games? I wanted to enjoy watching hockey and watching him, not spend the whole time hoping no one was waiting for security to come boot out the riffraff. Because even on days when I felt okay about how I looked, I was not in the same ballpark as the women Tanner’s teammates married or dated. Or the men, for that matter—I met Aston’s husband before the ceremony, and he looked like something off a Hollywood red carpet.
Yep, I was way out of my element. That open bar was so tempting. I knew it was a bad idea—drinking when I already felt like crap was asking for a miserable night and a worse morning after. Plus I wouldn’t embarrass Tanner like that. Apart from a glass of champagne during the toast, I very pointedlydid notdrink despite the siren’s call of the open bar.
I tried to shake that off as we socialized and ate hors d’oeuvres. Everyone had been nice, and I was here with Tanner, so I wasgoingto have a good time. The lingering stench of my ex could fuck off.
At one point, Tanner’s teammate Bens and his wife, Cecilia, caught up with us. As we chatted, Cecilia gestured with her glass at me. “You know, when the season starts up again, you should join us in the partners’ suite. I can definitely get you an invitation.” She chuckled. “I think Aston’s husband will bethrilledto not be the only man in there.”
I forced a laugh, hoping my sudden discomfort didn’t come through. “I, uh… Maybe? Honestly, I like sitting down by the glass. I can see better. And I usually go to games with a colleague, so…”
She seemed to accept that, but I could feel Tanner’s gaze on me. There were questions in his eyes, and the way he subtly squeezed my hand and raised his eyebrows asked,Is everything okay?
I nodded and smiled.
He didn’t buy it.
Fortunately, he had the good grace to wait until we had a moment alone. Keeping his voice down, he asked, “You don’t like the idea of going to the partners’ suite, do you?” I had no idea what had given it away, but I shouldn’t have been surprised he’d caught on to my discomfort. He always did.
“I, um…” I chewed my lip. “Not really, no?”
Tanner studied me, his forehead creased. “Why not? I mean, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I don’t want to push you. But if something about it is making you uncomfortable…”
I stared down at the marble floor beneath our dress shoes, rubbing my thumb along his as I gathered my thoughts. “I guess it’s…” I swallowed. Then I laughed, the sound so soft, the noise from the reception swallowed the sound. “I don’t know. I’m probably overthinking it.” I met his gaze through my lashes. “I just think I’d rather stay in the stands.”
That eyebrow arched. Oh, yeah, he saw right through me. But he either recognized a plea to leave it alone, or he didn’t want to dig into it here and now. Either way, he nodded. “Okay.” He pushed himself up to kiss me softly. “Just, if you change your mind, I’ll let Cecilia know. But I like having you in the stands, so I won’t complain.”
That unwound some tension in my shoulders, and I loosened my grasp on his hand. “You do?”
“Yeah.” He grinned up at me. “I didn’t used to pay much attention to the scenery, but now I have something to look at, so…” He half-shrugged.
I laughed with a little more feeling this time. “I should start bringing signs to warmups again. See if I can make you laugh.”
Tanner gave me a playful shove. “You just want me to fall on my ass.”
