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“Uh…” I glanced toward the buffet, still caught off-guard. “I… wouldn’t begin to know who to tell.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “Seriously? I’m surprised a place this nice is this disorganized. Jesus fucking Christ.” Then she stalked off, heels clomping hard on the marble floor.
I stared at her. What in the—
But then she stopped someone else, snagging his elbow with one hand while gesturing at the buffet. He looked in that direction and nodded, apparently trying to appease her and reassure her. She let him go, and he strode off in other direction.
As he passed, I caught sight of the nametag on his lapel.
And the piece clicked into place.
And my heart fell into the pit of my stomach.
She thought I was a member of the staff.
If I hadn’t already realized I was out of my element, I sure as fuck did now. I didn’t just feel out of place—I feltconspicuouslyout of place. As if everyone here could clearly see that I didn’t belong.
What else would she think you were?Keith’s voice laughed cruelly in the back of my mind.Someone who could get the time of day from a hockey player?
I swallowed against the acid rising in my throat. I gave Keith a mental shove, but it didn’t help. A ball of lead tumbled in the pit of my stomach, and I suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here.
“Sorry about that,” Tanner said on a laugh as he joined me. “Trust us to make it take forever to take one photo.”
I turned to him, and even as I forced a laugh, my heart sank. Usually, the sight of Tanner chased away those feelings of inadequacy. Especially when he met my gaze and smiled like I was the only person on the planet. As if I gave him that feeling of“This is it. You’re my person.”
This time…
This time, it just made me feel sick.
How long before you figure out you can do better than me?
Because everyone else sure as fuck has.
He frowned. “You okay?”
I cleared my throat and tried to smile. “Yeah. Yeah. The, uh… I think the heat from earlier got to me.”
He didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he was a little flushed and sweaty.
“Come on.” I nudged him toward the bar. “We could probably both use some water.”
Tanner exhaled and nodded. “I definitely could.” He slipped his hand into mine and smiled.
I smiled back but didn’t say anything.
And as the reception continued…
I wished like hell I’d stayed in Pittsburgh.
Chapter 28
Tanner
Something was wrong.
Isaiah had been social and polite at the wedding, but the longer the reception had gone on, the less he’d been able to hide that he clearly didn’t want to be there. It was a little like when Adamo had powered through an injury during the playoffs. He still played, still valiantly protected the net, but those of us who knew him could see the twitch of his lips behind his mask or the subtle way he favored his left leg whenever he could.
Or, more to the point, Isaiah reminded me of when his sister had smiled as she’d asked him to step into the kitchen with her at the graduation party, unaware that her eyes gave away that she wasnotpleased. Except Isaiah wasn’t hiding anger or contempt today. That much I could tell. He’d just been… uncomfortable. Miserable, honestly.
