AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, sugar.” He kisses my cheek. “Come to commiserate?”
“I came to get a burger.” I take a bite, winking at Beth.
She snorts, and Joel snags a fry off my plate.
“You remember Beth?”
“Elizabeth,” he greets her. “Always a pleasure.”
“Likewise,” she murmurs.
“Come on.” His lips press to my ear. “The guys have been asking about you.”
Oh, goodie.
Beth snickers into her appletini. I snag mine and finish it off. Liquid courage, or whatever. Joel’s hand winds firmly around mine, tugging me off the stool and after him. Such a difference from the way Beth forced me out of her office—in an exasperated sort of way—and from how Knox dragged me out of the bar—in an angry way.
His grip is confident but not mean. Not hurried. He looks me up and down, taking his time so I see him checking me out.
“You’re so fucking hot,” he murmurs.
I smile. “I picked the blue dress with you in mind.”
He grins.
We arrive at the back corner.
“Guys,” Joel calls, drawing attention to us.
The attention isn’t bad. Church, Scofield, Lawson. Hockey players I got familiar with fast once I started watching hockey again. It’s Knox’s glare that kicks up my heart rate. I stare back at him, my grip tightening just a little on Joel’s hand. Knox’s focus flicks down to our joined hands, and the absolute utter shock on his face is enough to smooth out the crescendo of panic arcing through me.
He didn’t notice the ring. He doesn’t talk to his goalie, I guess, either.
I look up at Joel, then back at his teammates.
“This is my fiancée, Aurora.”
4
KNOX
Un. Fucking. Believable.
Aurora sits next to Joel, and all I want to do is strangle her. Then remind her cold, dead corpse that she can’t marry him, becausewe’re still fucking married. I have a very intense vision of climbing across the low table and wrapping my hands around her throat, drinks going everywhere, mayhem breaking out. Her wide, witch eyes boring into mine until she can’t hold on any longer.
But I manage to bite my tongue. The waitress returns with another whiskey for me, and a freaking green martini for Aurora. I gulp mine down eagerly, spinning this moment in my brain. Trying to make it make sense.
She got with a goalie.Mygoalie.
It smarts a little too much to be sober, so I make it my mission to get as drunk as possible. Did she do this on purpose? Did she pick him to torment me?
I mean,come on, Aurora.
At one point, she stands and heads for the restrooms. I don’t know how long we’ve been sitting here. I’ve tried not to look at her, but she draws my gaze back repeatedly. Even when Lawson tells some wild story that should’ve had me cackling.
I’m kind of fuzzy at this point. The waitress has made sure my glass was never empty for long, smiling at me like she wouldn’t mind takingmeto the restrooms. Or the back office.
I’ve seen that expression before. Not on Aurora’s face, of course, but other women. The ones who want me for whatever reasons they fathom in their pretty little heads. Not because of me, obviously. No one knows the real me.
