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"Crap," I whisper, my heart jumping into my throat.
"What's wrong?"
"I need to call Elysa." I flip the phone around to show him the message.
"Call her," he orders as soon as he reads it.
I'm already dialing her number.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt whatever sex games you're playing with the hockey hunk," she blurts as soon as she answers, "But Gavin is insisting on dinner tomorrow and won't take no for an answer. I don't know what to do!"
I quickly relay the issue to Colter, who scowls. "Invite him over," he says.
"What? Why?"
"Double date, goddess."
My stomach twists itself into knots.
"It's the perfect time for me to meet him," he says quietly. "I'm suspended from Saturday's game, so he'll think I'm angry and in need of a little extra cash."
"What's he saying?" Elysa asks. "I can barely hear him."
I hesitate for a long moment before I reluctantly answer. "He wants you to invite him over for dinner with the three of us. He's going to try to get Gavin to recruit him."
"Oh," Elysa whispers. "That's pretty smart."
"It's crazy," I mutter, hating the plan just as much now as ever. I don't want to use Colter as bait, especially when we don't know nearly enough about what we're dealing with here. But I don't know what other options we have. If I don't let him do this, he's at just as much risk on the ice. Bruce Gordon already demonstrated that.
At least this way, we have a shot at stopping Gavin before he gets someone hurt or destroys someone's career.
"It's our only plan, pretty baby," he reminds me.
"I know. That doesn't mean I have to like it."
He smiles, reaching out to cup my cheek. "Believe me, Trouble, I'm not thrilled about it, either."
I sigh heavily. "Set it up, Elysa. Tell him whatever lies you have to tell him."
By the time dinner rolls around, I'm a nervous wreck. I've changed four different times and paced a hole in the floor. Elysa is in much better shape than I am, even though she's the one who has to pretend she's still into Gavin.
"I'm never dating again after this," she mutters, throwing herself down onto the couch with a dramatic sigh. "I'm going to be a crazy cat lady."
"What? No way." I twirl to face her with my hands on my hips. "You can't give up just because your first attempt didn't work out." Like me, Elysa hasn't ever dated much. She bumped into Gavin downtown one day, and he asked her out. They hadn't been dating long, but she was having fun with him. I don't want him to scare her away from trying again, especially since she was way too good for him in the first place.
She scrunches up her nose at me. "Easy for you to say. You won the dating lotto. I ended up with a dud."
I plop down beside her, resting my head against hers. "He has teammates, you know."
That perks her up. "Oh, I didn't think about that. Are they hot?"
"Probably." I shrug. "They play hockey fifty million hours a week."
"Good point."
The timer on the oven dings.
"I've got it," I say, climbing to my feet. "I need something to do anyway."
