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The alpha was generally pretty calm about everything, but when it came to Brynn he had a bit of a possessive streak.
“And this,” Brynn said, letting go of the man’s hand and turning to me, “is my best friend and sister, Ciara.”
Now that I was getting a better look at him, my buzzed brain’s first thoughts were: oh, man, he’s adorable.
Wiz blinked with surprise before the dimple reappeared again just for my viewing pleasure. “Why thank you, I don’t hear that one a lot.”
Apparently I’d had more to drink than I’d originally thought, because my thoughts seemed to be leaking freely from my mouth. Just grand.
“Sorry,” I apologized sheepishly as I ignored Dutch’s annoying guffaw from behind me. Holding my hand out to him I hoped I looked normal and not like a complete loon to the man. “I’m normally a bit more smooth when I find someone attractive.”
Wiz slipped his hand into mine and I was pleased to find it warm and dry as he shook it. “I won’t hold it against you because it’s usually me who’s the one to put my foot in my mouth when it comes to flirting with a pretty woman—especially one who just won a gold medal—congrats on that by the way.”
My instincts purred with pleasure at that and I found myself forgetting all about the three people still watching our interaction with keen interest. He was an alpha, I could tell by the way he carried himself and the faintest scent of cloves that hovered about the confusing cacophony of other scents in the club.
Underneath the dark jacket he was wearing I could see that he was of a slender build, but if he played hockey I had a feeling that the muscles underneath would be rock hard.
It wouldn’t be the first time I’d slept with a hockey player—though I usually made a point not to. I was still dealing with the fallout of sleeping with one of the Seattle Stallions players at the dads’ wedding last year. Richter still showed up to far too many of my practices to try and entice me into dating him even though I’d been clear that I wasn’t looking for anything more than sex that night. Not that I could remember the sex. Tequila was a hell of a liquor.
It wouldn’t have mattered even if I had remembered it, though. I didn’t do relationships and all of the hockey players seemed to reek of a desire for commitment driven by the pair of assholes who wore their obsession with Brynn on their sleeve. Cute for everyone else, a nightmare for me who ran away from commitment like a teenage babysitter running away from a slasher in a horror movie.
But maybe the man in front of me would be okay with that. Everything about him from the dimple in his cheek to the silky swoop of dark hair made me want to climb him like a tree and nest in his branches like a very proprietorial squirrel.
“Well, far be it for me to not let you put your foot in your mouth, though I have a few ideas of what else you could put in your mouth instead.” My lashes fluttered as we stared at each other and it pleased the fuck out of me when I saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallowed, his dark eyes wide and his cheeks flushed.
“There she goes,” I heard Brynn whisper-shout to Dutch as she leaned against him with bleary eyes.
“Weren’t you three about to head out?” I asked pointedly, glancing meaningfully at the alpha who now had my full attention.
Nash frowned, clearly not getting the hint. “No? Why would we? Wiz just got here.”
“You’re right we were just going!” Brynn cut him off quickly, giving her alpha a gentle shove.
“But—” Nash started to argue but paused when Brynn stood on her tip toes and whispered something in his ear. I watched the alpha’s eyes shift and darken before he jerked his head at Dutch. “I guess I was wrong, we are heading out. Wiz, I’ll catch up with you tomorrow during curling? Colt wants to talk to you and you’re not gonna want to miss that.”
Wiz’s eyes crinkled in the corner as he grinned at the trio. “Sounds good, man, have a good night.”
“Oh, I will,” Nash called cheekily over his shoulder as the three disappeared into the crowd.
“Well, they’re definitely getting a noise complaint tonight,” I said dryly as we watched them go.
Wiz’s chuckle was warm as it reached my ears. I very nearly giggled at the sound, and I never giggled.
“He talked about her every chance he got this week to the point it was making some of the other guys annoyed.” I felt his hand on the small of my back as he gently turned us toward the bar and signaled for one of the bartenders.
I liked the way his hand felt, and I could help but wonder how it would feel against my bare skin instead.
It had been a while since I’d been so attracted to someone so quickly—four years actually. Most people I slept with these days were a welcome distraction between my time on the ice and the yawning abyss of anxiety and memories that seemed to haunt me any chance they got. Nothing more, and nothing less.
But my instincts were hopping up and down now like a kid in a candy shop as we accepted a pint from the bored looking bartender and made our way over to a quiet corner where the thud of music wasn’t as loud.
“And did it make you annoyed too? To hear about Brynn all the time?” I asked once we’d settled together in a booth.
Wiz shook his head with a huff of laughter. “Not in the slightest. It was kind of nice to hear about to be honest. Most of the guys on the team are on the younger side so they’ve spent the past few days sleeping with anything that fluttered eyelashes at them. I’m closer in age to Nash so we kind of gravitated toward each other.”
“That was the correct answer,” I told him with play-curtness as I sipped on my drink, relishing the taste of a good Irish red ale. “Brynn has been my best friend since I was eleven years old, so if you didn’t like him talking about her I’m afraid I’d have to make you sit by yourself tonight.”
“Well we can’t have that,” Wiz said, ducking his head so that our eyes were level. He really was handsome, so much so that even eye contact was making my heart flutter like I was some kind of schoolgirl instead of the twenty-six-year-old woman that I actually was. “How would I be able to charm you if I was sitting by myself?”
