Page 29 of Hooking
Misty Raines: I know we have a jam-packed show today, but I feel we need to address the buzz surrounding all of us puck bunnies’ favorite hockey hottie.
Bridgette Daniels: Which one? *Audible laughing* We know there’s never a short supply of hockey hotties.
Misty Raines: This is true. True *audible laughs* But this could be one of the biggest scandals this year surrounding none other than Seattle’s own, Channing Halloway.
Bridgette Daniels: Oh, wait, I think I read about this morning.
Misty Raines: Who hasn’t? It was no secret that Channing went away to some Mexican paradise with Vincent Burch’s, ex-fiancée Cassidy Reynolds.
Bridgette Daniels: *audible gasp* Yesss! I was shaken when I found out he was back on the market.
Misty Raines: I saw it coming from a mile away. Cami, the girl he was sleeping with and had been sleeping with for forever, practically posted all about their love for one another on social before Vince’s nuptials.
Bridgette Daniels: How stupid Cassidy must have felt. Do we know how she found out that he was still seeing her?
Misty Raines: No one has said how she discovered that he was still seeing her but seriously, can you imagine?
Bridgette Daniels: Biggest slap in the face, EVER.
Misty Raines: No! No, no, no. Biggest slap in the face is Cassidy coming home from her rebound vacation, thinking her and Channing were going to ride off in the sunset, only to find out that Channing has fathered a child with… wait for it. None other than Natasha Nottingham.
Bridgette Daniels: Holy shit.
Misty Raines: Right.
Bridgette Daniels: Wow. I guess congratulations are in order for Tasha. Good for her and Channing. Yet, I can’t help but feel a little bad for Cassidy. Two guys both lost to women of temptation.
Misty Raines: Hey, we were those women at one point in our lives. Remember that.
Bridgette Daniels: True.
Misty Raines: I guess now only time will tell how this will play out. Wait and see what Channing chooses to do since I can’t imagine being tied to that one was in his plans at all.
Bridgette Daniels: Good luck to him with that one.
Chapter 13
Channing
“Congrats, Papa,” Polston says as he skates on by with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Uh, thanks?” I answer in confusion.
I continue my warm up on the ice just as Ivan Thorne, one of our defenders, skates toward me, coming to a stop where I am. “Dude, why didn’t you tell any of us you were expecting?” he says before taking a puck and shooting it toward the goal. “I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Come on, man. We all read the article and listened to the podcast,” Deane Powell says, stopping in front of me. “Natasha Nottingham. She’s a good-looking lady. Gets around a bit but not bad.”
“What the—” I start to say as I’m cut off by Brooks’ sharp tone.
“Halloway. You son of a bitch, you better have a real good reason as to why I shouldn’t knock your ass out right now,” he barks as he skates closer to me. He’s pissed, and there’s only one good reason why. Cassidy.
I stand tall on my skates as he slams me into the boards. His forearm is across my chest as he holds me in place. I could easily fight him off, but I’m not going to. I did exactly what he told me not to do after I tried to make it right. Yet here I am.
“Congrats, you son of a bitch. You’re a father… Oh yeah and let’s not forget how you completely blindsided Cassidy. She had no clue,” he says, relaxing his arm a little, only to slam me back toward the boards. “You were supposed to tell her about this possibility. Not sleep with her and brush it under the rug.”
Frustrated with not only him but myself, I push him off me. “You don’t think I know that? Fuck, I wanted to… was going to as soon as I was notified of the results.” Results that aren’t supposed to be in for another week. “Christ, I had no clue the results were even in till big mouth Powell over there mentioned the article and podcasts that are apparently out.”
