He stops next to me.“Grüezi mitenand.”
I grin, recognizing his Swiss German greeting for ‘hello, everybody.’
“Guten Abend.”
His eyes widen.“Spichts du Deutsch?”
I laugh.“Nur ein Bißen.”
“Only a little? Where did you learn?”
His accent is faint, but I remember it clearly from the year I spent traipsing around Europe after my father died. He’d always wanted to go, so I decided to fulfill that dream on my own. “I spent a year traveling all over Europe, but Zürich, Paris, and London were my favorites.”
Payton stops next to us. “Did you say London?”
I nod.
“Well, isn’t that a surprise? I do hope you had a chance to explore more of my fair country than just the big city.” He makes air quotes with his fingers.
“I did, but I still loved the energy of London. So much to see and do.”
Payton mocks a pained expression and holds a hand to his chest. “In other words, she rode the London Eye and now thinks she’s seen it all.”
I smack his arm in a playful manner. “Not true. Although, I did ride it once. I explored a fair bit of the countryside, too.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” Payton chuckles, then slides back into the booth, clearing my line of sight to Luke, who’s staringat me again.
No grimace this time, just open curiosity. An improvement, right? Then his eyes scan down the length of my dress. The appreciation I observe in his appraisal makes me happy that I opted for something more than the usual jeans and T-shirt I change into after work.
However, I really shouldn’t care about Luke Jameson’s opinion of me. That’s what I keep telling myself. Hopefully, my heart will listen to my head for once.
Elias sits next to Payton, which puts him in front of my drink. He slides it across the table toward me. “I’m guessing this is yours. Sorry. Didn’t mean to steal your seat.”
I shake my head. “It’s okay. I’ll just sit at the end.” But when I look down, there’s no room left due to the simple fact that these guys are huge. I’m not short at almost five-eight, but these guys still tower over me. Add those broad shoulders, and it’s like I have my own personal Wall of China. I wouldn’t want to meet this crew in a dark alley.
Jayce’s voice comes from behind me. “I’ve got you covered.”
I turn around to find him placing a chair for me. Another one dangles from his other hand as if it weighs nothing. He sets it down next to mine and sits. We’re now the two people occupying the open end of the large booth.
Won’t that be fun for our server? And judging by Luke’s scowl, he’s not happy about this either. Although, I’m not sure if his grumpy attitude is left over from his earlier encounter with Jayce or his mistrust of me. He still seems suspicious of my every move.
But there’s no reason for me to let that ruin an enjoyable evening. This is my chance to become more familiar with some of the players and for them to get comfortable with me, which will make my interviews go much smoother.
And perhaps a more relaxed setting will give me a glimpse of what lies beneath Luke’s icy exterior.
Roughly an hour later, the table is covered with empty fried seafood baskets and an array of half-drunk beer bottles and glasses. Jayce turned out to be a better conversationalist than I expected. He came across as almost vulnerable a couple of times when I asked some personal questions. I can already tell his interview will be one of the easier ones, but I suspect an insecure boy lies at the heart of his tough-guy persona. The one time I asked anything about his family, I got the impression he doesn’t have the best relationship with his father. I resisted the temptation of telling him he’s lucky his father is still around, but I held back, taking another sip of my drink.
I did NOT, however, miss how Luke kept darting his gaze our way despite appearing engaged in Wade’s analytics of their performance at practice today. At one point, Luke used an empty seafood basket as a goal net, then positioned the salt and pepper shakers and the ketchup, mustard, and malt vinegar bottles to demonstrate a play. Wade tossed in a piece of batter as the puck and used his hand as a miniature goaltender, doing outrageous splits with his fingers to block it.
The biggest shocker though? Luke smiled a few times. Not at me, but at the other guys. I only got a side glimpse, though—enough to make me curious about what he would look like if he ever smiled at me.
Probably not going to happen. He pretty much avoided eye contact with me all evening. Thus why I talked to Jayce most of the time or to Elias on my other side, who would occasionally throw in a German word here and there with a wink.
I’ve lost count of how many orders of hush puppies this group consumed. There’s one left in a basket near me, so I decide I’m going for it, seeing as I’ve only had one of those delicious fried balls of seasoned batter. A girl has to pace herself, youknow?
Unfortunately, Luke has the same thought at the same time as I do, and our hands kind of smash together as if we’re two awkward teenagers. The warmth of his fingers sends an interesting tingle through me that’s also comforting in an odd way, like finally coming home after a long trip.
Our eyes lock for a moment before he retreats. “You take it.”
