“We were together for maybe four months? A little over four months, starting back in early April. I went to a few games, but I never really thought to ask and he mostly loved to talk about his stats anyway.”
Figured.
“We don’t have to get into nitty-gritty details. I know that probably talk about hockey too much.”
“I mean, it is your job.”
“True. And you can’t talk about yours,” I said.
“Do you like filling in the silence or something?”
I kind of liked her snark. “A silent first date is an unsuccessful date,” I deadpanned.
“Oh look, the wine is here.” The waiter had arrived at our table with two glasses, and I tamped down a grin.
“Ready to order?” he asked after Dani took her first sip.
“Give us a few, thanks.”
“You don’t already know what you want?” I asked when the waiter stepped away.
“Oh, I’m getting the butternut squash agnolotti. It’s delicious. I just wanted to make sure you had a chance to look over the menu.”
“What else do you recommend?” She pointed out a few other items and when the waiter returned, I went with the elk Bolognese.
“So now what?” she asked.
I tilted my head in question. She fidgeted with her wineglass, tapping the base of the glass and the stem before picking it up.
“How are we doing this dating thing?”
I chuckled. “You’ve been dating someone more recently than I have.”
She gave me a pointed stare.
“We could play twenty questions. What’s your favorite color? Mine is orange.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Orange? Who picks orange as a favorite color?”
“It’s vibrant and fun. Is yours black? Or maybe pink. Yeah, I could see you in pink.”
“Hard pass. I look terrible in pink with my hair.”
“I’m teasing. We need to have fun with this or it won’t be believable.”
She sighed audibly and I ignored how her breasts perfectly filled out the top of her dress. Would she turn pink if I kissed her at the base of her throat? Would her pulse flutter under my lips?
My cock started to harden and I was glad to be sitting across from her. Odds were she would not take kindly to me getting turned on while teasing her, but dammit, she needed to have more fun.
“Fine. Uh, dog or cat?” she asked. “No, I already know. Pucks and Tucks.”
“Did you look us up? And it’s Tucks and Pucks.” But I knew she had because she’d liked a few of the posts. One was at least six months old and it was a good sign that she’d scrolled through them.
“Figured I should since he’s your dog. And of course he’s a golden,” she said flippantly.
“Well, duh. They’re the best. I got him as a puppy shortly before our family dog, Max, passed away at thirteen. Pucks stayed with my family for my first two seasons here, but I brought him with me when I came back in August. I missed him too much. Josie, a teammate’s girlfriend, has started taking him on walks and checking up on him during away trips.” I paused. “We should definitely do a video or two with you hanging out with us. He’ll love you. Are you a dog person?”
“They’re okay, but I prefer cats.”
