“Yes, he’s my father. But, umm, we’re not really close. I didn’t realize he would be here tonight,” she said.
Harper put her hand on Dani’s shoulder. “Got it. Sometimes legends are shitty. If you want to share more, I’m here, though.”
“Thanks,” Dani said, giving Harper a small smile.
I squeezed her hand gently and was grateful when she did the same in return.
A few of our tablemates looked concerned or curious, but no one asked Dani anything else. And Sin was still silent, which was an added benefit.
***
The rest of the night passed by like a breeze. I forced Dani onto the dance floor after dinner because I wanted any excuse to hold her in my arms. Dessert had been extra delicious, both of our before- and after-dinner ones. Dani and Meredith had met and scheduled a meeting for later in the week. Best of all, Sin had managed to keep quiet for a full hour, thanks to the bulk of that time being during the speeches from various people, and we’d raised a chunk of change for the hospital from our stupid bet. After all, we wouldn’t be hockey players without a ridiculous wager or two.
By some miracle, Jenzy didn’t hang around long and never came over to our table. I’d caught a few glares from him, but he’d stayed with his teammates, thank fuck for that. Dani’s father mingled around the room, and while he politely greeted the team owners and our table, he just wished us well on our game in two nights and moved on. He had to have been able to read the tension coming off his daughter and I was grateful that he’d done the right thing and left. My friends hadn’t pressed Dani for any more details about her father, thankfully. Family dynamics were usually complicated in one way or another, so no one was going to pry into Dani’s.
“We’re taking one last turn around the dance floor and then heading out,” Cora said as she and Tally stood up. “Thank you all so much for coming tonight. Seems like it was a great success.”
There was a chorus ofanytimeandof coursefrom my teammates. We were always willing to help out a good cause. What good were our super high salaries if we couldn’t use them to benefit our community?
“One last dance?” I asked Dani when a few of my other teammates and their partners also stood up to follow in Cora and Tally’s wake.
“What?”
“One last dance and then I’ll drive you home? I only had two drinks and switched to club soda two hours ago,” I reassured her.
She smiled and patted my knee. “Such a good boy.”
“I try to be.” I sounded raspy for some reason, and I swore her cheeks slightly pinked.
“Umm, I didn’t mean it like that.”
I bit back a chuckle. “Neither did I. So, dance?”
“But this chair is so comfy.” I heard the teasing in her voice.
“No one says that about banquet chairs. Come dance with me.” I batted my eyes at her for good measure and was rewarded with a tiny smile and eye roll.
“I’m kind of tired,” she replied, a smile quirking at the side of her mouth.
“I’ll hold you up. You can even stand on my feet.” Honestly, I just wanted to hold her in my arms again.
She chuckled. “What if I squish your toes? You don’t need any injuries with the season just starting.”
“I’ll survive. Come on, let’s dance. Please?” I tugged her up and into my arms before she could protest again.
“Fine,” she mumbled, but I caught her smile before she managed to school her expression.
“That was easy. I didn’t even have to use my puppy-dog eyes on you. I hear they’re very powerful,” I teased, settling my hands on her waist and slowly rocking with her to the music.
Her hands linked behind my head, her fingertips grazing the soft hair at the base of my nape. Fuck, her touch felt good. My cock was hard as hell, but I’d been sporting a semi for most of the night anyway, what with her so close to me and me taking advantage of touching her as often as possible—for the ruse, of course.
I tamped down a snort.
“They have no power over me. Maybe Pucks should give you better lessons. His even sucked me in on a few of those videos,” she said.
“You watched all the videos, didn’t you?”
She tilted her head back, a delectable smile on her face. “Not all of them.”
