“Sorry. I can’t resist,” she said.
“And I didn’t even know he was a goalie when I asked him to kiss me,” I pointed out.
Josie snickered. “That makes it even better. Like you knew he was your type subconsciously.”
I didn’t even want to try and unpack that, but at least she wasn’t prying for more information about my father, and I kind of loved that she was clearly ready to hate him on my word.
“Stop stirring up shit, Josie. Can we not annoy her from the start? We need to build up to that,” Harper said with a grin. “Great to see you, Dani. Come in and enjoy the feast and conversation while we lust over our men on the ice.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. She wasn’t wrong. I’d spent way too much time during warm-ups and the first period practically salivating over Gabe. To be fair, he knew exactly what he was doing with those pre-game stretches. Fucking hell, he was so bendy. And as soon as he hit the ice for the start of the game, I was in trouble. I couldn’t stop watching him. Every time he tapped his goal posts or whispered something to them, I smiled. And the moments he turned to flirt with me or give me a goofy smirk during the TV timeouts should not have been as endearing as they were.
He was cheesy as hell, which would normally turn me right off, but it was different with him.
And as silly as he could be, the man was beautiful to watch in in the crease. He’d stopped every shot on goal, leaving Montreal off the scoreboard for the first twenty. The Stampede had one goal, so it wasn’t like they were blowing Montreal away, but hopefully they’d pull out the win tonight. I wanted that for Gabe, and for my father.
I knew he was in the building. He’d texted me again today to ask about meeting for an early dinner or drinks after, but I’d ignored the first two texts and then told him I was too busy afterhis third one. And I still hadn’t told Mal that our father had reached out to me. What was the point?
Fuck, I hated him, but I refused to let his presence sour tonight.
“I’m all for lusting. Have you seen Micah?” Josie said, grabbing my attention.
Yes, I would not let my father ruin my night.
“He’s alright,” Harper said. “Con is way cuter. Dani gets it, right? The nice, sweet-looking boys are better.” Then she winked at me.
I smiled. “I guess.”
“So, how is all of that going?” Josie asked. “Falling in love with our Tucks yet?”
“What?” I squeaked out. “Umm, no.” I glanced around the room to see if anyone else was paying attention to us and spotted Cora in one corner. When she looked up and waved, I happily returned it, hoping she would come rescue me from these two. I knew they meant well, and teasing was clearly very on brand for them, but I didn’t want to think about what the hell I was feeling for Gabe. We were two weeks in and it already was messy.
This was supposed to be easy and simple, but I wanted that man more than I should have. Maybe he’d be up for just some no-strings fun.
That would probably just be another disaster but try explaining that to my body.
“Fine, fine. But when you do realize how awesome you two would really be together, you better tell me I was right,” Josie boasted.
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” I replied.
“I still can’t believe that the guy you randomly asked to kiss you was another goalie. What are the freaking odds?” Harper said, laughing. At least she’d kept her voice low. I really didn’t want anyone else to find out the truth.
“No kidding. My therapist had a field day with that already.”
“Oh man, I can only imagine. And speaking of goalies, your man is looking on fire tonight. That save at the end of the first was fucking sweet,” Harper said.
“Right. And don’t tell Micahtron that I said this, but Tucks was totally the reason Montreal didn’t score on their power play off Fishy’s stupid penalty. Tucks stood on his head for those two minutes,” Josie said.
I was grateful how quickly they moved along, especially Harper since she was clearly a huge fan of my father.
“He did look pretty impressive out there,” I said.
Harper quirked a brow. “And the way he can’t stop looking over at you and flirting with you is pretty cute, too.”
“No, really. He’s just helping me out.”
“Even from here, we can see that he looks pretty smitten.”
“It’s just an act.”
