Em glances down to her belly, which, even under layers of clothes, including the signature purple Hawks hoodie, and a jacket over the top, is pancake flat. “Taylor put a bun in my oven,” she whispers.
I stare at her wide-eyed, while Cindy bounces on her heels happily. “Oh, my god! Congratulations!” I whisper-shout.
Tears brim her eyes as she swallows hard and takes a few breaths. “I keep getting these waves of nausea at weird times of the day. Luckily, I haven’t been throwing up just yet.”
“I’m so happy for you.” I can’t contain my smile. “Taylor must be over the moon!”
“Well, he was as shocked as I was. We’ve only been back together for six months,” she says. “The June wedding could well and truly be put on ice, literally.”
“So, you’ll be a sexy pregnant June bride, it doesn’t matter,” Cindy says, rubbing her friend’s arm soothingly.
“That’s so true,” I chime in, it warms my heart to see how happy Emmerson is. I heard that she and Taylor spent years apart from each other when Em moved to Florida because she wanted him to succeed in the NHL without any distractions. Recently, they rekindled things when she came to a Seattle Hawks game with Maddison.
I guess you can’t deny or extinguish some people’s love, no matter how long it’s been.
“You two are too kind.” Em smiles. “I’m thinking we may need to bring things forward before I get too big to fit into a wedding dress.”
“Tay will love it,” Cindy says as Em pushes herself off the wall, seemingly recovered from the nausea episode.
We all giggle as we make our way into the ladies. But my smile is short lived when I catch sight of a familiar face as I pass by. My heart races at seeing her here as I quickly walk by to the end of a long line of cubicles. Long blonde hair to her waist, talons for nails, the most perfect breasts you’ve ever seen in your life bracing themselves at the rim of her cropped shirt, showing off a very toned torso.
Janice.
I quickly look away. Thankfully, she doesn’t see me as I duck into the cubicle and lock the door. God! What is she doing here? She’s always chasing Jay when she sees him, is she here for him again? Somehow she always seems to get backstage as well.
Jealousy rears its ugly head in a surge and sends a flush of hotness up my neck, staining my cheeks and making my heart hammer. He slept with her. Okay, he slept with a lot of women. But I know she was more recent, and she’s in the same freaking bathroom!
I haven’t been in his life or spent enough time with him to know the score, and I’m not sure I want to know. But being facedwith it just beyond the door I’m leaning against is a little out of my comfort zone.
Knowing he took her back to his place and had sex with her at some point in the recent past makes me ball my fists up in a fury. I mean, it shouldn’t bother me, he wasn’t with me then, but it bothers me the way she’s all over him whenever she sees him. Just like the last time I saw her when she wrapped her arms around him from behind.
I take a few breaths and quickly use the bathroom. Putting myself back together, after a few moments, I hear some girls cackling as they walk into the bathrooms.
“Oh my god, did you see those gorgeous Hawks boys waving those sexy hips around,” one girl coos and that makes me mash my lips together in humor while I’m thinking about that whole dance again.
“Looks like they’d been practising,” says another. “I’d love to get under one of those guys. I think Jake and Jay are the only single ones, unfortunately. Maybe the new guy, Adam, too. Not that it stops some of the hockey guys from perusing the menu, even if they’re taken.”
“Did you see that last ad campaign for Tommy Hilfiger,” the first girl continues. I only know it’s the same girl because of her high-pitched squeaky voice. “Jay Jefferson must have several inches down those boxer briefs. I dig the lucky girl who gets to bang that.”
The fever soars again, hearing Jay’s name and the way they’re talking about him, and describing his dick! Then my blood almost drains from my entire body when I hear someone else, it's gotta be Janey. I don’t even know if she’s still in here.
“I’ve banged Jay Jefferson,” she says proudly, and I don’t have to be looking at her to hear the spark in her voice. “And let me tell you, he can go all night long!”
“Oh, my god!” The other girls squeal in tandem. “What the hell! Is he an easy lay? How do you snag an NHL guy? The Vegas guys are hot too.”
“It’s not that hard,” Janey says. “It’s all about who you know. I wouldn’t waste your time on Jay Jefferson. He used to be an easy lay, but not anymore.”
“Huh? Didn’t you just say?—”
“You guys should really stop gossiping,” I hear Em’s voice suddenly stop everyone short from their little Jay story time at the bathroom sinks.
“Who the hell are you?” One of the girls balks.
“I’m Taylor James’ fiance,” she says, and if I wasn’t hiding in the cubicle, I could bet she has her hands on her hips, towering above anyone who dares talk about any of the Hawks guys, since she’s five foot ten or more.
That shuts them up for at least five seconds.
“Fiance!” the squeaky voice croons. “That’s so cool, maybe you could introduce?—”
