“Asswipe got served with a restraining order and started blowing up her phone. I wanted to see what he was saying before she did so I could keep her away from it if possible. My goal was to protect her. To be honest, as much as it pissed her off, in the same situation, I’d do it again. She did not need to hear or read the vile things he said to her. I gave the phone to her attorney so she could show he was already violating the order.”
Lucy’s entire demeanor shifts. Her smile, her real smile, comes out to play. It leaves Collin stun locked.
“You pass,” she says and then looks at me. “I approve. We can keep him.”
“We?” Hutch asks.
“Daisy and I are a package deal. You take us together or you leave us together. Either way, I’m good with you.”
“Hutch and Collin are a package deal too.”
Lucy looks at him. “I guess I’ll learn to deal.”
Collin’s eyes narrow, but the waiter who’d spoken with us comes over to take our orders and get us drinks.
“Does that happen a lot?” Lucy nods toward the retreating waiter. “People just know you and go a little fan girl or fan boy.”
“I grew up here and it’s a hockey town. Everyone knows the hockey players.” Hutch yawns. “Some days you’re not up for it, but then you remember how important your fans are to you and you give them a hundred and ten percent because they deserve that for supporting you through everything.”
Joe never thought like that. He didn’t care about the fans’ feelings. According to him, he deserved to be hero worshiped, which I always thought was a bad way to look at his fame. Hutch appreciates the people who support him because he understands without them, all his talent would be for nothing. He’s humble and Joe was not.
“The more you talk, the more I like you.”
“You don’t like me?” Collin pouted.
“All you’ve done is try to be a player and slyly hit on me. That does nothing for me. When you start acting like yourself, then I might change my mind.”
Collin blinks. “I have not hit on you.”
“Not in so many words, but I know your type.”
“My type…”
She nods and Collin frowns.
“So about tonight,” I say before they can get into the fight I see brewing. I don’t want anyone fighting while Lucy’s here. “What time is the game?”
“Eight.”
“Do you think your coach will let you be out late since you have a game tomorrow?”
Lucy shrugs. “I’ll call and explain it to him. If he says no, I’ll just sneak out.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble…”
She laughs. “He’s not benching me. I score more than anyone else on the team.”
I’m not so sure about that. No matter how good you are, if you piss off your coach, he might eat a loss just to teach you a lesson. That’s how the coaching team was back in high school, but maybe college coaches are different. I’m not sure. Either way, I don’t want her doing anything that might cost her in the long run.
Hutch nudges me, sensing my unease. “It’s fine if the two of you want to go do something else. I don’t want her getting in trouble while she’s here. If they come back to play, I want her coach to trust her enough to let her come out again.”
It’s his first game with the Raptors. I know how nervous he is. “No, it’s fine. We’ll come and if she needs to get back early, we can always leave early.”
It’s not long before our food arrives and while neither Hutch nor Collin look to thrilled to be eating a lot of vegetables, the food is honestly good. I’ve never eaten lentils before either, but the lentil soup here is divine. I am going to have to try and recreate it just to eat myself. The boys can eat it or not, but I love it.
I do notice Collin is a lot quieter than he was. Did Lucy’s comments hurt his feelings? She’s loud and says things before she thinks them through a lot of the time. I’ll have to talk to him later about her. She has no filter and that can be a little abrasive to people who aren’t used to her.
Once we eat, Hutch takes us all back to the house because they need to get a nap in before the game. I don’t mind as I get to spend time with Lucy.
