“No problem. Care to explain?” I stretch out on the bench, putting my arm behind her.
She stares in the direction the couple went. “That was my ex, Jeremy.”
My head swivels to try to catch sight of the bastard who let her slip through his fingers, but the path curves around some shrubbery and all I catch is their laughter. “Does he live here in Denver?”
She shrugs. “I don’t really know. After we broke up, I promised I’d never look up anything about him and I’ve adhered to that.”
“Hmm.” I frown at the look of discontent on Saige’s face.
She nods. “Yeah, let’s go.” She tugs at my jacket and stands.
I rise off the bench, but the same laughter from before rings closer. Saige’s eyes widen.
“Want to throw me on the bench again? Maybe this time we could actually make out?”
She playfully pushes me, grabs my hand, and tugs me down the path.
“Saige?” a deep voice filled with curiosity says from behind us.
She stops and stares straight ahead, unblinking for a moment, drawing in a deep breath. She doesn’t even have to ask; I lower my hand and entwine our fingers.
Circling back around, I’m not prepared for the man standing there to be almost as big as me. Hell, he might have a few more muscles than me. The girl at his side looks similar to Saige except she’s a strawberry-blonde. Nevertheless, they look like a happy couple.
“Jeremy?” Saige says with faux surprise.
We all move closer to each other, and holy shit, I do a double take. Her ex-boyfriend is Jeremy Danders? The wide receiver for the Packers?
“Whoa, talk about crazy.” He steps away from the girl and wraps Saige in a hug. “It’s been so long. You still in Waterfall Springs?”
“Yeah.” Saige backs up as soon as is polite.
“I heard you’ve made a success out of that social media thing.”
She nods.
I clear my throat, and not waiting for Saige, I stick out my hand. “Aiden Drake.”
“The hockey player?” he asks.
I nod. “We’re playing Colorado tonight. Saige comes with me to a lot of the away games.”
“Really? I thought you NHL players shared rooms.”
“We do. I put Saige up in her own.” I link our hands again.
Jeremy’s gaze shifts to Saige. She doesn’t say anything but squeezes my hand, presumably in thanks. This is the least I could do for her.
The girl says his name in a sweet tone, and he shakes his head. “Oh, sorry, this is Olivia.”
“His fiancée,” Olivia adds, taking off her left glove and raising her hand. There sits a sizable engagement ring.
A strangled sound comes from Saige. I try my best to save her, but I’m thinking Jeremy might not only be an ex, but the ex who broke her.
“Congratulations,” I say. “So are you still playing for the Packers?”
I don’t follow football religiously, mostly because our seasons overlap and I’m too focused on my own to watch football.
“Rumor is I might be traded here. We decided to make a weekend of it to see if we like the area. Hence how we’re lost in a park somewhere.” He looks at Olivia and they both laugh.
Shit, they’re the real deal. Saige’s hand goes limp in mine at witnessing their interaction.
“That sucks,” I say.
“Not really, we’d rather be here with the mountains than in Green Bay,” Olivia chimes in.
“Except that the fans love me up there. More than in Florida, that is.” He sets his gaze on Saige and I wonder what the story is there. “Hey, I know this is crazy, but why don’t we all get together for dinner tonight?”
“Can’t,” Saige is quick to say. “Aiden has a game.”
“Game?” Olivia asks.
“I—”
“He plays for the Florida Fury. Hockey,” Saige says before I can respond.
“You always did love the athletes.” I don’t think Jeremy meant it as a slam, but it kind of comes off as one.
Saige looks away. “We should go. Aiden needs to get ready for the game and everything. Nice seeing you, and congratulations.”
I’m about to say congratulations when she twists me around and we walk in a direction I’m not familiar with.
“Wait!” Jeremy calls. “How about a nightcap? We’re always up late anyway. It’d be nice to catch up.”
What is this guy’s problem? He’s clearly moved on, so why doesn’t he leave it alone?
“Um…” Saige looks at me.
I kind of like this fake boyfriend role I’ve found myself in, so I make a snap decision. “Sure. How about I leave some tickets for you guys at will call, then after the game, we’ll be at a bar called Giggling Grizzly.”
“Oh, you know how tired you get after a game,” Saige says like a concerned girlfriend.
I shrug. “One drink won’t kill me.”
She sighs and narrows her eyes a bit at me. I kinda love it when she’s a little angry with me. It makes me think of how awesome our sex could be.
“Perfect. We’ll see you then,” Jeremy agrees, and we all walk away from one another.
As soon as we turn a corner and are out of sight, Saige smacks my arm. “Why would you do that?”
“It’ll be fun. Trust me. But I do expect to hear the story about you and Jeremy at some point.”
She groans. “A friend wouldn’t put me in this position.”
I put my arm around her. “Sure they would, because this is going to close that door on Jeremy for good. And something tells me that’s what you need.”
Chapter Fourteen
Saige
Sitting in the stands of the arena, I throw my head back in annoyance once again that Aiden agreed to drinks with Jeremy and his fiancée tonight. Of course this is the first trip that Tedi hasn’t joined me. Not to mention I think the two empty seats to my right are for the happy couple, which pisses me off even more because Aiden got them the seats. It’s one thing when he’ll be next to me, but another when he’s on the ice.
Plus, I usually try to distract myself at his games because he looks hot as hell skating around, yelling for the puck, scoring like the god he is. I don’t want to have to watch any more of the game than I absolutely have to since he’s already the one I’m thinking of when I touch myself every night.
The teams take the ice for warmups and Aiden steps out, not wearing his helmet, so his sexy face is there for all to admire. And they do. Even though we’re in Colorado, there’s a pretty big fan section for the Fury full of signs with Aiden’s number, women screaming for Ford, and guys rooting for Maksim.
As they skate by me, each player gives me a wink. Poor Tweetie looks a little lost without Tedi. Hopefully that doesn’t hurt his game.
“Man, these are great seats.” Jeremy folds himself in next to me.
I slide as close as I can to the guy on my other side. Jeremy practically has the entire concession stand in his arms. Olivia, sipping a soda, sits down next to him.
“There’s something kind of mean about hockey. Don’t they fight?” Olivia asks.