“I’m only saying,” Clarke continues, not willing to give up, “he’s hot, and apparently now that people are getting to know him, by all accounts, a good guy. Then we have you, and you’re an amazing woman, so… you can fill in the blanks.”
I give a mirthless laugh. “Oh, I filled in the blanks when you first opened your mouth about this. Not interested.”
“Why not?” she asks curiously.
I can’t tell her the real reason.
Because I haven’t told her about how our first meeting went nor about our little exchange at the bookstore the other day. I have purposely withheld this information from my best friend because I don’t want to put her in an awkward position.
I don’t like Riggs, and he doesn’t like me. Riggs is Aaron’s teammate, and there is an unspoken loyalty. If I let Clarke know that I don’t like the man, then by virtue of being my best friend, I know she will automatically not like him either. That will, in turn, put her and Aaron at odds, and I am never going to do that to them. So I have to keep my dislike of Riggs to myself, and that is where it shall remain.
“I’m not ready to date,” I say while looking her dead in the eye. And that’s a fairly legitimate excuse. I don’t have any interest in a relationship, although I do miss sex.
Like, a lot.
And Riggs looks like he’d be really, really good in bed—
Oh my God… stop thinking like that, I chastise myself.
The doorbell rings, and I’m grateful since it prevents Clarke from lecturing me on my love life. She is of the firm opinion that I have let my bad experience with Jace turn me off true love. But that’s easy for her to say—she’s found it and is deep within its throes. I’m so very happy for her, and I see that what she and Aaron have is the real thing.
Just as in hindsight, I see that marrying Jace was a monumental mistake, and I never saw the bad when I did it, even when it was staring me in the face. I had poor judgment, and I missed so many things. Not going to allow that to happen again.
Aaron and Clarke are living in her house, which is modest by professional hockey player standards. Aaron has a condo downtown, not far from the bookstore, and Riggs lives in the same building. Aaron is subleasing his place now but will be putting it on the market. You’d think they would have made the choice to live together at his place since it’s closer to both the arena and her store, but she loves the burbs, and so Aaron, without hesitation, came here. I think it’s sweet, but I suspect he’ll lobby for a bigger house once they get married.
Aaron stands from the couch and wipes his palms on his jeans. Clarke doesn’t notice but I do, and I can tell he’s nervous as hell. I’ve tried to reassure him via a volley of text messages throughout the day that she’s going to say yes, and it’s hilarious to me that he’s worried.
Also sweet.
What they have is the real deal.
I watch from the kitchen pass-through as Aaron opens the door, and I get a glimpse of Riggs.
Yeah… attraction-wise, the man pushes all my buttons. He’s got on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt that fits his chest exceptionally well, and his dark hair is mussed, as if he just ran his fingers through it rather than a brush. He didn’t shave today, and I really do love the rugged look. Jace would never have a hair out of place, nor stubble, nor be caught in anything less than designer jeans, and that was only on rare occasions he’d stoop to wear denim.
I glance down at my own choice of clothing. I’d thought about wearing something couture to irritate Riggs, but that would’ve made Clarke raise her eyebrows. She’d expect me to be dressed for comfort for a game night, and I do happen to own a few outfits that are off the rack. I chose jeans—a loose boyfriend cut, cuffed at the hem—with a fitted, long-sleeved blouse in blue-gingham check. The ballet flats are designer, but Riggs wouldn’t know looking at them. They’re taupe suede, and he doesn’t look like the type that would recognize Ferragamo.
Aaron greets Riggs and gestures for him to enter. “Hey, man. So glad you could make it.”
Riggs has never been to Aaron and Clarke’s house before, and as he steps over the threshold, there are a hundred interesting things he could choose to look at in the way of décor, art, furniture, or even Aaron standing directly before him. My face flushes when his eyes come right to me. I don’t hear a damn thing Aaron says to him—vague prattle as he closes the door. All I can do is stare back at Riggs.
“Interesting,” Clarke mumbles, and I snap out of my haze, head whipping her way. She’s got a knowing smile punctuated with a smirk.
I glare at her. “Nothing interesting at all.”
She makes a humming sound in her throat, which sounds like agreement, but really, it’s not. She thinks there’s something there by what she’s witnessed, but I’m not going to engage.
Luckily—after shooting me a wink—she moves out of the kitchen and into the living room to greet Riggs. “I’m so glad you decided to hang out with us tonight.” She nods at the bottle of wine in his hand. “Shall I open it?”
He thrusts it at her and says, “Sure. Reason why I brought it.”
“Thank you,” Clarke replies as she accepts the bottle. “That was very thoughtful. I’ll get the corkscrew.”
As she turns away, Aaron claps him on the shoulder. “How about a beer?”
“Definitely,” he replies with a laugh. “I’ll drink wine if there’s nothing else, but I’d rather have a beer.”
“Same, man,” Aaron agrees sympathetically. “Same.”
Both men follow Clarke into the kitchen, and I put the finishing touches on the vegetable tray. I glance up to see Riggs watching me while Aaron takes the corkscrew from Clarke.
He nods at me politely. “Veronica.”
I incline my head toward him. “Riggs.”
I realize that sounds way too formal, maybe even bordering on cool disdain. I don’t want Clarke and Aaron to know about our grievances.
So I level a brilliant smile at him. “We’re going to have a lot of fun tonight. I’m glad you came too.”
Riggs cuts his eyes to Aaron, focused on the wine bottle, then to Clarke, who is focused on our exchange, then back to me. His smile almost takes my breath away as his whole face transforms, making him even more gorgeous. “When Aaron invited me, I couldn’t pass it up. Who doesn’t love a rousing game of Scrabble?”
I laugh, because that sounded like genuine, teasing sarcasm, and Aaron’s head turns our way. “It’s more fun if you bet money on it.”
Riggs snorts. “Child’s play. We used to take a shot every time someone failed to place a word of more than four letters.”
Clarke snickers. “Aaron would be drunk in about ten minutes if we played that way.”
Everyone laughs. A good icebreaker, but I’m still tense.
Riggs is new to our group and thus the outsider. Aaron wants him to become more integrated into the family dynamics of this team. Clarke has silly ideas about us dating, and I’m on edge because Riggs and I started off badly and don’t like each other.
But at least for the moment, all is well.
♦
I have to give Aaron credit. He has this Scrabble proposal ironed out so flawlessly, Clarke is never going to see it coming. When it finally happens, she’s going to be bowled over.