“There you are,” Mia Petrov, the wife of the current Blaze captain, says to me as she approaches us. “I heard you were here but I couldn’t find you. Durand wants to talk to you and then it’ll be time for your speech.” She gives Polly a quick glance and says, “Hey, Polly, glad you could make it.”
With that, she puts a hand on my back and leads me away.
“Thanks,” I say under my breath.
“She’s a fucking viper,” Mia mutters. “The guys are all riding Beau’s ass because he let Polly give him a blow job a couple weeks ago when he was wasted.”
After a single note of laughter, I say, “Him and plenty of other guys. Usually they’re just too embarrassed to admit it.”
Mia gives me a skeptical look. “Please tell me you haven’t been with that walking STD.”
“Fuck no,” I say, cringing.
“Good.” She stops walking and smiles at Avery. “She’s beautiful, Harry. Did you pick out her dress?”
Mia smoothes a hand over the shoulder of Avery’s soft red dress, which has a ruffled skirt and a matching giant red headband with a bow on it.
“No, that was…a friend,” I say, grateful Winter took care of picking an outfit for my daughter tonight. If I’d been responsible for it, she’d be wearing a sleeper.
“Your friend has great taste,” Mia says. “Now why don’t I take her because Durand actually does want to talk to you and then it’ll be time for your speech.”
“And here I thought you were saving me from Polly.”
“I wasn’t going to get you for a few more minutes, so I’m still expecting full credit,” Mia says as I pass Avery to her.
“She ate two hours ago and I changed her half an hour ago,” I say. “She might be a little tired, but she likes it when you walk. And her Binky is in the diaper bag.”
Mia arches her brows, impressed. She looks like she’s about to say something but then she presses her lips closed.
“Surprised I’m actually good at this parenting thing?” I quip.
She smiles sheepishly. “I’d say more impressed than surprised. Good for you, Harry.”
“I’ve got some help; she’s just not here tonight.”
“Like a nanny, or…?”
“No, she’s…not a nanny.”
“Ah.” Mia smiles knowingly. “Well, I’m happy for you.”
“Don’t be happy for me just yet.” I shake my head. “She hates me.”
Mia laughs, gently bouncing Avery in her arms. “Oh, well by the look on your face, I thought she was your girlfriend.”
“I want her to be,” I admit. “But she’s on a date with another man tonight.”
“She’s in a relationship?”
“No, it’s a blind date.” I sigh heavily. “But if it goes well, I guess she might be in one soon.”
“Why does she hate you?”
I shrug. “It started with a misunderstanding. And she’s stubborn as shit, so she won’t let herself think I could be any different than her preconceived notions of me.”
Mia nods knowingly. “Well, I recommend a heart-to-heart, Harry. You guys need to have a conversation. Tell her how you feel.” Her expression turns stern. “And don’t make it about sex.”
“Why do you assume I’d make it about sex?”
“Because you’re a man. Good women want to know you have feelings for them other than wanting to get them in bed.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
“Durand is waving for me to send you over,” she says. “You’d better go.”
“Okay. Please don’t lose my daughter,” I say with a wry look. “And thanks for the advice.”
“Anytime.”
Mia takes Avery over to a group of Blaze wives, and they’re gushing over Avery before she even gets all the way over there. I order a drink from a passing server and make my way over to Olivier Durand, the owner of the Blaze.
Before I get to him, I take out my phone, hoping to see a text from Winter telling me her date was complete shit.
Nothing, though. I swear under my breath and force a smile for Durand.
If I didn’t have Avery with me tonight, I’d probably have more than a few drinks. Instead, I get to be painfully aware of every passing minute Winter spends with her date.
What kind of a loser of a man needs to be set up on a blind date, anyway? And where the hell is he taking her?
“Jesus, Harry, what’s with the scowl?” Durand asks, laughing.
“Must be your ugly fuckin’ mug,” I quip as I shake his hand.
“Nah. That face has female trouble written all over it.”
I scoff and nod my thanks to the server, who returns with my beer. “If you’d describe a woman who’s so stubborn and frustrating she makes me want to break shit as trouble, then yeah, that’s it.”
Durand puts a hand on my shoulder. “The good news is there are plenty of fish in the sea, though.”
“Not like her,” I mutter.
Durand laughs heartily. “Well shit, man. You really are in trouble with this one, aren’t you?”
I take a long drink of my beer and say, “You have no idea.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No. I want to be in a good headspace when I give my speech and talking about Winter will have the opposite effect.”
“Let’s get dinner soon. You can catch me up then.”
“That’d be good.”
We talk hockey then. Even though he never played professionally, Durand could talk hockey for hours on end. I didn’t play pro for long, but I have fond memories and lifelong friendships from those days.
I check my phone again to see if Winter texted, but she didn’t. I shake my head and stick my phone back in my pocket. She’s the first woman who gets me riled up over the things she doesn’t do and the things she doesn’t say.
She better be back at the apartment when I get home later, or I might actually lose my mind.
Chapter Sixteen
Winter
I walk into the apartment around ten thirty that night and gently close the door behind me. A cooing sound in the dim light makes me look around in question.
When I flip a switch to turn a lamp on, I see Harry in his favorite recliner, Avery snuggled up on his chest and looking content.
“Hey,” I say in greeting.
“Hey.”
“Want me to turn the light off?”
“Nah, it’s fine. She’s just not tired for some reason. Too much excitement tonight, I guess.”
I smile and walk over to the couch, sitting down. “Did everyone love her?”
“Of course they did. She’s the most beautiful baby ever.” Harry kisses the top of Avery’s head and I feel a tug in my chest.
For all his flaws, he loves his daughter, and it only heightens the attraction I don’t want to feel toward him.
“How was your date?” he asks.
“It was good.”
“Was it, though? It’s only ten thirty and you’re home.”