I ring the doorbell at their house and look over the cars in the driveway. They’re all familiar, including Kane’s truck.
“Jana!” Paisley opens the door and pulls me into her arms. “I’m so happy you came.”
“Of course I’d come.” I hug her then hand her the bottle of wine I brought.
“Thanks. You didn’t have to go all out.” She looks at the bottle. “But I guess now that you’re getting paid an owner’s salary…” She laughs, and I follow her into the house.
There are caterers in their kitchen and the majority of the party is outside, but the wives and girlfriends of the players I’m closest to are on the couch.
“Jana”—Saige stands and hugs me—“so good to see you. It’s been a while.”
I hug each one of them and look at Imogen, who’s sans baby. “Where’s Jalen?”
“Grandparents. Six weeks, baby.” She grins.
I tilt my head, not understanding what she means.
“I can have sex again. Got the all clear this morning.”
“I’m surprised you’re here,” Paisley says. “You didn’t have to come.”
“Oh yeah, I did. You can’t tease me with a big announcement and expect me to hear about it secondhand. I had to drag Warner here with promises of lingerie and whipped cream.”
They all laugh, and I smile, realizing I’m the odd one out in this group. The one without anyone special in her life. That ache hits me again, because one thing here isn’t like the others and that thing is me.
Why can’t I have a relationship? Even the small voice that tells me I don’t want one second-guesses itself these days. I quickly brush it off as just being horny. Since I called it quits with Kane, I’ve yet to find anyone else.
Paisley brings me a glass of wine and I’m sipping it when I spot Kane outside with a hot brunette. They’re laughing at something, and she puts her hand on his bicep as though he’s a Saturday Night Live comedian. Kane has a lot of great attributes, but being funny isn’t one of them.
“Jana?” Paisley questions, sitting on the couch next to me.
“I’m just going to head outside and say hi to the guys.” I rise from the couch.
“Oh wait,” Paisley says, but she just doesn’t want me to make a scene. As I walk away, I hear her whisper, “Oh jeez.”
“It’s not what you think,” Imogen calls after me, and I circle around.
“What are you guys talking about? I’m just going outside to see the guys and get some fresh air. Plus, I’m starving, and I see the table of food.”
Lies. All lies, because I can’t believe he brought a date. I guess I can’t really fault him, but Kane has never brought a date to anything. Is this his way of trying to make me jealous to get me in his bed again? Not going to happen.
“Hey, guys,” I say, waving when I step out onto the patio.
They’re all sitting around the table with beers in hand. A few of them straighten up. The ones who don’t know me very well.
Maksim stays slouched in his chair. “Jana,” he says in his Russian accent. “Glad you came.”
“Thanks for ditching game night last week,” Ford says.
“Sorry, but I didn’t have a partner.”
“Kane came by himself.” He raises his eyebrows.
Maksim rises from his chair to give it to me. “I have to go check on Paisley anyway.”
I sit down and glance over my shoulder. Annabelle is with a few of the other kids from the team, playing in the grass just off the big patio. Now that she’s two, you can see her and Ford’s resemblance that much more. Those blue eyes are going to be heartbreakers.
“I saw that, Demetri!” Ford yells. “Jesus, Train, teach your damn kid to respect ladies.”
Train shakes his head. “She took the watering can first,” he sticks up for his son. He and his wife divorced a couple years back and share custody of their son.
I glance at Kane, growing angrier the more I see him smile and watch the woman touch him.
“Whatcha staring at?” Warner leans in and whispers.
I lean in too. “Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you. Maybe you should go introduce yourself.”
I’m afraid if I do, my anger will get the best of me. Kane always seems to bring my anger to the surface. Then again, the longer I sit here, the madder I become. Like he’s playing some game a high school boy would.
After zoning out for a bit, I rejoin the conversation. “Tell me how everyone’s feeling about the season so far?”
Everyone puts a smile on their face, but no one actually says anything.
“The new uniforms?” I ask. Kane gave me an earful about those and how we didn’t need them. But I wanted to go retro, and we can auction them off for charity as game-worn jerseys.
“Honestly, they’re stiff,” Ford says, the only truthful one here. Probably because if he loses his position, he has enough money for the entire team to live off of.
Speaking as someone with an equal amount of money, not much scares you because you know in the end, you’ll be okay. But I appreciate his honesty.
“A few washes and they’ll soften,” I say.
But he gives me a half smile and carries on with Train about his kid taking another toy from Annabelle.
Damn Kane. He probably shared his view about the jerseys with the team. I can just imagine him being all, “Lady Boss wants us to wear these, I tried to give my opinion, but she won’t listen.”
For the past month, Kane and I have fought over every single thing from hotels to team dinners to the fucking water pressure in the showers. But I don’t voice my opinion on what happens on the ice. My parents are still away and hopefully one hasn’t killed the other because I haven’t heard from either of them for a week. That’s unusual, but I haven’t been in the mood to seek them out.
I hear the woman’s cackle again and I slide my chair out, my eyes on her and Kane. They stand on the far side of the patio, away from everyone else.
“Wait. Jana.” Warner holds up his hand to stop me.
“Hey, hold up,” Cory tries too.
Do they think I’m going to make a scene? I don’t make scenes.
My heels click on the cement surrounding the pool that has a safety fence around it, which surprises me since Paisley and Maksim don’t have kids.
Kane spots me first, glancing at me from the corner of his eye, and sips his beer, unbothered. The woman who has her back to me is clueless.
“Coach Burrows,” I say, interjecting myself into their twosome. “I just wanted to come over and say hello.”
“Miss Gerhardt, glad you could fit this get-together into your schedule. Seems you’ve been busy the past month, eh?”
The woman looks me up and down in the familiar way one does when they’re sizing up the competition. A small part of me wants to tell her she should see me as her competition, and another wants to tell her I had him first. But I shake my head because aren’t I the one who threw him back in the pond?
Sure I am, but he doesn’t have to go throwing it in my face. My anger rises to the surface again. I could’ve brought a date tonight, but I didn’t out of respect for Kane. Never mind the fact I don’t have anyone right now.