“Yeah, take care.” He hung up and headed into the bar, ready to celebrate a Rebels win.
The first person he saw was Pepper. She was seated on the opposite side of the bar, wearing a toque.
His toque.
Kennedy was explaining something with her hands. Whatever it was made Pepper laugh, but then she turned slightly, her eyes checking the door like she was expecting someone.
Their gazes met and he knew. Fuck, he knew.
Déjà vu, the best kind, where you realize that something’s happened before and it’s inevitable. He’d already fallen and now he was having a hard time picking himself up off the dusty-ass floor.
He needed to talk to her, tell her that she was it for him. From the first night in Jimmy’s Tap, and he’d been fighting it ever since. But he hoped his actions might have spoken loud enough for him, especially as his words could barely describe the depth of his feeling.
He was in love with this woman.
It might be too soon for her to accept his pursuit of her, but he needed her to know he’d be here. Waiting until she was ready.
Rounding the bar, he was waylaid by a half-cut Dex O’Malley and a familiar woman, who screamed his name.
It came to him quickly. “Kylie!”
Throwing her arms around him, she smashed her tattoo-free chest to his.
She saw him sneaking a peek. “It was temporary. I didn’t want to commit to you just yet.”
That made him laugh. Dex circled her waist. “Think you might get a tattoo of me, babe?”
She smiled sweetly at him. “Well …”
He left them to discuss it, but his path was foiled again when his brother stepped into his sightline. For fuck’s sake.
“Hey, congrats on the game,” Bast said, his eye wandering over Reid’s shoulder. “Nice goal in the third.”
“Thanks. And thanks for coming out tonight. The boys appreciate it even though you might not feel like it.”
“No problem. Could we talk lat—”
Petrov, the Rebels’ captain, patted him on the back. “Humpty, you are here at last. We thought you might have fallen over again on your way over.”
“Very funny.” That nickname had better not stick.
Kershaw nudged him. “Still in testing, but I’m liking how it sounds, non?”
“Your French accent is terrible, by the way.”
“Yeah, but like all good impressions, it’s the essence of the character that matters. And the essence of you is that you like the attention from the ladies, and it tripped you up big time. I’m just giving the fans what they want.”
That got a few chuckles from the crowd, the one that was standing between him and Pepper. He was fully prepared to ram his way through if that’s what it took.
“So what are you doing here?” Theo asked.
Bast speared him with a glare. “I might be injured, but I’m still part of this team.”
“No, I mean here here.” Kershaw thumbed over his shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be making nice with Pepsi Cola? Heard she got you off the hook with Deacon.”
How was it the world and his wife knew his business before Bast knew it himself?
“I’m trying to get through, but everyone else wants to talk my ear off and give me stupid nicknames and crack jokes about my ability to stay upright.”
Petrov raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were the nice one.”
“Speaking of nice …” Theo leaned in. “You’d better not screw over Peppa. My kid loves her, so if I have to choose between a teammate and my nanny, she’s gonna win hands down.”
Bast felt his lips curve. “Don’t worry, she’s safe with me.”
He just wasn’t sure he was safe with her.
“Now, if you don’t mind getting the fuck out of my way, I have somewhere to be.”
Laughing at the new, not-so-nice Bast Durand, his teammates stepped aside, and he carved a hasty path toward Pepper. Kennedy grinned when he arrived.
“Hey, favorite brother-in-law!”
“Hi there.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Bye there.”
“Uh, charming.” She winked at Pepper. “Careful around this one, Pep.” And then she left as instructed.
“Hi,” he said. “You okay?”
She blinked at his abruptness. “Yeah, I am. Are you okay?”
“I suppose.” He felt kind of grumpy. He was glad to see her—thrilled to fucking see her—but he didn’t like an audience. He didn’t like not knowing how the next few minutes were going to go. “Can we go somewhere private?”
“Sure—”
But he was already pulling her toward the corridor where he knew there was an office from the multiple times he’d drunk here with the team during his rehab.
He opened the Staff Only door and pulled her inside.
“Sorry about that, but I’m kind of sick of everyone butting in and having opinions.”
She smiled. “Agreed. But on the whole, people mean well, don’t you think? They just want you to be happy.”
“Sure, sure.” He’d planned to do all the talking, find out about this Deacon business, tell her what was going to happen—they would date and have tons of sex and screw the haters—but now he realized that he’d much rather hear Pepper speak. “How are things? Really?”
“Good! I talked to Connor, aired some grievances. Now we’ll see if he follows through on his promise to stop being an ass.”
“Wouldn’t bet on it.” He smiled. “Sounds like you’ve been taking charge. TikToks, media interviews, your life.”
“Oh, you heard about that?”
“The whole world heard about it. I loved that video, by the way. Striking a blow for mascots everywhere!”
“Right? I saw your comment. Nice to see the players not taking themselves too seriously.”
“Hmm. Not sure I enjoyed Kershaw’s impression of me, though.”
She rolled in her lips. “A little too close to the bone?”
“Maybe.” But he couldn’t keep it up. “Nah, he did good. And so did you. I’m so proud of you, sweetheart. And I don’t know what you said to Deacon that got him to back off.”
She waved it off. “He reached out after the TikTok video went viral, and I saw an opportunity. Two birds, one puck. He’s agreed to let the issue with you drop.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
She placed a hand on his chest. “Just like you didn’t have to support me. But you did. Because you’re the kindest, most generous, most decent guy I know. Beautiful, inside and out. You had my back from the beginning, Bast, and if I can do this one small thing for you, I will.”
It was no small thing, and she had to know it. Keeping his feelings in was so hard … which meant that maybe he shouldn’t. Maybe he should open his heart. “You’re fucking amazing, you know that?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I’m starting to see that maybe I’m not such a disaster after all. Did you talk to Reid?”
“Yeah. It was good to get it out there. You were right. I’d been holding onto the resentment about the injury, how it changed my relationship with Reid. He was hurt, but he got it. I don’t want to lie to him anymore. I don’t want to lie to anyone.” He searched her face. “That includes you, Pepper.”