Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 90257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
It’s kind of enjoyable to knock her off balance.
I tilt my head as my gaze pins hers in place, silently daring her to argue. “Remember, we talked about it the other day? You agreed to hang out with the team tonight.”
A frown morphs across Maverick’s face. “Seriously?” Before she can respond, he fires off another question. “Since when do you party with the guys?”
“Umm…” Her mouth works a couple of times as panic flashes across her face. “I just thought…”
Watching her flounder has the corners of my lips lifting. This is a girl who usually has an answer for everything.
“We ran into each other at the library the other day, and I talked her into chilling with us after the game,” I reply easily.
When she remains silent, I prompt, “Isn’t that right?”
Her gaze remains pinned to mine as she swallows thickly. “Yes. We spoke at the library, and it sounded like fun.”
Maverick’s scowl deepens. “I don’t like it.”
Brody elbows his son in the ribs. “There’s nothing wrong with your sister hanging out with you tonight. Just think of it as a little McKinnon sibling bonding time.”
Maverick rolls his eyes. “What that really means is that I’ll have to keep an eye on her so no one gets ideas.”
“No need to worry about that,” I cut in. “She’ll be with me.”
“Guess we know how your night is gonna turn out,” he mutters under his breath.
The guy doesn’t have a clue. And that’s exactly the way it needs to stay. Mav would lose his shit if he found out what Juliette and I are up to.
“I guess we should take off then,” Natalie says.
All the parents agree to head over to the McKinnons’ for drinks.
In the chaos of the moment, Maverick pokes me in the chest. “You better keep a close eye on her. I don’t want her hooking up with any of these assholes. You know what they’re like.”
Yup, I do. And if she were my sibling, I’d feel the same way.
“I think your sister is more than capable of taking care of herself, don’t you?”
He grunts in answer before walking away.
Juliette hugs and kisses her parents, telling them that she’ll see them soon.
And then, it’s just the two of us.
She glances around the open space before her gaze reluctantly flickers to mine. It’s as if she’s trying to look everywhere but at me. Nervous energy radiates off her in thick, suffocating waves.
I’m not going to lie, it’s a little intoxicating.
Kind of like waving a red scarf in front of a bull.
“You ready to get moving?” I ask, making a concerted effort not to reach out and drag her into my arms.
“Do you really think this is a good idea?”
Fuck yeah. In fact, it’s the best damn one I’ve had in a while.
“Yup.”
“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?”
“It’s a surprise,” I say with a slow smile. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Before she can fire off any more questions or attempt to back out, I give in to temptation and step closer, wrapping my arm around her shoulders before steering us toward the exit.
CHAPTER 17
JULIETTE
The bar is packed to the gills when we arrive. The mountain of muscle acting as a bouncer takes one look at Ryder and waves him through the back door without bothering to glance my way. One step over the threshold and the loud music and boisterous voices hit me.
It’s standing room only.
After every game, the team heads over to Slap Shotz, a sports bar slash dive joint that caters to the Western Wildcats hockey team. I think the owner is an old player who apparently didn’t want to stop reliving his glory days. So, there are team photos dating back to the eighties dotting the walls along with sticks, jerseys, framed photos, and signed pucks.
I’ve been here a time or two.
All I have to say is that it’s not really my scene.
The music is cranked up way too loud and there are too many people crammed into a small space, making it feel borderline claustrophobic.
Not to mention, the floor beneath my shoes is sticky.
“Hey, Ryder,” a pretty blonde in a skimpy shirt calls out with a wave and toothy smile.
She’s exactly the kind of girl I’d expect Ryder to hook up with. I couldn’t be more—
Whoa.
I stop those thoughts in their proverbial tracks. It doesn’t matter what kind of girls Ryder normally takes home at the end of the night. All he’s doing is helping me tick off items on my bucket list. I need to keep that in mind and not pretend this is an actual relationship.
Ryder’s hand settles on my lower back as he steers me through the sea of people. More than half are decked out in team colors along with licensed shirts or jerseys. That’s when I notice how many have Ryder’s name and number proudly stamped across the front and back.