Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
People I would ordinarily forget if the men weren’t all so ridiculously good looking with unique names.
Dax, Bishop, Legend.
All the men bro hug it out, clearly very good friends.
When we make it to the backyard, there’s a beautiful arbor set at one end with white roses and lush greenery draping every inch in a gorgeous cascade down the sides. Several rows of white chairs are split with a white carpeted aisle down the center.
As Aaron leads me over to choose where we’ll sit, I can’t help but come to a complete stop by the… well, not sure what the hell it is.
Aaron’s gaze turns to follow mine. “Want to see it up close?”
It’s set on a table covered in white linen. Silver rings stacked on top of each other, about three feet high, with a bowl on top.
“What exactly is it?” I ask hesitantly, but I think I know what it is. I may not be a sports aficionado, but I do watch the news, which unfortunately does come with a few minutes of sports recaps each night.
“Do you watch hockey at all?” Aaron asks. I twist my neck to look up at him. “It’s the Cup. The hockey championship trophy and each player on the winning team gets it for twenty-four hours. Erik chose to have it at his wedding.”
My eyes go round as I realize why his friends Erik and Blue are rich. He’s a professional athlete.
“Erik’s a member of the Vengeance?” I ask.
Like I said, I watch the news so I very well know we have our own hockey team that came to town last year. Not that I’ve ever watched a game, but I know they are an incredible source of pride to our city.
“He is,” Aaron replies, watching me carefully.
Then it starts to dawn on me. “And the other guys you introduced me to?”
“All players on the team,” he replies.
And then I have an aha moment. “And you?”
“First-line defenseman, at your service.”
I don’t know what that means, but my heart immediately sinks. In the few moments since we arrived, I had been moderately charmed by Aaron and had thought this wouldn’t be such a bad date.
But he’s a professional athlete, not a part-time jock as I’d thought.
Famous.
And with that comes a whole slew of complications I have absolutely no desire to be embroiled within.
Whatever expression has just come unbidden to my face, Aaron sees it and immediately frowns. “You have something against hockey players?”
“Not per se,” I reply truthfully. “I mean… I had a vibe you were a jock. I just didn’t realize you were a…”
I struggle to find the right words. Aaron waits patiently.
Shrugging, I say, “A jocky jock.”
“That’s not even a thing,” he scoffs, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
“It’s a thing,” I say assuredly.
“But it’s a problem?” he presses, his hand reaching out to take mine again. “Because I can assure you that you’re safe with me.”
I shake my head, plastering on a confident smile to put him at ease because I most certainly don’t want to talk about my anxieties. Internally, I’m incredibly uncomfortable right now, but I’m not about to let him know it. All I have to do is suffer through this evening and one more wedding next weekend, then I can safely put Aaron Wylde and his fame behind me.
“No, it’s fine,” I assure him, but I’m not sure how truthful it sounds. “Just caught me by surprise.”
♦
It’s turned into quite the party—this wedding reception—and while I don’t know much about professional sports teams, I can tell it goes far beyond just being a job for these people.
They’re all legitimately close to each other, which is saying something given there’s twenty-three men on the active roster. Aaron shared that little tidbit with me when I kept meeting player after player and finally asked him how many there were.
He’d laughed—telling me it was adorable how little I knew about the sport. He wasn’t surprised, though, telling me that I was not alone. There were lots of people who didn’t know a damn thing about hockey, but he was more than happy to teach me whatever I wanted to know.
There was enough double-entendre in that statement I knew he was alluding to other things, and, admittedly, I had a brief moment of regret this was going nowhere because—outside of being famous, rich, and most likely egotistical to the core when drilled deep—he was singularly the most attractive man I’d ever been on a date with.
Not just in the looks department, although his are unparalleled, but he’s clearly well-read as we actually spent some of the evening talking books. He’s funny as well, which is something I appreciate—no, require—in the opposite sex. I’ve learned through all kinds of pain and heartbreak that laughter is the key to leading a happy life when all else fails.