In Your Wildest Dreams (Wildcat Hockey, #4)(19)

“She’s cool.”

“And super hot?”

His lips curl into a smile. “Yeah, that too.”

“Wow. You don’t mess around. You left the hospital late, somehow met a chick and got to know her well enough to throw her a party?”

“Ha ha. It’s not a big deal. I asked her to go out next weekend and then when she said it was her birthday, I asked what she wanted to do. She said to keep it simple.”

“And you thought throwing a party with all your teammates was keeping it simple?”

“She’s new to town and doesn’t know that many people. I repeat, not a big deal.”

“I can’t wait to meet her. The great Jack Wyld may have finally met his match.”

“Let’s not get carried away. Saturday night, eight o’clock, bring a date if you can find one.”

“Maybe I’ll ask Bridget.”

“Yeah, text her…oh, wait. You can’t because you somehow didn’t get her number.”

I give the finger to his back as he jogs toward his car.

“Thanks for everything, asshole,” I call out.

He opens the car door with a smirk on his face. “See you in a week. Try to shower before then, my car stinks like sweat and hospital food.”

I shake my head as I go back inside. God, he’s a pain in the ass.





The days go by in a crawl while the team is on the road. They played in Nashville, then New York, and tonight they’re in Toronto.

I’m just sitting down in front of the TV for the opening face-off when there’s a knock at the door, followed by Everly’s voice. “Ash? Are you home?”

“In the living room,” I call.

A few second later, three women walk in and give me the same pitying, hopeful look.

“We brought snacks,” Scarlett says. She’s holding a platter of cookies in one hand and Callum in the other.

“And wine.” Jade, Declan’s wife, holds up two bottles—a red and a white.

Ev plops down beside me. “We’re here to make sure you aren’t moping around.”

“There’s food in the kitchen,” I say and motion with one hand for Scarlett to give me Callum. “I ordered those little pretzel bite things you like, Jade.”

“With cheese?” Her eyes light up and she hugs the wine bottles to her chest.

“Of course.”

She takes off to the kitchen.

“Did Leo tell you we were coming?” Scarlett carefully places her sleeping baby on my right side. He squirms a bit, but then goes limp against my chest.

“Nah, but it’s been almost twenty-four hours since any of you stopped by, so I figured there was a good chance you were going to do a group attack to watch the game.”

“You do have the best TV.” Scarlett takes a seat in a chair next to the couch and gives the giant screen her attention. “They have to win tonight.”

“They will.” Jade returns with three glasses of wine. She gives one to Scarlett, puts mine on the coffee table in front of me, and takes a seat with hers.

“Where’s mine?” Ev asks.

I make a sound like a buzzer. “I’m gonna need to see some identification first, young lady. You don’t look twenty-one.”

“I’ll be twenty in a month.”

“Then in thirteen more months, you can drink my booze,” Jade says with a playful wink.

The game starts and the four of us watch, screaming when the other team gets a power play goal and cheering when Leo scores. At the first intermission, Jade and Scarlett disappear into the kitchen.

“You look pretty good with a baby,” Ev says, leaning forward and taking a sip of my wine before I can stop her. “Eww. That’s gross.”

I swipe the glass and drain the rest of it. Wine isn’t really my go-to, but it’s not bad.

“It’s a little sweet,” I admit, slowly leaning forward to set it back on the coffee table without waking Callum. “How’ve you been?”

“Okay. School is harder this year. I need a tutor in just about every subject.”

“It’s that bad?”

“Nearly. I had to stop going out on weekdays to stay home and study. Bleh.”

I chuckle softly. “You poor thing.”

She sticks her tongue out at me. “But Grace and I are loving the new place. You need to come by and see it. It’s so cute. I’m pretty sure Ty is renting it to us at a steal, but I love it too much to protest too loudly. When he and Piper have kids, I’m gonna owe them so much free babysitting.”

Her brother bought a house near campus for Everly to live in while she’s going to college.

“He’s happy to do it, and real estate near Whittaker is smart.”

“I guess so. It’s a three-bedroom, so Grace is going to ask her cousin if she wants to move in. Or we’re going to turn it into one giant closet.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket. Little Callum, who’s slept through everything else, protests swiftly and loudly.

“Uh-oh.” Everly reaches over and takes him from me. She holds him away from her body like she’s scared of him while I dig my phone out. I scowl at the message.

“I’m guessing by your expression that it isn’t from the nurse.”