In Your Wildest Dreams (Wildcat Hockey, #4)(26)

An image of Bridget pops into my head. It’s been more than two weeks since I gave her my number and I haven’t heard from her. That’s probably my sign to move on, as much as I don’t want to.

“Yep.” He runs a tattooed hand through his dark hair. Maybe I need some new ink. I’ve been wanting to get something on my forearm or maybe across the top of my hand.

“Who is she?” Leo asks. Like a good friend, he squares off with Mav to make sure he’s not trying to set me up with some weird rando.

“She’s Dakota’s doula,” he says, mentioning his wife. They’re expecting their first baby.

“I’m sorry, a what?” I ask, even more skeptical.

“It’s like a doctor who delivers babies,” Mav says.

“That’s an obstetrician or midwife,” Leo clarifies. “A doula is more like a coach. They give emotional support during the pregnancy.”

“Yeah, that sounds right.” Mav snaps his fingers and points at Leo. “Pregnancy coach. She sends Dakota these really supportive texts about listening to her body and eating nutritious food, which pisses Kota off, but I swear Harmony is magic because my wife does everything she says.”

“Scarlett and I met with one of those when she was figuring out her birth plan, but they mostly just asked her how she was feeling and talked about her fears and shit.”

The guys continue going back and forth. Even Declan pipes in at some point. What in the world is happening?

“Can we get back to me? Not that I don’t want to hear about your wives shooting out babies and all that.”

Mav laughs good-naturedly. “She’s cool, pretty, single, and she’s coming to Wild’s after the game tonight. You’re welcome.”

Jack walks into the locker room, fresh off the ice, and takes a seat next to me. “Just heard, sorry, man.”

“One more week,” I say more to myself than him. Hopefully. And because I don’t want to talk about my shoulder, I add, “And Maverick wants to set me up with his wife’s pregnancy coach.”

Jack’s brows rise, then his gaze slides over to Maverick.

“It’s a real job. She’s cool. You’ll all see tonight.”

“Wait, wait. Tonight?” Jack asks, sitting forward.

“Yeah, she’s coming to Wild’s after the game. Is Meredith coming?”

“Yeah, and she’s bringing her friend Kennedy for Ash.”

“You both set him up on the same night?” Declan covers his smile with a fist over his mouth. “Oh man, and to think I was going to skip the bar after the game tonight.”

I side-eye my buddy. “What in the hell?”

“She’s really cool,” Jack says. “She does PR for the Twins. And she doesn’t know we’re setting her up, so don’t say anything.”

“I don’t need any help picking up girls.”

“Says the guy that hasn’t been out with one in…” Tyler trails off.

“I admit, it’s been a bit, but I’ve been a little preoccupied.”

Leo snickers. “And by preoccupied he means sitting around feeling sorry for himself while binge-watching Ted Lasso for the millionth time.”

“It’s the greatest show of our time!”

They all chuckle.

Something loosens in my chest, sitting here, going back and forth with my teammates. Fuck, I’ve missed this. Weeks of not traveling or practicing with them, and I’d forgotten how much this part of the game means to me. Playing hockey is my first love, but these guys are a close second.

“What are we going to do about Harmony and Kennedy?” Maverick asks.

“Harmony? You want to set him up with a girl named Harmony?” Jack scoffs.

“Didn’t you date a girl named Denim a few months ago?” Declan asks him.

“One date.” He cracks a smile. “And no, she did not wear denim on our date. In fact, she made it a point to let me know she never wears denim.”

“Riveting stuff. Hard to imagine why you only went out once,” Ty quips.

“I like the name Harmony,” Maverick says. “It’s very Zen. And Ash being all deep and shit, I thought he’d appreciate it.”

“I don’t care about names. Although admittedly I’d have a hard time telling people I was dating someone named Denim. But I can’t go on a date with two girls at the same time.”

“Meredith and Kennedy won’t be at Wild’s until eleven or so. They have some fashion event beforehand,” Jack says.

“Meredith isn’t coming to the game?” I ask him.

“Nah.” He shakes his head like it’s no big deal. Maybe it’s too soon for that kind of thing, what do I know. I’ve only met Jack’s newest girl once at the party he threw for her at his house. She seemed all right.

Mav crosses both tattooed arms over his chest. “Harmony already mentioned she had to get home early tonight for an early client meeting, so I think with some careful seating, we can pull this off.”

“I don’t know…” Even if I’m not the one that set up these meetings, it feels wrong to hang with two different women back-to-back.

“You gotta get back out there,” Jack insists. “What’s the harm in meeting one super cool chick and a random weird one that Maverick found for you?”