“You know, your whole tough guy act is really lowbrow,” Luke said. “But I guess it matches your cheap suit.”
Pretty sure he wouldn’t know a Brioni if I strangled him with it. Morrison was a walking example of how money couldn’t buy taste—or class. But whatever. Quibbling over designer clothing with him would be a waste of time. I wasn’t going to let him ruin my night. Or hers. So I would keep it on a leash for now. As long as he didn’t go near Bailey.
I drew in a breath, steadying myself. “Just be smart and steer clear of her. Neither of us wants a scene. After all, we’re here for the kids.”
“Exactly.” Luke smirked, taking another pull of his highball. “Even you wouldn’t be crass enough to start something tonight.”
“See, that’s where you’re confused,” I said. “I don’t start things. I finish them.”
He made a face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Fuck around and find out.” I turned, then, and strode toward my girl.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER 49
OceanofPDF.com
EXTRA LUCKY
Chase
My hope that the night would continue to go smoothly may have been unrealistic. First, my conversation with that lowlife Morrison, then Kristen ran smack into me. Literally. As I turned to leave the bar, she walked right into my chest. Given that I’d been standing there all along and I wasn’t exactly easy to miss, it was suspect.
“Kristen. Hey…” I took a step back to put some distance between us. Bailey was still at our table with her back turned to me, engrossed in a conversation with Shiv and Zoe. Where the hell was Penner?
She was making eyes at me—and I was trying hard to miss them. “How are you?” she purred.
“Good.” It was difficult, but I vowed I would make an effort to be civil. “You?”
“Great.” She took a sip of her drink, wrapping her cherry-red lips around the straw in a way that was intended to be suggestive and made me infinitely more uneasy.
“So, you and Penner, huh? Good for you guys.” Penner was a decent enough guy, which probably meant she’d eat him alive. I thought about warning him, but he probably wouldn’t listen anyway, and getting involved like that had the potential to stir up drama I didn’t need. Easier to steer clear of that tire fire in the making altogether.
Kristen glanced over to where he was standing with a group of guys from our team. Her face was impassive. “Yeah, I guess he’s all right.”
Damn, that was cold. Considering he brought her as his date tonight, I hoped she at least liked him a little.
“How are things with your girlfriend? Hailey?” Her arched brows knit together. “Kailey?”
“Bailey,” I said, for the millionth time. “They’re great.”
A frown glanced across her face, and she quickly forced a bland smile. “Oh, that’s nice.”
There was an awkward pause. It was uncomfortable even for me, and I had a lofty threshold for feeling uncomfortable. It happened about as often as I was wrong, which was basically never.
Behind Kristen, Luke stood in front of his table with Paul and the other Bulldogs. His eyes were on us, and he watched for a beat, wearing a chilling expression. Great. That’s what I need—Morrison thinking I’m chatting up other chicks in front of Bailey.
Already in motion, I pivoted around Kristen. “I should get back with these drinks. See you later.” Unfortunately.
Mental note to kill Ty for putting them at our table.
By the time I finally returned to our table, Dallas and Ty were there too. Ty had his arm slung around Zoe’s chair while she and Siobhan were locked deep in conversation.
I set down our drinks and pulled out my chair, then sank down beside Bailey. Briefly, I wondered if she would ask me about my Morrison or Kristen run-ins.
“Thanks.” Bailey grabbed her vodka seven and took a sip. “I heard about the time you took a guy out without touching him.”
“You mean Paul?” Hopefully, that idiot would give a repeat performance when we played them in a couple of days.
“No,” Shiv said. “When you played the Blizzards last season and that guy trying to fight you slipped and bailed.”
I laughed. “Oh, yeah. That was awesome.” The guy speared me and skated away without being called for it. When I made a hit on him in response—which was a perfectly reasonable thing to do—he got salty and started a fight. But before we could actually throw down, he lost his balance, fell on the ice, and gave himself a concussion. I loved when people did my dirty work for me. Avoiding the fighting penalties was great too.
Bailey gave me a wry smile, shaking her head. “I always said you were devious, even before I met you.”
“I think you mean genius.”
Bailey huffed a soft laugh. From across the table, Dallas snorted and rolled his eyes but said nothing.
“Actually, I need to run to the bathroom.” Bailey stood and pushed her chair away. “Be right back.”
With Morrison here, I was half-tempted to escort her there, but that would probably be overkill. I would watch her from afar like a totally normal, not at all overprotective boyfriend would. As she weaved her way through the room, I scanned the crowd but couldn’t locate Morrison.
While I waited for Bailey to return, I turned away to talk to Ward for a moment. “What time do you want to take off?”
“Up to Shiv.” Dallas shrugged.
Ty nodded behind me. “Uh, pretty sure Greenfield is hitting on your girlfriend.”
I craned my neck, scanning the banquet hall in the dim glow of the crystal chandeliers. Off to the side, beside an artificial tree covered with twinkle lights, I spotted endless legs, long blond hair, and that dress I wanted to tear off later. Bailey was being chatted up by Mason Greenfield, power forward for the NHL’s Boston Storm.
He was sporting dark, slicked back hair, a ridiculously flashy, expensive suit, and a gold watch so big I could almost make out the time from across the room. A walking new money cliché designed to pull chicks which, frankly, worked most of the time. It was easy enough being a professional athlete; the window dressing was just gravy.
And yes, he was definitely hitting on Bailey. He was probably fully aware that she was here as someone else’s date—he just didn’t care. Greenfield had graduated from Boyd last spring, and he made me look like a fucking saint.
“Looks that way.”
Guess I wasn’t the only one who liked the way she looked in that little black dress.
“She thinks he’s being nice, doesn’t she?” Shiv murmured, watching them.
I took a sip of my beer. “Probably.”
Bailey told me she didn’t get hit on very often. But—my obvious bias aside—Bailey was attractive. She had long legs, gorgeous hair, a killer smile, captivating eyes. She was the whole package.
Then I spent more time with her and discovered that, more often than not, she didn’t realize when guys were trying to pick her up. She thought they were being friendly.
My beautiful, sweet, oblivious girlfriend.
“You gonna rescue her?” Dallas asked.
“I’ll give it a sec to see how this plays out.”
I didn’t want to be a helicopter boyfriend who got crazy jealous at every turn, even though, inwardly, I kind of was. Whether or not Bailey knew it, she attracted a lot of male attention. I didn’t love it, but at the end of the day, I trusted her. She would never cheat, and she could generally handle herself. The only time I intervened was with her creeper ex or when she looked uncomfortable.