Hard Checked (Ice Kings #4) - Stacey Lynn Page 0,35
not ending until almost three in the morning. The lawyers… which I end up confirming right before one of them paid their tab and took the fifty bucks from Steve happily… are throwing on suit coats and draining the dredges of their last beers when the door opens.
“It’s late, boys,” my dad calls out which grabs my attention to the newcomers.
A quick glance at my phone tells me it’s after midnight, which means it is really late. Usually that’s cause for concern. No one starts drinking that late… typically, they come from other places where they’ve either been kicked out or ran out of their own alcohol and too drunk to drive far.
“Never too late for us, is it?”
I recognize that voice. It’s booming, loud, and friendly. My dad’s friendly opener to them should have been my giveaway.
I crane my neck around two of the guys in suits who are sloppily trying to fix their collars and sleeves and see the guys who have walked in.
Sebastian. Jason.
They’re here.
Why are they here?
I’m still leaning back in the stool, both hands gripping the bar when they both spot me and for the first time I inwardly cringe at what I’m wearing.
I look like I’m in my pajamas and they’re dressed in fancy suits.
Of course they are. They probably just hopped off a plane… but why are they here?
“Hey George, Steve.” Jason lifts a hand and says something to Sebastian who nods.
He heads my way and lifts his hand and says my name in passing as he heads toward the back.
“Hey,” I say to Sebastian. For some strange reason, my arms are trembling. I rub them quickly and he follows my movements.
“Cold?”
“Oh. Um. No.”
Warming by the moment with him standing close to me, waiting at the bar while Dad finishes the tabs. “How are you?”
“All right.” One side of his lips curl beneath his beard that’s longer now than it was weeks ago but still nicely groomed. “No. That’s a lie. I’m pretty shitty.”
“Saw your game tonight.”
“Yeah?” I swear that lip curl turns into a smirk. “You watched?”
I point at the television behind the bar that’s now running hockey highlights of all the night’s games. “It’s what Dad had on when I got here.”
“Hmm.”
Dad comes over and Sebastian orders a couple of drinks, brews from Dream Chasers Brewery, a local brewery less than ten miles away. As he takes one, he turns so he’s facing me and then that smile I swear I saw behind his beard grows more noticeable behind his thick hair.
“Nice hair,” he says, and gives my bun a quick tug. “I like the new color. Teal matches my jersey.”
Had I been drinking my soda, I would have sprayed it all over his dress shirt. A furious heat rushes to my throat, up to my cheeks. “I wasn’t aware when I did it.”
That smile falters and his head cocks to the side. “Not a fan of the Ice Kings?”
He’s teasing me. Wow. I haven’t seen the side of him before. My body is still flushed with a strange, unsettling heat that feels like needle pricks deep in my pores.
Sebastian Hendrix is teasing me. Not scowling. Not being rude.
My mind cannot compute this.
“Not really,” I tease back. “Although I think maybe one or two don’t completely suck.”
He shakes his head as soft laughter falls from him. It’s so deep, so beautiful with a bit of gravel to it I almost fall right off my stool.
This is what Sebastian sounds like when he laughs and I want to hear it every day.
“You played well tonight.”
His laugh dims and whatever spark was in his eyes evaporates when he sips his beer.
“Wasn’t my best, but it’s been a hard week.”
I don’t ask why he missed the game. It’s none of my business. Reminding myself of that doesn’t help. The question is burning the tip of my tongue so badly I take a sip of my soda to wash it away.
“Hey Gigi!” Jason calls, sliding up next to Sebastian and grabbing his drink. He gives him a quick thanks, man before tugging on my hair like Sebastian did. “Nice hair. I like it. You working tonight?”
In ripped-up sweats looking like I just pulled them from a balled-up corner of my floor? Which, let’s be honest, that’s definitely where they came from.
“Night off, just came down to hang with Dad.”
“And watch our game,” Sebastian cuts in. “She likes us.”
“Only one or two of you,” I repeat.
“Which one is it outside me?” Jason asks, nudging my shoulder.