Tripping (Iced #2) - Kristine Allen Page 0,6

surprise, wondering what she did for a living. It never came up last night. Her friend, on the other hand, was very talkative. I knew he owned a payday loan company with his mother and made a killing. His father had an investment company that I thought about checking out because he said his dad used to play hockey in college but wasn’t good enough to keep going.

I’d done some investing with a company that I had no loyalty to or affiliation with, so I was open to other options. If the dude used to play hockey, all the better.

I drove to the arena with a certain redhead first and foremost in my thoughts.

“McGregor, you end up going home with that ginger?” Jericho asked as I was getting dressed.

He’d been at the pub last night with me and our goaltender, Jordan Beck, but left early. I tossed him a disinterested glance, then shrugged.

For some reason I didn’t want to discuss Bleu with him or anyone else. Not because I was embarrassed that we didn’t fuck, but because I didn’t want to share her.

Weird.

Jordan and Jericho shared a glance I couldn’t interpret but stayed silent.

Our workout was pretty laid back, since most of us had gone out after the game and we were technically on break. My family would be here tomorrow for Alex’s wedding. Shit. How was I going to explain Bleu to them? I hadn’t thought things through when I’d invited her.

They had insisted on getting a rental car and driving straight to Sydney’s parents’ place because they didn’t want to risk I’d be late. Which meant I wouldn’t have a chance to fill them in ahead of time unless I told them over the phone. Problem with that was that my mom was going to read more into it than there was. I’d rather talk to them in person.

On my way home, I called Alex, hoping I wasn’t interrupting his family shit before the big event.

“Hey,” Alex answered, sounding subdued.

“Everything okay?” I asked him. Since he’d been traded to us at the end of last season, he and I had gotten pretty close. He was a cool guy and a helluva player, which made him easy to like. Of course, I liked pretty much everyone. What can I say? I was an affable guy.

“Yeah, it’s just getting real, man.” He sounded harried.

“Regrets?”

“None. Just wish I could’ve given her a big wedding and all that,” he said with a sigh.

“That what she said she wanted?” Sydney didn’t seem like a pomp and circumstance kind of chick.

“No. Just me. I guess I’m wishing I could give her more.”

“Dude. She’s over the moon for you. I doubt she cares if you two simply went to Vegas.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I know I’m right. Besides, you guys can have some big ten-year celebration and do the big wedding, if she wants. Or we can plan a big party after the end of the season.”

“True,” the sappy fucker said with a smile in his voice.

“Anyway, I called to see if it was too late to bring a plus-one tomorrow,” I said as I watched the traffic crawl along. His response was silence for a good long minute.

“Um, sure? But this is my wedding, bro. Please make sure she dresses tastefully?”

Part of me was hurt that he thought I’d bring some puck bunny to his wedding. Then I realized he’d never seen me with anything but, so it was a fair assumption.

“Trust me when I tell you, she’ll be the epitome of class,” I said with a grin as I imagined Bleu by my side.

“Slide”—The Goo Goo Dolls

“How the hell did I let this guy talk me into this?” I muttered as I tried my damnedest to tame my hair. It takes a lot of freaking product to do that. I’d gone for a half updo to keep my hair out of my face and allowed the curls to cascade as they would.

“Because he’s a sexy-ass motherfucker! Helloooooo!” Sergio said through my phone speaker. I rolled my eyes.

“But he’s a hockey player, Sergio!” I argued.

I heard his sigh before he took a deep breath. “Bleu, sweetheart, they aren’t all the same. You can’t judge them as if they are, you know.”

“But all the ones I ever knew were absolute dickfaces,” I muttered.

“Dick. Faces. Girl, we need to work on your cussing insults.” It was impossible not to giggle at Sergio’s assessment. He’d always been able to improve my mood, even when I really didn’t want