The Sweet Talker (Boston Hawks Hockey #1) - Gina Azzi Page 0,35
my locker.
“Isn’t your family here?”
“Yeah. We’re grabbing a bite before I meet the team for drinks. Come with us,” he offers, the way he always does.
In the past, East and I would rarely join his family after games, knowing it was a nice opportunity for him to catch up with his parents and sisters. Plus, it was understood that East and I would grab a bite together too. But now, with Indy’s family living in Boston and East gone, the dinners have become less core family and it makes it easier for me to shrug and say, “Yeah, sure.”
“Let’s go.” Austin starts for the door, smacking Torsten on the back.
Torst glances up, his phone glued to his ear, his expression tight.
“See you at Taps?” Austin asks.
Torsten nods and shoots us a half grin but I can tell he’s stressed about something. I clasp his arm as I pass and his grin turns real.
“Hey Ryan, you coming?” Austin calls out to James.
James looks up and offers us a tight smile but shakes his head. “I have to get home.”
“Good game, man,” I say as I pass him. If I thought this year was hard for me, it’s been pure hell for James.
“I saw Indy sitting with the WAGs,” I say as we leave the arena. I liked seeing her up there more than I should. Because she wasn’t up there as my girl and for a second, a part of me wished she was.
Austin chuckles. “I bet Claire dragged her along. She’s on a mission to get Indy out in the world.”
“What do you mean?”
He glances at me over the hood of his car as he pulls open the driver’s side door. “The WAGs talk about real things happening in their lives.”
“Girl talk?” I ask skeptically, opening the passenger door.
Austin ducks and slides into the car and I follow. He flips the ignition.
“They talk about trips they’re planning and the best primary schools to enroll their kids. They talk about house hunting in Boston and sales that are happening at different boutiques. They talk about their own businesses and managing a business while moving…” He shrugs. “They talk about a lot of things that don’t involve being completely absorbed in some textbook espousing political theories. Moving here was the best thing my cousin did since going away to university after that asshat broke her heart. It finally got her to pull her nose from a book and stop studying all the time and enjoy life as it’s happening around her.”
The asshat that broke her heart. Jace Edwards.
“What was the deal with her and Jace anyway?” I ask, keeping my voice casual as I pull on my seatbelt.
“He played her the way he plays all the women in his life,” Austin answers, pulling out of the arena’s parking lot and pointing the car toward the restaurant. “I hate talking about a player’s personal life but Jace fucked with Indy’s head for a long time. Always tried to make her feel that his life, his priorities, hockey, and his career were so much more important than hers. I hated how he talked down to her, like what she was going to school for was stupid since she was going to end up with him and just follow him around from city to city so he could play hockey. Drove my uncle fucking nuts.”
I swallow past the angry lump forming in my throat. What a dick. I could see him doing it though. Jace Edwards has always been an entitled, arrogant, man-child. He acts like he’s God’s gift to hockey (he’s not), women (he’s definitely not), and life in general (what a joke).
“Didn’t she just kick him to the curb?” I ask.
Austin shakes his head, stopping at a red light. “I mean, eventually. But not until he really stripped down her self-esteem, made her question herself and her future, and then fucking cheated on her with another player’s fiancée.”
My hand tightens into a fist on my thigh. I fucking hate that Jace, that a guy like Jace, would cause Indy to question herself. I really hate that he cheated on her. And I absolutely abhor that it was with another player’s fiancée. That one hits too damn close to home.
Damn. What a piece of work.
“But she’s doing good here, in Boston?” I ask.
Austin narrows his eyes and swings his gaze toward mine. “What’s with all the questions?”