Page 69 of Resist

Then Montgomery gave her box the same once-over. “You know this is the team’s box, right?”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. What the fuck did he think? She’d snuck in? “I’m aware.”

He waited for her to say more, but she didn’t owe this prick any explanations.

“You look good,” he said, his eyes traveling down her body in a way that made her skin crawl. “Really good.”

She didn’t respond to that creepy compliment. “Well. I’ll let you get back to your party.” She was in no mood to make small talk with the asshole.

Before she could step away, Montgomery quickly reached out, grasping her wrist. She gave his hand a very pointed look before shooting him a warning glance. Montgomery took the hint and released her.

“I was just thinking about you the other day,” he said.

“Cool,” she said dismissively, glancing over her shoulder, wondering if Erika would be able to understand if she shot her a “rescue me” look. They didn’t know each other well, but that look was pretty universal amongst women.

Unfortunately, Erika was talking to a couple of the wives of Stingrays players, the three women laughing as they stood near the snack table.

“How have you been?” Montgomery asked.

“Busy,” she replied, not bothering to look in his direction. She wondered how much longer before the second period began and they could all resume their seats to watch the game.

“Are you dating anyone?” he asked, looking around the box as if trying to decide if she was there with one of the men.

She whipped her head around, giving him a dirty look. “My personal life is none of your business.”

Montgomery gave her one of those condescending sighs meant to make her feel like she was being unreasonable. “I guess you’re still mad at me.”

“I’d have to give a shit about you to be mad,” she retorted. “I feel absolutely nothing for you.”

“I handled things badly, Ainsley,” he said in a voice that almost sounded sincere. “I was under a lot of stress at work and, well, I wasn’t exactly happy about Emma returning from overseas. The truth is, our parents are the ones who pushed the relationship between us, and it’s never been an easy one. That year she was gone was the first time I’d felt free in ages.”

Ainsley wasn’t sure why the hell he was telling her any of this. “Okay,” she said, because it seemed like the simplest reply. “Well, I should?—”

“Emma doesn’t get me. Not like you did.”

Ainsley couldn’t help but scoff. Was he fucking kidding her with this bullshit? “I promise I didn’t get you either.”

“But you did. Things were so easy with you. We had fun together,” he said, before leaning closer. “Especially in the bedroom. Emma is a prude when it comes to?—”

“This is a good place to end the conversation,” she hissed, fighting to keep control of her temper as well as the volume of her voice. There was no way Montgomery thought she’d go back to him after the cruel shit he said to her, did he? Did he also think she’d be sympathetic about his rich-bitch girlfriend not putting out?

“Ainsley, wait.” He reached out again but stopped just short of grabbing her arm. “I’m saying all of this wrong. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Letting you go was a big mistake, and I’d like to try to make it up to you if I could.”

“Are you asking me out?”

Her question was one of shock, not interest, but Montgomery interpreted it the wrong way. “We could go out for drinks, maybe dinner.”

Ainsley shook her head. “Aren’t you still dating Emma?”

“Well, yeah. But I’m planning to break things off soon.”

And she was going to start shooting lasers from her eyeballs. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Obviously, Montgomery was still operating under the assumption she was a gullible, easy fool.

“I’m not interested in going out with you,” she said, grateful when Coulton and his teammates returned to the ice.

“Ainsley, please. Just drinks. I’d love the chance to apologize.”

“You already did,” she said, cutting him off. She didn’t bother to say she hadn’t accepted it because she hadn’t, and she wouldn’t.

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