Page 23 of Offside and Off-Limits
He shakes his head. “Nah, I mean the move here to small town USA, away from the temptations of the big city.”
Being my long-time teammate and friend, Jamie is one of the few people in my inner circle, and I trust him implicitly. He was there for my partying days, when I would change the woman on my arm more often than I would change my socks, and he was there when that lifestyle lost its lure for me.
He knows I leapt at the chance to be on this newly minted NHL team for a bunch of reasons, but right there at the top of the list was to leave that world well and truly behind.
I take a seat on the bench and let out a breath. “You know my reasons for being here.”
“Yup.”
“And you know how much I need to reinvent myself.”
“Yup.”
“The thing is, I met a girl.” I twist my mouth as I wait for the inevitable to follow.
“What the heck? What are talking about? You met a girl? Have you learnednothing?”
And there it is.
“I know, I know,” I say with a shrug, my palms up. “But this one’s different. Trust me.”
“She’s got a long tail and green scales?”
“She’s still human, dude,” I say with a shake of my head.
“Go on. Spill. Who is she?”
“You know the social media manager for the team?”
“You mean the blonde? What’s her name? Claire?”
“Clara,” I correct. “Clara Johnson.”
“You’ve got a thing for someone we work with? Lennox—” he warns, but I cut him off.
“It’s not like that. I’m the new me. I’m not interested in some fling with the woman. I…like her.”
“Because she’s hot.”
“No. Because she’s funny and sassy and speaks her mind. I like that in a woman.”
“And she’s hot.”
“Okay. I admit, she’s hot. I’m a guy. Of course I’m gonna like that about her.”
He chews on his lip, assessing me.
“What are you thinking? You’re freaking me out right now.”
“I’m thinking that you’re a total freaking idiot. That’s what I’m thinking.”
“Don’t pussy foot around the topic, Captain,” I reply.
“Remind me because I’m not sure my memory serves me all that well on this, but didn’t you hook up with…let me think…the owner of the Blades’sdaughter?”
He’s right. I did do that. And it did not end well.
Misty was cute and fun and hot—of course—and she told meshe wanted a no-strings fling with what she called the “playboy” of the team. And stupid me, I thought she meant it. So, I did what most guys would do when they meet a hot woman promising a no-strings affair, and I went for it.
