Page 28 of Hat Trick
Luca
Hat Trick is more pub than bar so when the boys wanted to go out and celebrate our win tonight, Carter convinced them to come here instead of our usual joint so Emily and Annie could come. Dressed in our suits, we're a spectacle next to the other casually dressed patrons, but we don't care. The Titans and their families sit around a handful of booths in a room just off the main part of the restaurant.
After Carter, Emily, Annie and Gabe are set up at a booth, I offer to run to the bar to get us drink. I wave down the bartender and place our drinks order before I feel a small, delicate hand run up my back. I smile, thinking it's Emily.
"Change your mind?" I ask, spinning around only to have my smile drop when it's not the woman I expected. The tall, rail thin, bottle blonde with too much makeup on in front of me is my one-time hook-up, Mandy. The rail thin fiery red head next to her is Tasha. My cheeks heat when I think about the fun the three of us have had in the past. I had appreciated their enthusiasm in the bedroom and how it had stayed there. They weren't interested in being the next Mrs. Tavares but they did love the bragging rights that came with fucking a professional hockey player.
Mandy's hand runs up and down the lapel of my suit while Tasha moves in on the other side, pressing her fake breasts against my arm. Their combined designer perfumes are overpowering and I have the urge to hold my breath.
"Ladies. Nice to see you again." I try to give them a professional smile but I'm not even sure I'm pulling it off. The bar top is behind me so unless I feel like tackling the two women in front of me, I have nowhere to go.
"You know my place is just around the corner. Feel like having a little fun tonight?" Mandy asks, giving me her sexiest smile. I frown, unsure how I ever found that attractive before. It's fake. Her hair color, her breasts, her sexy persona - all fake.
"Not tonight, ladies. I'm just out with some friends."
"What about after you're done? It's been soooo long." Tasha croons, pressing her entire front against me now.
"There you are, baby. I'm so sorry I'm late." My hand is grabbed by a much smaller one and I'm tugged between Tasha and Mandy into the waiting arms of...Emily. Emily presses a quick kiss to my lips and wraps me in a full body hug.
"Say 'bananas' if you want me to stop," she whispers in my ear. I'm stunned. I have no idea what's happening. All I know is I'd much rather be touching and kissing Emily than the two women now behind me. Emily pulls away slightly to take in my expression and give me a chance to safe word her? I think? Did she just give me a safe word? And that safe word is bananas? I keep my arms wrapped around her lower back, pressing her pelvis against me.
"You looked like you could use a rescue." She whispers smiling. My brain kicks in finally. I spin Emily to face them, but keep her tucked tightly against my side, my hand resting just over the swell of her hip. Mandy notices it immediately.
"Ah, yes. Mandy, Tasha, this is my girlfriend, Emily."
The transformation between the two puck bunnies is truly stunning to watch. Mandy crosses her arms against her chest, pressing her fake boobs even closer to her chin, while Tasha thrusts out a hip, unimpressed. Their fake, flirty personas completely replaced with ugly snarls and defensive postures.
Emily sticks out her hand and offers them a shake. They each take it in turn, offering a limp handshake that grosses even me out.
"We didn't hear anything about you dating anyone." Tasha pouts.
"Yes, well..." I falter.
"We didn't want the paparazzi as a third member of our relationship. We like to keep things quiet, don't we, baby?" She rests one hand on my chest and lets the fingers of the other play with the hair on the nape of my neck. Fuck, that feels good. I fight a whole body shudder. She turns back to the girls. "Old friends of Luca's?" She offers.
"Verygoodfriends of Luca's." Mandy replies, emphasizing the 'good' and trying to mark her territory. Shit, these women don't give up easily. Internally I cringe. I don't want Emily to have to deal with this shit. But before I can tell them to back off, Emily's already on the rebound.
"Oh, baby, how come you've never invited them back to the house? I'd love to have other women to talk to so it's not all hockey and video games all the time." I smile. This kitten has claws. In two sentences she's let the puck bunnies know that we live together and that she hangs out with my friends regularly.
"Never occurred to me." I say, laying an open mouthed kiss on the crook of her neck. Under my hand I can feel her shiver at the contact and I keep my lips on her skin, smiling.
"You two live together?" Tasha asks, incredulously.
Emily beams up at me like I've hung the moon. "For about four months, now, right?"
I nod. "Just after the season started"
"I'm so sorry girls, you know how forgetful he is during the season, since you're all such good friends." I smile again, loving this masterful performance, before nipping and kissing my way up her neck, just behind her ear.
Tasha huffs before grabbing Mandy's arm. "Let's go find someone else to talk to." Mandy lets Tasha tug her towards the rest of the hockey players, looking to find a more willing victim.
"Call us sometime? So we can all hang out?" Emily calls out at the girls' retreating frames.
I chuckle, shaking my head, before I sit on one of the bar stools and pull Emily between my legs, so she's half standing, half leaning against my lap. I keep my arms wrapped around her waist, though, loving the feel of her against me.
"Sorry about that. I could tell you were uncomfortable but I didn't know if you'd want to be seen in public with me."
"Why wouldn't I want to be seen with you in public?"
