Page 5 of Wilder Puck
I grin, probably red in the face. His eyes look between the both of us. “Oh, you two haven’t met yet. Addie, this is Hailey. Addison.”
I nod, looking over my shoulder at her. “Yeah, we were catching up.”
She flashes a fake tight smile.
Ryan has his shirt and jacket over his shoulder as he sips my coffee with a bright smile. I catch a quick glimpse of his abs, which he claims is always best in the morning. Hell, he’s evenasked me to judge them. I gave him a nonchalant ten. He claims his physique has nothing to do with hockey and everything to do with the gym.Hot girl fit.
“I also brought this.” I nudge the paper bag that was burning my fingers when I walked in here.
Ryan glances at the croissant with stars in his eyes, even though I’ve eaten half of it. It’s agreed that we share half because who needs the full thing before a run? Not us.
“You just couldn’t help yourself, huh?” Ryan cocks his head at me. “Here I had Hailey making us homemade coffee.” Hailey’s mouth drops as he continues, “But she spilled it all over me, so thankfully you pulled through.” Now Hailey’s face is priceless. If I was a bitter bitch, I would be eating this up. But right now, I feel bad for her. I can see how I’m the threat here, especially when he’s talking about her like she isn’t standing right there. She’s suddenly the third wheel. Unfortunately, all his relationships have been this way. As I said, Ryan is loyal to his friends. And I am his friend.
He tosses the donut into the other hand and pecks my cheek in a platonic way. I kiss his cheek back, well, technically the air as I touch his bare shoulder. He glances at Hailey while eating the donut. “Want a bite? Only a bite though because we split it half and half.”
“Do you split the coffee too?” Hailey scowls.
Ryan shrugs, looking over at me. “We could, but this is all mine. She can make her own.”
“I did take a sip,” I admit with big eyes. “Or two.”
He pushes my head as I laugh.He would do the same to his sister. Careful there, Hailey.Her stare is murdering me. She could punch me right now. She looks like she wants to blast me as far away from Ryan as possible.
“Oh, please, like you don’t take sips from mine.”
Ryan grabs my cup and gulps. I ignore Hailey as I try to get my cup back. She looks sick to her stomach once I get my cup back.
“You have a double this morning? Everything alright?” Ryan asks.
I nod, even though I’m lying. Sort of. Ryan can’t know that me and my boyfriend of three months broke up last night. Okay, that’s a bit dramatic. He can know, but I don’t feel like answering the flood of questions that comes with him knowing. I need to hit the ground running without having to explain what happened in detail.
Ryan sips his coffee and says, “Maybe get more sleep next time.”
I click my tongue, snap my finger, and wink at him. “I could if–”
Hailey cuts me off. “Are you seriously about to go for a run?”
Ryan is now putting on his running clothes. He looks ready to go. “Yeah,” he says, finishing off his coffee and donut.
Hailey scoffs, watching him closely. “Is this why I’m not allowed to stay on Sunday nights? I thought you had work!”
It sounds like I shouldn’t be here for this conversation.
“That’s true,” he says, looking over at me withsave-meeyes.
Don’t give me those eyes, I stare back at him. Is he seriously asking me to save him right now? No way I’m going to. This is his girlfriend, his relationship, and I know better than to say anything. The second I try to walk away, Ryan says to me, “You’re not going anywhere.”
That’s when Hailey starts mouthing off to Ryan.
I tune both of them out because I feel so incredibly awkward. I could stick my head underground. I wish Ryanwould have let me walk away. They start bickering, and I’m pretending that I’m no longer in this room.
Chapter 2
The Nice Guyis how most people describe me. But Baddie? She calls me a people pleaser. This is an inside joke between us now. She points it out all the time. She first called me out in the middle of training Ace who’s a year younger than me to be a better goaltender. And once upon a time when I coached the children’s hockey team, I allowed their younger siblings to join in without paying for the session. I tell Addie that it’s my joy to go above and beyond. She thinks I’m a pushover.
“But I can’t say no,” Addie will always mock me.
Either way, she’s come to terms that it’s just the way that I am. And she’s protective of my time and energy. Unlike myself, she has a clearer view of the world. Most times she’s accurate when someone is taking advantage of me. I don’t waste my time worrying about other’s intentions because I only focus on mine. Help others without expecting it in return. A great motto for a first responder, am I right? Well, that’s a pipe dream. My father would never let me throw away my natural talent and skill for some 9 to 5. Hockey isn’t a forever kind of thing anyway, so I’m here for the ride. Err, not the ride. It sounds like I’m coastingalong. This hockey career is hard work, and I would never discredit all I’ve done to become Ryan Wilder, the China Wall goaltender of the NHL’s Seven Devils. I busted my ass since I was a little kid to be here.
