Page 50 of Lucky
A lovely black-haired, blue-eyed waif steps into me for a hug.“It’s so great to finally meet you,” she says.
Finally?What has Lucky been telling everyone?
“And I’m Tempe,” the other woman says and then also hugs me.I’m slightly dazzled by her honey-streaked hair and vivid green eyes.“I claim Rafferty, although sometimes I question my sanity on that.”
I’m immediately put at ease by her teasing.“It’s really nice to meet all of you.And you’re so nice to include me.”
“Girl… please,” Mazzy says with a wave of her hand.“We Titans women are closer than the men.This is where the real power lives.”Tempe and Mila nod in agreement.“I would say tell us all about you, but well… we know quite a bit already.”
I laugh.“TikTok.”
“There’s that,” she replies.“But Lucky talks about you too.We just adore him.”
“He’s quickly become the heart of this team,” Mila says.
“But let’s not discount what we can learn from TikTok,” Tempe chimes in.“I’m not around, so the only way I really know Lucky is through his social media posts.But you can tell… he’s genuine.”
That resonates with me.I don’t see Lucky as a professional hockey player first.No matter his star-studded life, he’s very much just… human.
But I’m curious.“Why aren’t you around?”
“I go to college in Virginia.I’m on spring break right now.”
“A long-distance relationship,” I murmur.“That must be tough.”
“It is… but we totally make it work.”
Mazzy snickers.“And it is work being on the arm of these guys.”
My head turns her way.“Hard work?”
“Fun work,” she counters with a sly grin.“The best kind of work.But I’m sure you’re figuring that out.”
I glance around the room, other women, men and kids hanging around, waiting for the players.They’re all leading unique lives attached to famous, wealthy professional athletes.They’ve all probably felt like me at one time or another.
And I realize… these ladies offer real-world advice.I turn back to Mazzy.“So, um… the team lost.And it kind of feels like I’m going to a funeral.”
Mila nods, her mouth drawn downward.“Everyone takes the losses hard.But the guys usually bounce back by morning.Let them sulk tonight.”
“Not sulking,” Tempe says with a laugh.“Processing.”
“Speak for your man.”Mazzy chortles.“Foster will sulk and I staunchly support his right to do it.”
“Even better,” Mila replies with a saucy grin, “be his distraction.”
Everyone laughs and I feel even more at ease.Mila, Mazzy and Tempe all tell me their origin stories but assure me I have the best meet-cute around.I’m not so sure about that.Rafferty walked up to Tempe as she stocked shelves in a grocery store, grabbed her and kissed her, and asked her to pretend to be his fake girlfriend to save him from some woman stalking him through the aisles.That sounds way funnier than the way Lucky and I met.
Before long, players start walking into the room and I watch as women hug men and kids latch onto their father’s legs in support.The guys wear tired, sometimes pained expressions and the gravity of it weighs on me.Lucky and I have had fun, carefree moments of laughs and jokes and… well, not anything overly serious.
And then… there he is.Walking in by himself, eyes searching the room.He seems to know where I am and locks on me in a way that weakens my knees.
Relief to see me there.A small but sad smile.An apology that the evening isn’t going to go the way we thought it would.
I see all of that in an instant, and I know I’m going to give him whatever he needs and it’s not as scary as I once thought.
His hair is damp, his jaw shadowed with stubble, and he’s wearing a suit but without the tie, collar open at the neck.His vine of four-leaf clovers peeks through and it’s sexy as hell.
“Hey,” he says, soft and direct as he reaches me.His hand touches my waist, his lips on my cheek.I’m acutely aware of Mila, Tempe and Mazzy staring.
