Page 12 of For the Boys
Amelia sighed, her typical reaction when Berkley acted this way. “Berkley, c’mon. You’re a catch! You’re beautiful, and you know so much more about sports, especially hockey, than most guys I know. And you’re awesome to be around.”
“Plus you’re only a few months away from becoming a big hotshot lawyer,” Kimber added, tipping her glass of wine in Berkley’s direction in a toast.
“The only shitty thing about this is we have to wait to see if he’ll make a move on you,” Lexie said. “You know, since they’re out of town.”
Berkley thought about what it would be like to be seen at the bar with Brent Jean talking to her. The looks she would get from the angry girls and the jealous guys. His arm around her waist, grinning for the cameras that were bound to be pointing their way...
She must have had a daydream look in her eyes, because Lexie snapped her fingers in her face, thrust a glass of wine into her hand, and said, “Drink up!”
Berkley did as she was told.
Chapter Three
Brent
Brent exited the arena behind his teammates, stepping off the curb and boarding the idling bus that was ready and waiting to take them to dinner. While the arena itself was situated in downtown Nashville, the team management preferred they dine away from the masses. That had never really bothered Brent before, as they were allowed to do whatever they wanted after dinner, but Brent hated to admit this was one night he could use the distraction.
Although the team had won, he’d played like shit, and he knew exactly why.
Berkley Daniels.
He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her, which had affected his game play, and he hated that they were out of town so he couldn’t show up wherever she was. He wanted the opportunity to prove to her that he hadn’t reached out to her as a way to guilt her into thanking him. He actually wanted to get to know her, and he needed to tell her that, face to face.
The fact that she wasn’t falling all over herself to let him into her world only added to Brent’s intrigue. Of course, he didn’t know her that well, or at all really, but he liked what he saw. Based on the posse she always had at the bar, he gathered that she was incredibly outgoing. She loved to dance and preferred to hang out with her girlfriends instead of responding to the constant attention from guys. These were random things he noticed about her from afar, and he was desperate to learn more.
“Bro, you looked like shit tonight,” Cole said, bumping his shoulder when Brent sat down next to him on the bus.
“Thanks, Cole. That’s awfully sweet of you.”
Cole laughed. “Just keeping it real. What’s your deal, anyway?”
“Maybe I just had an off night.”
Mitch poked his large blond head over the seat behind Cole. “My guess is a girl.”
Brent grimaced. “No one asked you.”
Mitch grinned. “See? Definitely a girl. Tell Uncle Mitch about her, Jean.”
“Dude, we’re the same age.”
“That may be true, but I am much more emotionally mature than you are.”
Cole barked out a laugh, and Mitch turned on him. “Don’t even get me started on you, Reid.”
Now it was Brent’s turn to laugh. He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen, hoping Berkley had decided to message him after the game.
She hadn’t.
He sighed and slid it back into the pocket of his suit jacket.
“For real, Jean. You can’t be this spun out over a girl. Tell me what’s going on.”
Brent turned sideways in his seat, took a deep breath, and blurted, “Have you ever met someone and felt like they were the one?”
Cole turned toward him, eyes blinking slowly like an owl.
Brent watched as several emotions flitted across Mitch’s face—shock, confusion, concern, even envy—before finally settling on understanding. “I have not,” Mitch told him, “but I believe it’s a possibility.”
