Page 119 of Meet Your Match
“I can’t believe Carter got sent down,” I said.
Maven frowned, following my gaze. “I can’t either. But he said this is par for the course with rookies. And who knows, he could come back, right?”
“He’ll be back,” I said with conviction I truly felt.
Carter had been sent down to the AHL in March, just in time to help them with their playoffs. For now, that’swhere he was staying. Just because he wasn’t knocking socks off here in the NHL didn’t mean he wasn’t a great center. It was just hard to compete with the veterans, and he needed a little more work to level up. I knew he’d take the time to get better, but it didn’t make my chest hurt any less at the thought of him not being around. We’d gone through rookie camp together, our rookie party, and the first decent season Tampa had secured in more than a decade.
He was like my annoying little brother and one of my best friends rolled into one. It wasn’t going to be the same without him.
But he’d be back.
And we’d welcome him with open arms and a long night at Boomer’s when the time came.
Shaking the thought off, I pulled Maven back into my arms, smiling as she squinted up at me with one hand shielding her eyes from the sun.
“I’m proud of you,” I said.
She beamed, standing a little taller. “Thank you.”
“And I’m excited for tonight.”
“What’s tonight?”
“Our first real date.”
She laughed. “Is that so? What, you don’t count the yacht in Baltimore?”
“No more than the dinner date I crashed when you were with that real estate prick.”
“Hey, he was nice,” she said on a laugh.
“Oh, is that what you want?” I asked, tickling her ribs as I nibbled at her ear. “Anice guy?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t be with you.”
“Ouch,” I said, covering my chest like she’d wounded me. But then I smirked and pulled her in again. “I’ll show you just howniceI can be tonight.”
“Hmm… you might have to wait.”
“Why is that?”
She pressed up on her toes so she could whisper in my ear, the feel of it making me wish we were alone.
“I don’t put out on the first date.”
I bit my lip on a grin, making sure no one was watching before I smacked her ass. “We’ll see about that.”
CHAPTER 38
WE MAKE THE RULES
Maven
June
We boarded the party bus to the roar of two-dozen rowdy teammates, all of them chanting Vince’s name as he hoisted the Calder Trophy high over his head in victory. I laughed as he propped his foot on the first bus seat and did a ridiculous twerk and body roll with the trophy, but it only made his teammates get even crazier.
The NHL Awards had been hosted in Austin, Texas, and the entire team had flown out with Vince on the nominee list for the Rookie of the Year. When he’d won, we’d blown the roof off the place, and Jaxson revealed that he’d already booked us an afterparty.
