Page 69 of Playing the Field
“The event tonight with my old company. I’ll know people there. And I feel like I’ll be judged.”
He studies me, nodding. “Your ex? The one who cost you yourjob?” Hunter grabs a green apple from the bowl on the counter and bites into it with a juicy crunch.
“Probably,” I say, trying to sound as though it’s not the focus of an hour of stress baking.
“That going to be okay?”
I nod, probably too enthusiastically. “Sure. I probably won’t even cross paths with him. Totally fine.” I wish my voice didn’t shake as I say the words.
Hunter puts an arm around me and pulls me close. “You’re better off without him. And better here with the Devils. You’re doing good work. Tonight is part of the job, nothing more. Fuck him.”
“I know. Thank you.” I nestle into him. “Any chance you’ll be there?”
“Nah. Most of the players aren’t going. Just a few for photo ops, I think. Apparently, Ashley thinks I’m too controversial. Or that I’ll send social media tongues wagging by doing something dumb.”
“Ha, well, she needs to get an updated idea of you.”
He rubs a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. Somehow, it looks even better. “Yeah, maybe. I’m not bothered.” He holds me away and assesses me. “You doing okay?”
“I am. Thank you. Get back to that book. You can probably finish it before training later.”
He kisses my cheek and shuffles back to his room, while I decide what to do with three dozen brownies. People at work will probably inhale them, so I start wrapping them up.
I pack a bag so I can change after work without coming back here. I don’t have a lot of fancy options, so I pull out my black dress. It’s slinkier and more revealing than anything I wore when Peter and I were together, but maybe that’s the point. I’m different now. If I have time after work, maybe I’ll stop by Sephora and have one of the women there do my makeup.
I want to look like I’m miles away from the plain nerd girl who lost her job over a mistake with a guy.
And then I want to come home to Hunter and show him how much I appreciate him. Maybe even surprise him with a healthy dinner I’ll cook myself. If I get the timing right, I can be at the event for an hour and still have enough time to cook before Hunter gets back. I assume he has training as usual, so I’ll ask him to meet me here after eight.
I text Kyler, knowing he’ll be able to voice text from the car, and ask him for cooking advice.
Me:SOS healthy vegetarian cooking help
Kyler: Assume you’re feeding Hunter?
Me: Yes. Please don’t make it weird
Kyler: Make something with pulses
Me: See? Weird
Kyler: Trust. Pulses
Me: Hold please while I look up WTF pulses are
Kyler: Haha. Beans. Lentils. Easy to make a one-pot dinner with some whole-grain bread and a berry bowl for dessert. Boom.
Me: That doesn’t sound delicious, but I’ll trust you
He sendsme a bookmarked list of recipes that makes my job easy, and one or two actually sound decent.
Later, I text Hunter and tell him the plan.
Me:Meet me at the house later? Anytime after 8
Hunter: Sure. Everything okay?
Me: Yes
