Page 5 of Mister Hockey
“Wait. You two are sisters?” Incredulity infused his syllables.
“Affirmative.” Neve looped an arm around her waist. “Born eleven and a half months apart.” And they were night and day. Neve defined dainty, at least on the surface. Although she was a former figure skater who’d followed in the footsteps of their mother, she held a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu. These days she took down dudes twice her body weight during weekly sparring sessions.
Breezy had a black belt too, hers just happened to be in bookworming. July had barely started and already she’d logged one hundred and sixty books on Goodreads, well on track to surpass her year-end goal of two hundred. Neve had inky hair, strong brows and a wide sulky mouth. Breezy was a placid dairy cow in comparison, big-eyed and big-boned. Not blonde enough to have more fun, nor sleekly brown enough to classify as an elegant brunette.
“I’m the big sister,” Neve deadpanned the long-standing joke as the top of her head scrapped Breezy’s shoulder.
Breezy licked her dry lips, fighting to remember how to put the English language into usable sentences. “So, um, Jed. What brings you here?” Yes. Good. A perfectly safe,normalquestion. Way better than “Mind if I step closer to better assess the nuances of your scent?”
“Heard you’re in the market for a reader.” His deep rumble was a chisel striking granite. The vibrations thrummed to her bones. “We stopped in the kid section to grab a book. Want to vet my choice?”
What she wanted to do was gather each of his words like a precious bloom, build a bouquet and hug it to her chest then skip through sun-dappled meadows. Her sister had pulled off the coup of the century–Dear, darling Neve, currently sporting a bemusedyou’re being a giant idiotexpression.
“Nah, as long as it’s notThe Giving Treeyou’ll be fine,” Breezy said, fighting to regroup.
Neve huffed a husky “Oh good God” under her breath and the hall went into rapid decompression, all available oxygen whizzing through invisible cracks.
But she wasn’t Neve of the quick comeback. Her tongue tied into a figure eight knot. “I... it’s... the message... not good. Bad.”
Great. Apparently she also took elocution lessons from Tarzan.
“I see.” The bewilderment on his face begged to differ.
“Terrific little getting-to-know-you, Breezy, but Jed doesn’t have all day andyouneed to get this show on the road.” Neve stepped in, saving her from more self-inflicted humiliation.
The next twenty-five minutes passed in a blur. The crowd who’d braved the terrible weather had murmured with disappointment when Breezy stepped to the podium and announced that Coach Tor wasn’t going to make the event after all. But the grumbles transformed into cries of delight as she announced the presence of Jed West. A mother in the back row praised, “Sweet Baby Jesus.”
Breezy gave an internal nod in solidarity.Amen, sister.
After Jed announced his reading choice, his gaze skimmed the crowd before landing on her, in the back corner, arms locked to her chest to keep her heart from jumping out of her rib cage. Her stomach constricted. Talk about a visceral stare. It felt as intimate as a private caress. She could have sworn that he winked, but yeah... right.
Earth to Breezy, come in, please.
Guys who looked like Jed West didn’t flirt with girls like her. By sixteen, her place in the social pecking order had been cemented. The friend. The funny one. The one packing junk in the trunk, who bought her own drinks at the club, and always got charged cover.
As if to confirm her theory, the moment vanished. He turned away, offering a view of his outrageously chiseled profile. The amount of scruff roughening the edge of his carved jaw was absolute perfection.
Opening the book, his rich velvety baritone imbued every cringe-worthy sentence with a sense of yearning and noble sacrifice. As he slowly flipped through the pages it was almost enough to convince her she’d been wrong to be such a hater.
“Guess this makes up for me forgetting your birthday for the past three years?” Neve leaned in beside her.
Breezy gave a giddy nod. “You get a pass for Christmas and birthdays forever more. Jed West is in my library. How did this happen?”
“What can I say?” Neve shrugged smugly. “Occupational perk.”
“Of course, let the record show that I had no idea you were interviewing him today.” Breezy leveled a bemused side eye. “That’s a pretty big skeleton to hide in your closet.”
“Way I saw it, I had two options if I fessed up.” Her sister stared back without a shred of shame. “One, leave you green with envy or two, wonder if you’d turn up and stalk us from a back booth at Zachary’s.”
“You watched him eat?” She bounced on her toes and clapped her hands. “Details, details. Was it perfect?”
“There was chewing. Mouthed closed.” Neve gave her chin a thoughtful rub. “Oh! He ordered orange juice. Fresh squeezed.”
“Eeep!” Breezy swallowed herself, after a muffled moan. “You know I love juice.”
“Guess you two are soul mates.” Neve used only a pinch of her usual sarcasm, a small smile played on the edges of her mouth. “Honestly, I’m thrilled to have gotten to do this for you.”
Wild applause broke out as Jed finished the last line of the book. It went on and on before eventually dwindling into an uncertain silence. Finally, he cleared his throat, seeking her out with a single raised brow. The implication was clear—what now?
