Page 30 of Any Second Now (Fort Collins Blizzard Hockey #2)
Just Hanging Out
ATTICUS
S omething’s shifted with Raleigh.
We’ve both settled into spending most of our days and nights with each other, acting as if we’re dating even though we haven’t labeled it.
But there’s also the unspoken.
Less than four weeks left in her sabbatical.
The fact that I’m a professional hockey player in the offseason.
Her ex-husband.
Especially that.
I asked her how she felt about the flowers the day after she received them, and she just shrugged it off, like it wasn’t a big deal that her ex keeps trying to win her back and that he knows exactly where she is.
I didn’t push it. I should’ve stayed and talked to her about it when it happened. It was too late the day after.
“Want to get a drink or ice cream?” I ask, my arm slung over her shoulders. Raleigh’s leaning into me and we’re walking perfectly in step. We just finished eating Thai food and are walking through the streets of Fort Collins. “Or skip those options and head back to my place?”
“How about both and then your place?” She looks up at me and I lean down to kiss her lips.
“Whatever you want, coach.”
Raleigh laughs and elbows me in the side, which is normally her reaction when I pull out the coach nickname.
Even though I fired her from that role last week.
I picked her up from the Pink Palace a few hours ago and made sure Megghen was fed and settled in her tent inside the RV so Raleigh would feel comfortable coming back to my place for the night.
This all feels like we’re living in some kind of fantasy world. I have to remind myself this is basically a vacation fling.
At least for Raleigh. She thinks I’m fun, but I can’t help but think that she sees me the same way that I think Lachlan’s girlfriend sees him.
A bit of fun. Nothing serious.
And I’m definitely not going to ask her if that’s true.
“Black Diamond?” I suggest, pointing ahead of us to the bar where we first met up with Lachlan. There are groups of people standing outside the bar around a few high tables.
“Sure.”
I hold open the heavy wooden door to Black Diamond and Raleigh steps inside. I follow, grabbing her hand and approaching the bar. There’s a ring of people waiting for drinks, and we stop right behind a man and a woman.
I’m busy focusing on the feel of Raleigh’s hand in mine when the woman turns around.
Oh, fuck.
I know her.
Long blonde hair, freckles, bright blue eyes.
I hooked up with her… last fall, maybe? Zoey?
Susan? Laura? Fuck, I forget her name. Sh e was a perfectly nice woman.
Beautiful, even. Still, it was not a great decision, because I’d met her at Horsetooth Brewing, and I knew she was local.
I normally try to avoid local women because then there’s the risk of running into them when we least want to.
Like right now.
We hooked up the first night but didn’t sleep together. So we met up another night and went back to her place.
Then I ghosted her.
And now she’s back to haunt me.
Mary? Maria? Fuck, I really wish I remembered her name, if only to convince myself I’m not such a sleaze ball. She hasn’t turned around and spotted me, so I’m safe so far.
I gotta get out of here. I take a step away and tug Raleigh’s hand to follow. We’ll move to another spot to wait for drinks.
“Atticus?”
But it’s too late.
I turn my head toward Zoey-Susan-Laura-Mary-Maria. I was so close. So close to avoiding this situation. But now, with long blonde hair draped over her shoulders, she’s facing me, and so is the dude with her. Raleigh is looking her way curiously.
Shit.
“Oh, hey…” I almost call her Zoey-Susan-Laura-Mary-Maria, which is definitely not right.
“Marcy.” She spits out the word with a hard M as if she hoped it contained daggers or poison. Marcy crosses her arms and twists her mouth.
“How are you? It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah. A long time.” She turns to the dude she’s with, a big guy with tattoos and a beard, but I’m also a big guy, so.
“Can you get us drinks, please?” Marcy flutters her lashes at the man and he shrugs and turns back to the bartender.
Then she steps forward and narrows her eyes, practically hissing.
“A long time since you completely blew me off.” She ignores Raleigh.
“Sorry about that,” I mumble, my gaze sliding to Raleigh. Her eyebrows are pinched and she’s watching the woman carefully.
Marcy looks sharply at Raleigh, as if just noticing she’s standing there.
“Hi,” Raleigh says, her voice steady but guarded.
“Well, hello.” Marcy’s expression softens just a tad, then hardens again. “Are you Atticus’s latest?”
Ouch. This is going just as badly as I’d imagined.
“Latest?”
“Latest fling. Did you just meet him tonight?”
“No—“ Raleigh starts, but Marcy cuts back in right away.
“Just be aware, it doesn’t last long with him. He’ll lose interest in about thirty seconds. Definitely after you sleep with him.” She turns to me and spits the last words out. Literally, I feel a few drops of saliva hit my face. I try really hard not to wipe them off dramatically.
“Uh, thanks for the warning.” Raleigh slides her eyes to me. Her mouth is now partially turned up into an amused smile, but her eyes are still worried.
I’m not sure what to say right now. Luckily, Marcy’s dude saves us by stepping back over with her mixed drink.
“Good to see you.” I take the escape opportunity and pull Raleigh away and into the empty slot at the bar. I sense Marcy behind me for another few seconds, then she walks away.
“She is not a fan of yours,” Raleigh whispers.
“No, she’s not.” I don’t blame her. I don’t like who I’ve been with women for the past decade.
“What happened between you two?”
The bartender looks my way and I order two beers, forgetting for a second that Raleigh prefers wine.
What happened? Nothing. The usual. She’s hot, I hooked up with her, but I didn’t want anything more. I didn’t even feel bad about it at the time.
Do I now ?
No, I don’t. I try to feel something. Regret, shame, pity, any kind of negative feeling for how I treated Marcy.
But I can’t do it.
“We hung out a few times,” I say lamely. “She might’ve wanted more, I didn’t.”
“Guess my dating lessons came too late for you and Marcy.” Raleigh accepts a bottle of beer and elbows me in the arm.
I chuckle.
“I told you, I don’t want to date anyone. I just want to hang out with you.”
That sounds far too serious for who I am as a human being, but also far too casual for what I really feel for Raleigh. Which is what, exactly? I don’t know.
But she’s not a fling.
She’s not someone I’ve just hung out with a few times.