Page 16 of Game Changer (Wynn Hockey #5)

Molly

I never mind having dinner and drinks alone when I’m in a different city. I have my phone to keep my company, but I like people watching and making new friends. I sit at the bar and the bartender is very helpful in picking out a cocktail to have.

“Are you here for the conference?” he asks me as he slides a drink with gin, honey and lemonade over to me.

“No. Just a little vacation.” I smile and take a sip of the drink. “Oh, this is good! Thanks for the suggestion.”

“No problem. Would you like a food menu?”

“Yes, please.”

The place is filling up and soon every seat the bar is occupied. I exchange a polite smile with the man on the stool next to me. He’s probably about forty, wearing a suit but no tie.

“What’s that you’re drinking?” he asks.

I show him the cocktail on the menu. “It’s really good.”

“I’ll try it.” He orders one also. “Here for the convention?”

I repress my smile. “No. Just vacation. How about you?”

“Yeah, I presented today.”

“Oh, awesome. What was your presentation about?”

“Domain-driven design for modern architectures.”

I blink. “Oh. Cool. I have no idea what that means.”

He laughs. “That’s okay. What do you do for a living?”

“I teach third grade.”

“Fun. Maybe?”

“It is. I love kids, and I love teaching.”

“Do you have any of your own?”

“No. I almost got married…a while back.” Okay, four days ago. “But it didn’t work out.”

“Ah. Sorry to hear that.”

We chat back and forth about the resort and the weather. I learn his name is Ben and he’s a software developer and architect, apparently an expert in domain-driven design, whatever that is. He’s being a little flirty, and I’m not looking for anything more than casual conversation, but it’s fun.

“Ben.”

A woman’s voice speaks behind us. We both turn to see her standing there. She’s about his age, wearing a suit also, and she’s looking at me like I just tried to steal her purse.

“Oh, hi,” he says. “Done already?”

“Yes.” Her tone is frosty, her eyes ice blue and narrowed at me.

“Let me just settle up for this drink.”

I want to tell the woman I’m not interested in her husband or boyfriend or whatever he is to her, that I wasn’t the one flirting, but that probably wouldn’t be helpful so I just give her a friendly smile and turn away from her to check my phone.

Why are men such douchewaffles? It’s not that I was really interested in him, but he sure as hell wasn’t acting like he was married.

“Enjoy your vacation,” he says, his tone completely different as he slides off the stool.

Asshole. “Thanks.”

I sigh as they depart. Another man takes the stool right away, smiling at me. I scrunch my face into a phony smile then focus on my phone.

I order a salad and scroll through social media, keeping my head down as I eat to discourage any chatter. I have one more drink, then I pay the bill and go outside for a walk, which is getting to be a routine while here. Except tonight I’m alone.

I really don’t mind being alone, and I totally didn’t want to go with Jax to have dinner with his family.

They have a lot to talk about. I hope it goes well.

Everly was a bit snarky toward him at the party the other night, implying that he wasn’t interested in the family issues, but come on!

He lives on the other side of the country.

And they know what a professional hockey player’s schedule is like.

He can’t just get on a plane and fly to L.A. for a family meeting.

I pause at one of the pools, which is closed, but I sit on a big round lounger and watch the shimmering water.

What should I do tomorrow? A different pool?

The beach again? Take a hike along the coast?

The resort is beautiful but kind of isolated, so without a car I can’t get very far.

They do have a shuttle service though. I could check out options, like maybe a whale watching tour.

I think about my day at the beach, and how fun and easy it was with Jax. How excellent he looks in a pair of board shorts. How his shoulder muscles bunched and rippled when he paddled the kayak, how his strong legs braced on the stand-up paddle board.

I was glad to see him relaxing and having fun; yesterday was clearly a rough day for him.

Confronting the reality of his grandfather’s decline would be difficult for anyone to accept, but he also feels guilty about not seeing his grandpa and about doubting Chelsea’s commitment to her husband.

Having his eyes opened to that was another reality check, and it was obviously hard having those long-held beliefs challenged.

I think about sharing a bed with him last night, which was totally innocent and a bit of a letdown, although I have no idea what I expected.

Except the night before that, he’d masturbated and…

uuuugh, what did I think was going to happen?

Because nothing can happen. And I don’t want anything to happen. I’m still in love with Steve.

I think.

My phone buzzes with a text message and I unlock it to see it. Jax.

Hey where are u

At the pool. I pause and type in another message. The closest pool.

On my way.

I smile as a bubble of happiness swells in my chest. He’s back. I turn to watch the path and lift a hand to wave at him as he approaches through the dark shrubs and palm trees.

He sits next to me. “Hey.”

“Hey. How was dinner?”

“Surprisingly okay.”

“Oh, good! I was worried.”

“Yeah?” He tips his head, his handsome face in shadows from the palm trees.

Yes, Jax is handsome. Maybe I haven’t mentioned that because it just is . Not that I’m attracted to him or anything. I mean, he is attractive. But not for me. “Um, yeah, a bit. I know you were kind of stressed about it.”

“Nah.” He pauses. “Okay, maybe a little. They told me how they figured out what was going on with the money. They got a copy of the court documents. They were planning some kind of careful intervention and then Everly lost her shit and confronted her parents and Uncle Matt.” He shakes his head.

“Wish I’d been there to see Everly losing her shit. That never happens.”

I smile.

“But it worked. It got them talking. The fact that we don’t know how long Grandpa has left or what kind of quality of life he’ll have also made Dad and Uncle Matt realize they needed to do something, and Chelsea…

” He shakes his head. “She’s figured out a way to repay the loan.

” He pauses, and I let the silence stretch on as he gathers his thoughts.

“She’s apparently stepping in for Dad. I mean, Théo’s managing the team now.

” His eyebrows pull together. “I wasn’t sure what I thought of that, when Grandpa hired him last summer, but apparently Chelsea trusts him.

And it seems everyone else does too. He’s doing a great job. ”

“That’s good, then. Right?”

“Yeah. I’m relieved that things seem to be working out, and apparently a lot of it is thanks to Chelsea.”

“I knew it!”

He grins, a slow, sexy gleam of white in the darkness. “Yes, you were right.”

My gaze lingers on his face, the air around us heating, my heart bumping.

“I haven’t done a good job of keeping in touch. It’s not that I don’t care, but…”

“You try not to care.”

He jerks back and stares at me. “What does that mean?”

Oops, have I overstepped? Welp, might as well finish. “I feel like your family is difficult and has had all these dramas and you don’t want to be involved but you can’t help it because you do care.”

He’s silent for a moment. “Maybe,” he finally says gruffly.

Nailed it . I bite back a smile.

“They all want to get together again tomorrow night,” he says. “But just for fun. Lacey and Taylor will come, too. They said to bring you.”

“Oh.” I consider that. It sounds fun. “Okay.”

“And I’m having lunch with my dad tomorrow.” He nudges me with his shoulder. “Happy now?”

I laugh softly. “Why yes, I am.”

I don’t know why it matters to me, but I hate the idea that he and his dad have that distance between them.

His dad seemed so happy to see him when we showed up unexpectedly at the party.

And I think Jax does care about his dad, but something hurt him.

I suspect it’s his parents’ divorce, but that’s a wild guess.

Okay, not so wild. Lots of kids get hurt by their parents divorcing.

Maybe he’ll talk to me about that at some point.

“Want to walk more?” he asks.

“Sure.” I stand. The ocean breeze tugs my hair back off my face and I turn my face to it. “I love it here.”

“Yeah, it’s nice. Would you ever leave Chicago?”

Steve asked me that once. There was a very real possibility he’d get traded somewhere else eventually, and we’d have to move. “I love Chicago. I don’t want to leave. But there’s a whole big world out there to explore.” I gesture toward the bluff and the ocean. “Like this. It’s beautiful.”

“True.” We walk farther. “You’re a pretty smart cookie, Flynn.”

“Of course I am. I’m a teacher.” I smirk at him and he laughs.

Jax arranges to meet his dad for lunch and it’s near a shopping mall, so he drops me off there on his way.

It’s an outdoor, two-level mall, and I wander in and out of some shops.

I spent a bunch of money on things to come on this trip, which was kind of a waste when I had perfectly good clothes and makeup at home, so I probably shouldn’t spend more.

But I have some savings, which I was going to spend on the honeymoon (sigh).

If we’re going out with Jax’s family tonight, I want to look decent, so I buy a pair of jeans, a black silk and lace camisole and a slouchy gray cardigan.

After a salad at the food court, I discover the ice rink.

This makes me smile. A skating rink in a California mall!

I watch people glide over the ice through the glass on the level above the rink.

Jax texts me when he’s done his lunch, and we meet up at one end of the mall.

“How’d it go?” I ask, studying his face.

“Okay.” He shrugs.