Page 11 of Hockey Player Seeking Fan (Billionaires Seeking Wives Club #2)

Chapter Six

T yler

"So, are you ready to go home, or are you hungry?" I ask her, hoping that she wants to prolong the evening as much as I do. I’m not sure why I want to be around her, but something about her presence makes me feel like I’m at my first party: excited, exhilarated, and anxious to see what’s going to happen next.

She looks at me for a couple of seconds, and I can tell she’s weighing her options. Like she’s not sure if she wants to spend more time with me or not. I wonder if she knows that I can read her every thought on her face.

"I’m not going to bite, if that’s what you’re worried about."

"Why would I be worried about you biting me?" She rolls her eyes. "Are you a vampire? Are you trying to suck my blood?"

"I think you’ve read far too many books and watched far too many movies.” I lean forward and open my eyes wide. “I have something very important to tell you, Erica."

"Yeah?”

“I’m not sure if you’re ready to hear it, though." I lower my voice as if I’m about to share a huge secret.

"Oh my gosh, stop with the dramatics. What do you have to tell me?"

"So... Edward Cullen..." I pause.

"Yeah. What about him?"

"He’s not real."

"What?"

"And neither is Jacob, whatever his last name was."

She starts laughing, her expression changing from one of confusion to mirth. "What on earth are you talking about? Are you talking about the characters from Twilight ?"

"I am. And I hope I’m not bursting your bubble, but they are fictional characters.”

“You’re an idiot."

“You’re the one who asked if I was a vampire that wanted to suck your blood.”

"It’s called a joke." She rolls her eyes. "You are a goof. And actually, I’m more concerned about you because how do you even know about these characters?" She shivers slightly. “Please don’t tell me Twilight is your favorite movie. I might lose the little respect I had for you.”

"I have younger sisters," I say, thinking fondly of my sisters back in Iowa. "And let’s just say I’ve gone through many a debate about Edward versus Jacob." I shudder. "Way too many."

"Well, good for you, but I don’t know why you brought them up."

"Because you asked me if I was a vampire looking to suck your blood, and just in case you had a fantasy about?—"

"I don’t have any fantasies about anything." She cuts me off, and I want to tease her and ask if that’s because she’s never been with a real man, but I smartly keep my mouth shut. "And that’s enough of that. Actually, I am hungry."

"So what would you like to eat?" I lick my lips. “And don’t say me. My blood isn’t that desirable.”

"Oh no. Here we go again." She lets out a groan. I watch as she holds her hands up in the air and spins around, as if she is going crazy.

"What is going on?" I ask.

She yells out loud, "Universe, can you hear me? What are you doing to me? Are you trying to drive me crazy?"

She stops and makes a face that resembles an alien as she looks up at me with big brown eyes. I stare at her, reach forward, and touch her forehead.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She giggles. "I am not going crazy, though you might think I am."

"I’m glad that you have the wherewithal to understand that. I thought you may have absolutely cracked." I laugh. "I was wondering if I need to call Wes or Miles to come and get you to help prevent you from entering an institute."

"Oh my gosh, please don’t." She lets out a long, deep sigh. "I do not need them on my ass, going on about how I shouldn’t be going on dates with men I don’t really know, because they might be after me and my money.

Though I don’t even really have any money because it’s in a trust fund, and I just live off the money my parents give me and the credit cards. "

She pauses. "Sorry. You didn’t need to hear all of that."

"No, it’s fine." I nod slowly. "I get it."

"You do?" She stares at me for a few moments. "What part of that do you get?"

"I get that you’re frustrated that your date didn’t go well, and now you’re kind of crashing out. Sounds like maybe we should get you some food, and then I’ll take you home."

"I mean, I don’t want to disturb you for this whole evening, especially if you have things to do. Women to meet. Women who want to fawn all over you because you’re Tyler Kane, hockey player of the year—wait, hockey player of the century ."

"Well, you’ve really done your research."

"No, I haven’t." She giggles. "But I’m all worked up for a burger. Are you down?"

"I’m down." In fact, I look around and recognize the cross streets we’re at. "I know a really good burger joint, and it’s on me if you want to join."

"Wow. Gentlemen do exist," she says.

"Huh?" I look at her, and she just shakes her head.

"Nothing." She takes a deep breath and rubs her hands together, and I notice that she’s shivering slightly.

"Would you like my jacket?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "I’m okay. I’m not really cold. I think the drama of the evening is just getting to me."

"That makes sense," I say. "I’m sorry about Elliott, by the way."

"You mean him calling me a bitch?" She rolls her eyes. "He’s really rude."

"I’m sorry that he said that. I don’t think it was called for, and I’m going to have words with him when we get to practice tomorrow."

"You don’t have to do that on my account."

"No, I’m going to do it on the account of all women out there in the universe. He obviously has a lot to learn."

"He’s going to love you."

"Yeah, well, that’s not my concern. He’s on my team, and as such, he needs to present himself as a gentleman. We may be hockey players, and anything may go while we’re on the ice, but that shit does not fly when we’re out here in the real world. Especially with women."

"Ooh, are you a Southern gentleman?" she asks, looking up at me with wide eyes.

I shake my head. "I’m from the Midwest, in fact. And I think we Midwest men are much more polite than those Southern guys."

"I wouldn’t know," she says. "I mainly date guys from the East Coast and New England. I’ve never dated a guy from the South or the Midwest."

"Well, you’re missing out."

"Am I?"

"I don’t know. I feel like there’s something to be said about men from different parts of the country."

"I wouldn't mind dating a different guy from every part of the world." She giggles.

"Really?" I look at her in surprise.

"No, not really. If I’m honest, I am just looking for my one true love."

I let out a groan.

"What?" she blinks. "What’s wrong with that?"

"I’m just saying that I don’t believe in such a thing as one true love, and I feel that it’s very na?ve if you do."

"Excuse me?" She folds her arms across her chest. "I’m na?ve because I believe that there’s one man that was made for me and that I was made for him?"

I cut her off. "Shall we go and eat, and then we can continue this conversation? I’m kind of hungry myself."

"Fine," she says. "By the way, what did you tell my brother when you left?"

"I told him that I had a feeling I knew who you were going on a date with and I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you be on the date for very long, so I came."

"Huh. I’m surprised that Wes didn’t come himself."

"He wanted to.” I’m not going to tell her how agitated he’d gotten and how I’d made him stay so I could come rescue her.

“I promised him I’d take care of it and that I’d make sure you got home safely.

And Sabrina told him that she thought it was a good idea if I came alone.

” I conclude with a small smile. I liked Sabrina.

She was genuine and pretty and I could understand why Wes had fallen for her.

"Yeah, he probably would’ve tried to fight or beat up Elliott." She giggles. "Especially when he called me a... well, you know."

"I know. Trust me, I nearly went there myself."

"I know you didn’t have to do that, but I will say that I appreciate you sticking up for me. That was gentlemanly of you."

"Yeah, well. I’m glad to hear it. Come on. Let’s go grab that burger."

We walk in companionable silence down the street.

I try not to admire her figure and how beautiful her side profile looks.

Her hair is long, dark, and silky, and she’s really quite beautiful.

I’d already known that, but joking around with her and having an actual conversation with her was so very different from her just being mad at me.

"Here we are. Welcome to Happy’s Burgers." I wave my arms around.

"I hope they make me happy," she says as we walk into the small diner.

"Welcome to Happy’s. Have a seat anywhere," an older lady calls out to us.

"Thanks, Sheila," I say as we head to the back.

"Oh, hey there, Tyler." She smiles at me. "I’ll be with you in a second. You can grab the menus."

"Will do."

I grab two menus from the stand, hand one to Erica, and we take a seat.

"Come here often, huh?” She asks, looking around and surveying the place.

"Oh, yeah. At least once a week. I love me a good burger."

"So do you come with a different woman each time or?—”

“Is that you fishing to find out how regularly I date?” I grin, and try not to laugh as she blushes and shakes her head emphatically.

"No. I mean, I may be asking you questions, but that’s because I have a podcast where I talk about modern love and literary characters, and I really want to focus on whether or not courting and real gentlemen exist in modern dating."

"I see," I say. "I think your brother did mention you had some sort of podcast. What’s the name of it? Can I listen to it on Apple or Spotify?"

"We haven’t released our first episode yet," she says quickly. "But I think it’s going to come out in the next couple of weeks. I’m really excited to see how it’s going to go. It’s been a pipe dream of mine. And Sabrina’s doing it with me, though I’m not sure she’s as excited about it as I am."

"I didn’t realize that you were doing that together." I rub my forehead. "Or maybe I did. Sorry. Wes and I talk about so many different things."

"It’s okay. I don’t expect you to know about me and my life."

"I am interested in listening to it, though."