Page 24 of Love Me (Charlotte Monarchs Hockey #1)

Luke

M y knee bounces as I wait for Bree on a bench outside of The Cowfish, my favorite place in Charlotte.

How many times have I teased my idiot teammates through the years for saying whatever a girl wanted to hear just for a chance at getting with her?

I’ve never had to lie. In fact, some chicks like it when guys act like they don’t give a fuck. They see it as some kind of challenge.

In most cases, it wasn’t an act—I really didn’t give a fuck. I’ve heard guys chirp bullshit to women about how they felt an instant connection—like they’ve known each other forever. Girls eat it up. Next thing you know, she’s on her knees in the parking lot of the bar.

So, I can’t tell if I’m completely full of shit or if this feeling I have—like I’ve known Bree forever—is real. Maybe my teammates weren’t just blowing smoke to get some head.

Fuck.

If Gribov knew I thought about Bree this way, he’d smack me over the head with a bottle of Smirnoff.

How could I possibly feel that we have a connection when I don’t know anything about her or her life? I know how she likes to fuck. I know she’s up for anything sexual. I know she can take me like a champ.

But I don’t know her. And I want to.

Jack’s death and the intensity of the days leading up to his funeral had me fucked. She was there for me at an emotional and vulnerable time. Nothing more than that.

Maybe that’s the point. She didn’t know anything about me or about Jack’s situation. She attended the funeral just to make sure I had someone there. She came outside to find me. She convinced me to attend the service.

Okay, she also knows that addiction runs in my family because I opened my big mouth the first time she was at my condo.

I blame the alcohol. Drug addiction doesn’t really run in my family.

It runs through my mom. She’s a full-blown addict.

After growing up with her, I never wanted to take my chances.

When I see Bree walking toward me, I jump up from the wooden bench.

“Hey,” I greet her for our first real date, leaning close to kiss her cheek. Her skin is warm and soft under my lips, and I catch a hint of her usual scent—vanilla and lavender.

“What kind of food do they have here?” Bree asks as I usher her through the front door. Her head swivels straight to the gigantic fish tank built into the wall behind the bar. There’s a real cowfish swimming around in there somewhere.

“Sushi. Burgers. Burgushi,” I explain, stopping at the hostess stand to let someone know we’re ready for our table.

“I understand the first two.” Bree laughs. “What in the world is burgushi ?”

“Sushi-burger fusion.”

Her nose wrinkles. I get it. The deliciously unique concept sounds weird.

“My gorgeous date has arrived,” I tell one of the hostesses. As soon as the words come out of my mouth, I realize what a douchebag I sound like. Hopefully, Bree didn’t notice.

Despite the mob of people waiting, the hostess grabs two menus immediately and says, “Follow me, Luke.”

Bree raises her eyebrows, but I don’t explain.

I just wink and place my hand on her back, guiding her to follow the waitress.

When we get to the table, there’s a booth on one side and two chairs on the other.

Bree chooses the booth, and I slide in next to her.

When our thighs touch, she glances at me with a confused smile on her face.

“Is this okay?” I ask.

She nods. “I’ve just never sat on the same side of a table with someone.”

“Me neither,” I admit. To be honest, I always thought it looked lame.

But being across the table from Bree seems too far away.

I want to feel her shake when she laughs and get a whiff of her shampoo every time I breathe in.

And I may want to slide my fingers into her.

Who knows where the night might take us?

Bree opens her mouth to speak but stops and laughs quietly. “You surprise me, Luke.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Correct me if I’m wrong.”

Our waiter comes by to introduce himself and asks for our drink orders. He fills two glasses with water and places the carafe on the table.

“I’m gonna need a minute,” Bree tells him with a smile. Her eyes are wide as she scans the enormous menu.

“They have a huge wine list,” I say, then add, “if that’s your thing.” I know she likes beer, but I’m not sure about wine. I’m trying to fill the silence so she can’t hear my heart beating.

“The craft beer selection is on point.” She smiles as she scans the menu.

“You like pilsners, right? Go with the OMB Captain Jack. Super smooth.”

“Done,” Bree says, closing the menu and setting it on the edge of the table.

“You might want to pick that up again. It’s the food menu, too.”

“I know,” Bree says. “I’m getting a cucumber avocado roll. What kind of stuff do you like? Raw tuna and all that?”

My stomach rolls at the thought. I’m not a traditional sushi guy. I can fake it by getting a roll without anything raw, but overall, I don’t really like fish. Which is blasphemy for someone born and raised in a coastal town like Vancouver.

“Nothing like that for me. I’m getting the All-American Bacon Double Cheeseburger Roll.”

“I was with you until you added ‘roll’ on the end. I’m cautiously curious.”

“They use the ingredients of a bacon cheeseburger, wrap it in soy paper, and flash fry it so it stays together. Then they top it with a piece of pickle.”

My mouth waters as I explain the roll, but Bree doesn’t seem as excited. Her nose wrinkles, and her lips purse in a look that can only be described as disgust.

“I thought Californians were known for keeping an open mind.”

“I’m a vegetarian,” she blurts out, then covers her mouth with both hands as if she’s said something wrong.

I laugh at her reaction. “It’s okay, Bree. It’s not a deal breaker.”

She laughs, too. “Sorry. I’m usually a lot cooler about explaining my meat preferences. Thank you for picking a place with variety.”

“That’s why I love it. There’s something for everyone here.”

It feels weird to be on a first date with someone I’ve fucked in multiple positions—it’s a first for me. I don’t usually work backward. “What made you come to Charlotte?”

“I went through a staffing company that places traveling nurses. Charlotte was one of the cities I was presented with. I’d never been to North Carolina, so that was one of the key factors.

But when I researched it and found out I’d be within driving distance of the mountains and the ocean, it sealed the deal.

I need to be near both. It’s like therapy for me. ”

After establishing that we are on completely opposite ends of the carnivore spectrum, hearing something that highlights our similarities gives me hope.

I already know I want to keep seeing Bree.

She makes me feel calm and confident, two emotions I haven’t felt much since my injury forced me off the ice.

“I’d live in a treehouse if I could,” Bree continues. “If the tree is in the yard of a deluxe spa-bathroom thing.”

“That’s a bit more realistic. You don’t look like the squatting-over-a-dirt-hole kind of girl.”

“You’d be surprised at what I’ve done when nature calls while roughing it,” Bree quips with a grin.

Her eyes light up when she smiles. They’re already a beautiful sky blue, but they shine when she lifts her lips and shows a set of white teeth with a tiny gap between the front two. It’s barely noticeable—unless you’re staring at her like I am.

Now that the ice is broken, it’s time to bring up the topic that has me so nervous to be around her. The reason she affects me so much.

I reach between us, take her hand, and rest it on my thigh. Her gaze quickly moves to our laps, but she doesn’t seem surprised at the gesture. “I never got the chance to thank you for what you did for me at Jack’s funeral,” I say.

She leans into me, pressing her shoulder against mine. “What did I do?”

I pause for a moment, basking in the fact that she likes to touch me. She does it often; it’s subtle but noticeable. “You were there. Your support was everything. I never would’ve gotten out of my Jeep if you hadn’t knocked on my window.”

“Yes, you would’ve.” Bree lifts our hands to lace her fingers in mine. “You might have been later than we already were, but you would have dragged yourself in. It was too important to miss.”

“True,” I agree without taking my eyes off our intertwined hands. Despite agreeing with her out loud, I’m still not sure.

“I didn’t know if you had told any of your friends about Jack, so I wanted to make sure you had someone there. I didn’t realize the entire team knew him.”

Her kindness hits me like an arrow through the heart. I usually deal with things on my own. My friends come to me if they need to talk, not the other way around. I didn’t get as far as I did in hockey by being a talker. People who talk too much get ignored.

Our server brings our drinks, setting a pint of Captain Jack Pilsner in front of each of us. Bree lifts her beer. “A toast to our very own Captain Jack, who steered our ships to each other.”

As I clink my glass against hers, I can’t help but think about how much I like this woman. Usually, it takes me a while to warm up. Not sexually—a hot chick with a pulse is pretty much my type for that.

But these weird feelings of wanting to get to know everything about her are almost completely foreign. Wanting to open up about my life to another person never happens.

At any other time, I’d probably laugh off something like that as crazy because I’d have to be seriously drunk to want to share any part of my childhood with someone. I can’t get that real with too many people.

Weakness isn’t sexy.

But Bree’s entire vibe is compassionate, sensitive, and selfless. It makes me want to tell her everything. Which shows just how much she’s gotten into my brain and made me fucking crazy.

“I found it interesting that so many people from your team were at the funeral. Is that a normal thing to do for a kid from the hospital?”