Page 21 of Playing for Keeps (Seattle Hawks Ice Hockey #4)

Jade

“Oh my god, that really was the best,” I say, my smile permanently etched on my face from the last hour and a half on the dance floor. So much so, my face is almost hurting. And Jay did absolutely amazing, which truly comes as no surprise as he always gives everything his all.

“It was way more fun than I thought it would be,” Jay agrees as we walk towards his parked car. “I think we did better than most people would for their first time.”

“It’s good for the mind, as well as the body, when you do something new.

It’s kinda like stepping out of your comfort zone.

” Which I’ve done big time these last few months.

And I may still be finding my feet and taking things as they come, but at least I’m doing what I want to do now and having a great time doing it.

The only thing that keeps giving me a little nervous pang is heading home to talk to my folks and retrieving the rest of my belongings I’ve been storing in LA.

I just have to grab the boxes or have them shipped to my parents’ place.

At least I don’t have to face my asshole ex again.

. He’ll forget about me eventually, that’s how it works.

Even if he only just texted me this morning.

Blocking him right after that felt really good, too

I’m sure he’ll be onto the next new thing by now.

It still makes me annoyed that anyone would even venture into a committed relationship if they didn’t truly want to be in one. Life is too damned short to mess around and waste other people’s time.

Honesty is definitely number one on my priority list if I were ever to get back into dating. I guess I will at some point. But right now it’s nice having a breather.

“Sure is,” Jay says. “It’s a healthy thing to do from time to time, get out of the same old routine and try something new.”

“Thanks for coming,” I say as we reach the car and Jay unlocks it with a press of the fob.

“Anytime.”

“You might regret saying that on Friday,” I giggle.

He seems unperturbed by that as he walks over to my side of the car.

He reaches out to the handle and opens up the door, motioning with his other hand for me to get in.

Sweet. “Never say never,” he muses, waiting until I’m safely tucked inside before closing it and walking around to the driver’s side.

When he climbs in, the car dips slightly as he bounces down in his seat, long fingers run through his blonde tresses, shaking off the night air and the chill creeping in.

“Are you hungry?” he quizzes, starting up the car and rubbing his hands together while waiting for the warmth to kick in from the heater.

I don’t take my eyes off his gorgeous face.

“Starving. I think I worked up an appetite.”

He laughs, the quiet hum of his voice is a gentle contrast in comparison to his car engine running.

“Me too.” His hand drops to the gears as he moves it out of park and flicks the indicator on, his head turning slightly to check his side mirror.

“Do you care what we have?” he asks before he pulls out onto the road.

“Not at all.”

“There’s a new Japanese place right near my apartment? I think they’d have some veggie options you’ll like.”

“Sounds great.”

We chatter lightly on the way back to his neck of the woods, which is not far from where we are, anyway. Traffic isn’t too bad, and we’re pulling up just a few spaces away from the restaurant, Wasabi dumplings filled with cabbage, tofu, carrot and shiitake mushrooms, with a side order of yodofu, which Jay can’t stop screwing his nose up at how seaweed and tofu can be a thing.

“It’s actually delicious,” I chuckle looking down at his ceramic bowl of Japanese curry with rice and chicken. “How is yours?”

“It’s fantastic,” he says, taking a small sip of his sake. I don’t drink much myself, but I’ve never had sake before, so I decided to try it with him over dinner.

“Sure you don’t wanna try mine?” I wave my fork across the table with some of the tofu and seaweed.

He tilts his head, eyeing my fork like it’s out to get him. “It looks lethal,” he says, but doesn’t stop himself from leaning forward and biting the food off my fork without breaking eye contact with me.

I didn’t even think about the dynamics of him eating directly from my fork when I hastily waved my food in front of him.

Now, sitting here watching him, my eyes are glued to his mouth and the way his lips press together when he slides the tofu off my fork.

I watch as his eyes close when he takes in the flavor, the surprise etching his baby blues as he opens them again, his eyebrows lifting at how good it tastes.

“Well, fuck me,” he whispers after he’s chewed and swallowed. That cheeky smile I was so used to when we were younger breaks through, reminding me just how long it’s been.

I laugh behind my palm. “I only eat stuff that tastes good, JJ.”

He raises a brow and I don’t know why I feel a blush creep onto my face as quick as wildfire spreading.

Did that just sound dirty? Maybe. But I didn’t mean it to.

I was genuinely referring to eating food.

“I wouldn’t expect any less from you.” He doesn’t seem to notice the shift in my body temperature, which is good because this setting in the restaurant suddenly feels intimate.

The air between us is light, but it feels like there’s an intensity bubbling over the surface, one that I was not expecting.

Does he feel it too? Or is it just my imagination?

The strange thing is, it doesn’t feel uncomfortable.

When other guys have shown interest in me after my last breakup, I didn’t want anything to do with them.

The only time I felt anything was with Jay at that bar, before I even knew it was him.

And right now, I’m feeling those little butterfly nerves float in my stomach again.

I don’t know what it is about Jay, but he just makes everything better.

“Are you looking forward to going back to Cali?” he asks after a beat and a sip or two of his drink.

I sigh, not meaning to, but there it is. His eyebrows raise where they wait for me to elaborate. “Umm. I guess.”

His brow now furrows, not a look he uses often. “That didn’t sound too convincing.”

“Well, I’ve been having a good time in Seattle. Since I’ve been here, it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Maybe that’s what I’ve needed.”

“Maybe it is,” he says thoughtfully, resting his chin on his palm as his elbow presses into the table.

He looks like an angel with the glow of the softly scented floral candle between us burning in an amber glass jar, the golden light flickering over his face.

I know he’s anything but an angel underneath it all, I guess a girl can dream.

“But you seem a bit sad about it. What’s going on with that? ”

Nerves tick again in my stomach, but not the butterfly kind I had before when I was assessing Jay’s gorgeous smile and eyes, and being in the presence of his company.

These nerves are a different kind altogether.

Knowing I have to face my parents and what’s really been going on these past few months are not sitting well with me.

I just hope they’re not mad that I didn’t tell them sooner about the real reason I broke up with Aaron, or what I’ve been doing since then. It’s not like my parents are unreasonable people, but I know my mom will be disappointed about my sudden career change.

“After my breakup, I needed to get out of California,” I say.

And it’s no word of a lie, I really did.

“And Beth asked me to come over and see her sooner rather than later because we had so much catching up to do. So, that’s what I did when I cleared out my apartment and put most of my things into storage.

My colleague from school, Susan, has some of my books and personal items, but I’ll collect them from her. ”

“You’ve had a lot going on,” he says. “And they say a change can be as good as a vacation.”

“It’s done wonders for me.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“Why do you assume there is one?”