Page 9 of Pucking the Team

“Is she wearing a wedding dress?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” A guy with a face way too pretty for such wide shoulders asked.

“Hey,” Dylan said, holding up his hand “She’s having a rough day. Give her some space. A little respect.”

“But who in the Lord’s good name is she?” A guy wearing a red cap with a snake logo held up his hands.

“Chto, chert voz'mi?” a man with super-short white-blond hair said gruffly and stared at me.

I took a deep breath.

“Leave her alone.” Theo frowned at the new curious faces. “We’re just figuring it out. Making sure she’s not hurt.”

“I’m okay,” I said, but I wasn’t, not really. Right now I should be posing for photographs with Steven, sippingchampagne, celebrating my marriage with good friends and dear Aunt Mary.

“I’m Gina,” the woman sitting next to me said. She watched me sip the hot milky tea. “And I’m in charge of this rabble of players.”

“Players?”

“Hockey players.” She smiled.

“Yeah, we’re The Vipers. You’ve probably heard of us,” Brick said, pressing his hand to his chest and grinning.

“Er. No, sorry.” I wasn’t exactly up on hockey. I’d played it at school, hated the mud and the bullies who didn’t aim their sticks at the ball but went for shins instead.

“Oh.” His face dropped a little.

“You’re only famous in your world, Brick.” Eduardo laughed. “Not every chick has heard of you.”

Brick shrugged. “Didn’t see you on the cover ofHockey Today, Eduardo.”

“Didn’t see you on the cover ofMen’s Health.” Eduardo held up his hands. “Et pourtant nous sommes là.”

“Come on, guys, she needs a moment.” Gina stood and gripped the back of the aisle seats in front of her. “None of us are strangers to the odd relationship catastrophe, so let’s give…” She glanced at me.

“Pippa,” I managed.

“Let’s give Pippa some privacy.” She smiled at me. “We’ll take you to Cardiff if that suits you. I’m guessing you want to be as far away from him…or her…as possible.”

“Him, and yes, as far away as possible suits me very well. Thank you.”

She kept her attention on me for a moment. “Have we met before?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“It’s just…you seem familiar.”

I managed a weak smile.

“Oh well.” She shrugged and touched Tall Stubbled Guy’s forearm in a way that hinted at intimacy. “Come on, let’s rest up, it’s going to be a long day.”

“Sure is, we might even have to go to bed before this evening’s event.” He chuckled, slipped his arm around her waist, and led her from the back of the coach.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Brick said. “My Whopper is repeating.” He pulled a face like he was holding in a burp. “I need to sleep it off.” He disappeared from view.

“Don’t mind Brick,” Dylan said when his teammate had disappeared. “He’s a jerk.”

“What kind of name is Brick?” I asked.