Page 18 of Replay (Toronto Blaze #3)

A Sad-Eyed Puppy

Katie

I’d never been to the Top Shelf, the bar the players met at.

I hadn’t been a lot of places in Toronto yet, since my budget was tight and my time limited, but thanks to Madeline meeting Josh there, I’d heard of the place.

There was a sign at the door, No selfies, no autographs, or no service .

That probably explained why the hockey team went there.

There was a guy checking people out at the door, but Josh was waved in.

I looked around in interest. This wasn’t too far from Madeline’s, and if it was decent, maybe I’d come again when I needed a break.

It was nice—not a club with loud music and dancing; not the kind of place where you expected to catch something if you used the bathroom.

The drinks wouldn’t be cheap, but there were two levels, a big bar, and food service too.

Josh led the way to some tables at the back under the second floor.

It provided a bit of privacy and they had reserved signs on them.

All the tables around were occupied, but Josh ignored the sign and took a chair.

It must be reserved for the players. I sat beside him and caught some envious glances.

A few people greeted Josh and commiserated with him about the game, but then we were left alone, and a server took our order for drinks.

Josh had chosen a place in the middle of the tables.

He obviously felt comfortable with his teammates and liked to be in the center of anything going on. That was vintage Josh.

Our server, a pretty brunette, cast appreciative eyes over him.

I could see the question in her eyes when she checked me out.

I found myself leaning a little closer to him, as if I was claiming him, glad I’d taken some effort in how I dressed and did my hair tonight.

As if I needed to prove I deserved to be around Josh.

What the hell, Katie? We were friends. It wasn’t anything to do with me if Josh wanted to pick someone up, like he had with Madeline.

And I shouldn’t be strangling the beer glass in front of me when those thoughts pushed through.

It would be awkward getting home if he picked someone up. He’d driven us from the arena and parked in a nearby lot, but it wasn’t too long a walk to where I was living. It would be good for me. Or I could call for a ride. I wasn’t dependant on him to get home.

Transportation aside, what would I do if some puck bunny did get cozy with him?

I didn’t know anyone else, so that would be uncomfortable.

This had been a bad decision. I should have gone straight home from the game.

But before I got myself too worked up over this hypothetical situation, his teammates walked in, distracting my anxious thoughts.

The players attracted a lot of attention: some applause, comments, waves. Fans probably came on purpose to see the team, even if they couldn’t take pictures. Would the atmosphere be different after a win? Because everyone seemed a little quiet tonight.

“Ducky!” a couple of the guys called. That was new since high school. His nickname had been Middy then, short for Middleton.

Josh stood and they did some manly greetings involving slaps and fist bumps. I recognized Cooper, since he was on a billboard in the subway in nothing but a pair of briefs. He was with the redhead he’d kissed on the kiss cam between the second and third periods.

Josh waved at me. “Hey guys, this is Katie.” He didn’t say my friend Katie . Would they think something else was going on? “She’s a math major, so you have something in common with her, Callie!” He directed that at the redhead.

“Ah, hi.” Was Callie a math student? She was older than us by several years, best I could tell.

Callie frowned at Josh. “I’m a tax attorney, Ducky. Not the same thing.” My expression felt stiff. She turned my way. “Where are you studying?”

“U of T.”

She smiled then, making her more approachable. “I’m a U of T alum. But it’s a big school. You finding your way okay?”

I nodded. Then Cooper grabbed her hand and took her to a different table. I let out a breath.

“Sorry,” Josh said. Then he yelled out again. “Jessica!”

A woman who’d come in with the players looked at Josh, and approached when he waved her over. She was a pretty brunette, looking nice and unthreatening in jeans and a non-Blaze shirt. I wasn’t sure which guy she was with.

“Jess, you do math stuff, right?”

She raised her brows. “I’m a financial advisor, so yes?”

“Katie’s getting her master’s in math. You guys have something in common.”

Jess looked at me and rolled her eyes. I shrugged. Josh was like a sugared-up toddler trying to put people together. But she sat down beside me, asking someone named Justin to get her a glass of wine. Ah, she was with him.

“You don’t have to?—”

“No, it’s good. I don’t come out very often, so I don’t know everyone that well anyway. I’m happy to chat with you and not have to talk hockey. You’re okay with that, aren’t you?”

“That would be great. I’m only here because I know Josh, so…”

She nodded. “I’m not one of the WAGs, just Justin’s sister. If that matters.”

I let out a relieved breath. “I’m not a WAG either, just Josh’s friend.”

Her brows raised, but someone—Justin?—passed her a glass of wine. There was a resemblance between them, though not enough to make their relationship obvious. He tilted his head and she shook hers. He walked to the far table and sat near Cooper.

I looked back at her. “You sure you want to sit here?”

“Definitely.”

“Do you know who everyone is? Because, true confession, I’m not a big hockey fan.”

“I don’t know them that well. I’ve dealt with Justin being a hockey prodigy all my life, so I’ve had to build up my own identity and friends away from hockey. Otherwise people want to use me to get to him.”

That reminded me of Andrea. Not that she’d used me, but as soon as she heard I knew Josh, hockey was all she thought about for a moment.

“But Justin’s played with the team for five years, so I at least know all the names.”

My muscles, which had tensed when my brain got stuck on the puck bunny track, started to relax. A woman who wasn’t a big hockey fan and wasn’t dating or married to a player? This was someone I could relate to.

I took another sip of my beer as I looked around. The table was filled with large men I was pretty confident were all hockey players. “My friend is going to be so jealous.”

“Hockey fan?”

“Both she and her girlfriend are. I wasn’t sure if I should come tonight, but she encouraged me to.”

“What did you think of the game?”

I paused.

She laughed. “They played like crap. Justin was moping all the way over.”

“Well, I haven’t watched hockey since high school, but the score was kind of a giveaway. As well as Josh’s responses. Lots of groaning.”

“So how do you know Ducky?”

I was going to have to ask him about that nickname. “Josh and I went out in high school. We ran into each other a couple of weeks ago. I helped him get his car home from the arena when his knee was injured, so he invited me to the game.”

“But you’re not dating again?”

I shook my head, and checked that Josh was deep into a conversation with someone on his other side. The guy had a loud voice, and no one was paying attention to us. “We’re supposed to be trying the friends thing.”

She studied me, as if testing my sincerity. “Ducky is a nice guy, so that shouldn’t be difficult. You must be from down east, right?”

I nodded.

“You’ve been in touch since you broke up?”

“Oh, no. It was not a good breakup. I hadn’t spoken to him for five years.”

“That bad, eh? If that’s the case, how did you run into him again?”

I felt my cheeks get hot. “It’s embarrassing.”

She leaned in. “It can’t be as embarrassing as some of my stories.

Like the last time I brought a guy home to the condo Justin and I share.

The guy and I had been dating for a couple of weeks.

I hadn’t told him who my brother is because this is such a hockey town—thank goodness Johnson is a common name.

Anyway, the guy stayed over for the first time, and when I got up in the morning he wasn’t in bed with me.

He was in the kitchen with Justin, asking for an autograph. ”

I giggled. “That sounds…”

Jess rolled her eyes. “Really bad. It was the end of that relationship, obviously, and a new rule that I don’t bring guys home until I know they aren’t hockey fans.”

I checked on Josh again. “Okay, I can do one better. I had to leave my housing situation and moved into a new place about a month ago. Two weeks later, I’m in the living room watching a show on my laptop. It’s about eleven p.m., and my roommate comes in making out with a guy.”

Jessica’s jaw dropped. “No way.”

“Yep. I’m trying to break for my room, but then Josh recognized me, and well, we ended up rehashing our breakup and…”

“Did they hook up?”

I shook my head. “We, Madeline and I, kind of ganged up on him. I told her that he broke up by text.”

“That is so high school. And not cool.”

“Exactly.”

She looked over at Josh, hands waving as he discussed something hockey connected with the guy beside him. “Then how did you get from that to here?”

“He showed up on my doorstep with donairs, apologized, explained that our parents worked on him, and well…he’s hard to say no to.”

Her brows raised.

“No, not like that. Like a sad-eyed puppy.”

She looked around me again. The movement caught Josh’s attention.

“Oh, sorry. I got caught up in talking?—”

“It’s fine, Josh. Jessica and I are talking about non-hockey stuff, so do your thing.”

He grinned. “Want another beer?” I hesitated. He nudged me with his elbow. “I’m not having any more, and I’ll drive you home. Have more if you want.”

“Sure. Another Keith’s, then.”

Josh waved for our server, and I looked at Jessica.

She lifted her hands. “Yeah, I get it. Puppy eyes is right.”