Page 20 of Save Your Breath

“Maven was telling the wholeworldeverything about yours on social media,” Jaxson corrected. “And don’t act like you didn’t love every second of it.”

Vince smirked and shrugged. “I can’t help it if we’re the hottest couple to ever exist.”

“Nah,” Jaxson argued, tugging on the bill of Vince’s hat as he jumped out of the golf cart. “That title belongs to me and your sister.”

Vince glared at him before chasing him toward the hole, and Will shook his head as he, Carter, and I fell into step next to one another.

“I just want to know if this is going to be a small affair, or if I should start planning a date, ya know?” Carter remarked.

“You’ll find out when everyone else does, Fabio,” Will said. “Nothing to tell yet.”

“And Doc isn’t going to go as your date, no matterwhenthe wedding is,” I chimed in. I couldn’t help it. Any chance I had to rag on the kid was too tempting for me to pass up.

Carter’s face flushed a bit, but he shrugged me off on a smile. “So you say. I think Livvy secretly has the hots for me.”

That made Jaxson and Vince spew out a simultaneous laugh as we approached where Vince was about to putt. Livia was our team dentist and best friend to Maven, Vince’s wife. She was smoking hot, smart as hell, and had a known reputation for being a bit of a freak in the sheets.

In other words — she was so far out of Carter’s league he might as well have been playing another sport.

“In your dreams, Fabio. Livvy would eat you alive,” Vince said, and then he gently tapped the ball and sent it right into the hole.

Fucker got a birdie, and I was just as mad about it as I was when he outscored me in a game.

“Fuck you,” Carter said, shoving Vince enough to make him stumble. But now Jaxson and Will were laughing, too, and I wore an easy smirk. “Fuckallof you. One day, I’ll make you eat your words.”

“If you ever bag Liv, I promise you, I will literally get on my hands and knees and kiss your feet,” Vince said.

Carter shook his head, lining up for his first putt. I thought he would shoot some smart-ass remark back, but he quieted, missing the hole by just a few inches when he finally took his shot. He still hit par with the next one, but he seemed to be in his head now.

Poor kid. We were just giving him a hard time.

Then again, I’d rather him show even half the interest he had in Livia to getting better on the ice. We could use him, especially with the center on my line likely on his way out after this season. He was an older veteran in his early forties. Played like a monster, that guy, but our bodies could only do this shit for so long. Carter would play in the fourth line most likely, but he had the potential to move up quickly — if he focused.

“So, are we going to talk about the giant elephant in the room, or ignore it the way you ignore every call Coach makes?” Jaxson asked me as we loaded up to head toward the next hole.

“Yeah, Su Man, why didn’t you tell us you were hooking up with the biggest pop star in the nation?” Vince chimed in.

Ah. So that was the elephant.

I hoped my smirk came off as cocky and sly as I winked at them, not saying a word as Will took his first shot. But as soon as he did, even he wanted the dirt.

“You know, we all saw something when she came to that game in New York,” he said. “You had a hat trick that night.”

“Andyou didn’t get thrown in the box even once,” Carter added.

Jaxson shook his head. “I just can’t believe it. No offense, bro, but… you don’t exactly seem her type.”

My nostrils flared with that comment because I was well aware of that fact.

But I didn’t need this motherfucker to point it out.

“You don’t think so?” I asked, tapping my chin with one finger. “Huh. Maybe you should tell her that next time I have her screaming out my name from her fifth orgasm of the night.”

That made them all laugh. Carter tried to high five me, but I just stared at his hand before he sheepishly put it down again.

Fuck. I hated that I’d said that. It didn’t matter that Mia wasn’t here to hear it, it was a prick thing to say.

Why was that always my defense mechanism?