Page 8

Chapter Seven

STELLA

Greyson’s door slams shut behind him and for a brief moment, I’m surrounded by complete silence in the truck. From the corner of my eye, I can see Grey running a hand through his hair before scrubbing it down his face as he finally moves to open the back door. While he gathers his gear bag from the back seat, I take one final glance in the mirror. After double-checking that my bout of hysterical laughter didn’t cause my eyes to water and ruin my eyeliner, I snap the visor closed.

With a steadying breath, my fingers find the red release button of my seat belt. Just as it snaps back into its slot and I reach for the handle, my door opens. My heart skips, finding Greyson standing tall and confident before me with his hand extended to help me out of his truck. Opening my door was something he’s done hundreds of times before, even when I used to protest that I was more than capable of doing it myself. He’d just smile and tell me it’s not because I can’t do it, but it’s simply the bare minimum he can do to show me he’s there.

But that was when we were young and in love. The gesture being done now catches me off guard.

“You didn’t have?—”

“There are photographers at the parking lot’s entrance,” Greyson interrupts in a low grumble. Glancing over his shoulder, I immediately spot the small group, gathered right where he said.

Right. This is why I’m here.

Yet, for some reason, the fact that he’s being so attentive for the camera and not simply because it’s what he wants to do makes my stomach drop with disappointment.

Instead of letting my true emotions show, I flash Grey with a sweet smile and slip my hand into his, allowing him to help me out of the truck. He doesn’t back off as I step onto the pavement and the smell of his cologne invades my senses. Tilting my head back, I peer up into his glimmering chestnut eyes and suddenly I’m nineteen again. Staring into the hopeful gaze of a young man who looks at me as if I hung all the stars in the sky.

And with a blink I’m thrust back to the present, standing intimately close to the man who left me broken and alone.

Clearing my throat, I drop his warm hand and turn to grab my little clutch from the truck, then step aside for him to close the door.

“Ready?” I ask, not looking up as I put all my attention into straightening the strap of my bag.

He makes a sound of agreement and starts heading toward the building, keeping a pace that allows me to catch up to his side. The moment I’m there, his hand moves to my lower back, gently guiding me in the direction of the team entrance where reporters wait to catch a picture. I spot Landon and Dean approaching from the opposite direction, now accompanied by a stunning woman. Even from across the parking lot, I can hear her squeal of delight as she takes off toward another hockey player and hugs the woman beside him.

It isn’t until we’re almost to them that something important finally dawns on me. I slow my steps, making the weight of Grey’s palm press more firmly into my back.

“Greyson.” I stop, open my clutch, and thumb through the few contents as if I’m searching for something.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, angling his body to block me from the waiting photographers and onlookers.

“We never went over our story.”

“That’s because it’s no one else’s business,” Grey says gruffly.

With my head still down, I don’t bother trying to hide my eye roll.

“A response like that will make it look like we’re trying to hide something. Are you?” I glance up at him, fighting the urge to ask him why he even needs to pay someone to be here, but bite my tongue. That would only muddy the waters more. I’m not looking to make things personal.

“No,” Greyson huffs out after a few beats. Glancing over his shoulder, he sighs heavily before turning back to me. “Let’s just go with what you told Landon and Dean earlier.”

“And if someone asks how long we’ve known each other? Who reached out to who? You realize I’m about to spend almost three hours in a box full of partners and family who will undoubtedly fish for more information. If I say one thing, but you tell someone else another, someone’s going to connect the dots.”

He grumbles something under his breath and for a second, I truly believe he’s going to just tell me to figure it out on my own. The problem with that would be if someone asks him something later and our stories don’t match, things could start to unravel. The last thing either of us needs is for it to come out that he hired me. The whole point of my role here is discretion.

“Fine, just…I don’t know, say we’re old friends and we’re reconnecting.”

I nod in agreement. “Okay, how’s this? We were high school friends, I’m new to the city, and we got in touch. You’re showing me around since I don’t have any family here. If people ask if we’re more than friends, I’ll coyly change the subject and let them assume what they want.” Pulling my wallet out, I hold it up and smile like I finally found what I was looking for. “Now we’re good to go.”

We approach the growing crowd, meeting up with his teammates and their guests as some of them stop to pose for pictures with random fans in front of the mural on the side of the building.

Greyson stays by my side as we stop beside a vaguely familiar blonde woman and the redhead I saw greet her a few minutes ago. As Landon, Dean, and a player I recognize from Garrett pointing him out as his best friend Dominik snap a few more selfies with people, I lean in and whisper to Grey.

“Don’t worry about me. You can go jump in there too.”

Greyson shakes his head, his expression pinched in a failed attempt to hide his displeasure at the suggestion. “I don’t do that.”

I fight off the urge to frown up at him. Luckily, his teammates finally make their way over to us. Dominik nods toward Greyson before his attention drops to me, and I don’t miss the way they widen in surprise before he can hide it as he extends a hand.

“Hey, I’m Dom.”

Shaking his hand, I ignore my curiosity as to why all three of his teammates that I’ve met so far are clearly taken aback by Greyson having me with him.

“I’m Stella,” I offer with a smile. Dropping his hand, I’m about to explain my being here when Dean pops up and throws an arm around Dominik’s shoulder.

“She’s Grey’s friend ,” he says in a teasing, singsong voice.

Luckily, Dominik ignores the suggestive tone of his goalie and shrugs out of his embrace to motion to the beautiful blonde he arrived with.

“This is my fiancée, Lilly.” His eyes practically sparkle as he pulls her into his side and plants a kiss on the top of her head.

“Still not used to hearing that,” Lilly mutters. “We got engaged two months ago,” she explains, offering me a wave and a smile in greeting since Dominik has her held in a tight embrace.

“That’s so exciting! Congratulations!” I say, my smile genuine for the first time this evening when it clicks. “Oh my God, wait. You’re Lilly…Lilly Matthews!”

Lilly’s smile widens as she nods.

“That’s me.”

“I just started reading Follow You last night!”

“Wait until you get to chapter twenty-two,” Dominik says, bringing his hand to the side of his head and making a mind-blown gesture.

“Shh, don’t spoil anything for her!” Lilly says, shoving at Dom playfully.

“Well, that settles it, I’m not sleeping until I finish the book,” I say, shrugging dramatically.

Lilly laughs, turning just as the redheaded woman who was with Landon and Dean skips up beside her.

“This is Ari, Landon’s little sister,” Lilly offers, which earns her a scowl from Ari.

“Why does it have to be ‘little’ and not just his sister?” Ari crosses her arms as Landon steps up beside her and pats a hand on the top of her head.

“Because you’re so much smaller than me, Sis. Little is the perfect word.”

She ducks with a squeal, swatting her brother’s hands away. “I’m only a few inches shorter!” When he continues to poke at her head, Ari shrieks and pushes him away, fixing her messed up hair as she scrambles to hide behind Dean.

Landon shrugs. “Still counts as little if I have to look down at you.”

He strides past them, Ari moving with Dean as she uses him for a human shield between her and Landon while heading toward the entrance.

Lilly rolls her eyes, facing me as she steps forward to follow. “Are you joining us in the suite today?”

I nod, but it’s Greyson who answers her.

“Yeah, do you mind showing her how to get up there once we get in?”

She beams and agrees, finally turning to take Dominik’s waiting hand as he leads her inside. They both smile and wave at the gathered photographers and fans as they pass.

Without a word, Grey gently places his hand on my lower back and we follow them. Keeping a smile on my face, I try to ignore all the people shouting out for Greyson, but it’s hard. Sneaking a glance up at him, I find his face completely devoid of emotion. It looks so unlike him and the sight makes me stumble in my path.

Grey catches me, looking down with a frown.

“Sorry,” I mumble, straightening myself out.

His teammates all made it through the crowd with smiles and waves like it was second nature. But Grey looks like this is his absolute nightmare as he strides past everything without sparing so much as a head nod in acknowledgment to anyone.

Maybe this is why he needs someone here with him? To make him seem…approachable?

How the hell am I supposed to do that when the man looks as intimidating as a bear and we only have a few more feet between us and the building?

I get my answer just as Greyson moves past me to open the door.

Two little girls, who appear to be around six or seven, stand just to the right of the entrance, holding a sign made up of red-and-yellow letters asking to give the team a friendship bracelet. My heart squeezes at the sight of the two girls bouncing up and down, waving a fistful of bracelets each with their free hands.

I pause, glancing between a confused Greyson and the girls, but my mind’s made up. Taking a determined step toward Grey, I reach my hand out and wait patiently for him to accept it. His frown deepens, which is something I didn’t think was possible, but he reluctantly lets the door close to take my hand. With a tug, I pull him off to the side and smile at the girls, hoping that my positive demeanor will offset Greyson’s palpable grumpy mood.

“Stella,” Greyson grumbles, but I ignore him and focus on the girls.

“Those are really pretty bracelets.”

The smaller of the two girls beams, revealing a gap where she is missing a tooth.

“We made them! All by ourselves!” Then she sheepishly glances over her shoulder at the woman smiling behind her. “Well, Mama helped tie the knots.”

“Tying knots is really hard.” I shrug and notice the other girl staring wide-eyed over my shoulder. With a quick glance, I find Greyson awkwardly standing behind me. The sight of his unease almost makes me laugh, but instead, I focus on the girls and jab a thumb over my shoulder in his direction. “Ya know, Greyson just loves bracelets.”

“Wait, what?” Greyson mumbles, but luckily, the girls’ gasps and squeals of joy cover it.

“He does?” the taller one exclaims, dropping her corner of the sign so that she can fumble through the bracelets in her hands. While she’s busy mumbling about finding the perfect one for him, the girl beside her eyes me warily with pinched brows and a frown replacing her earlier excitement.

“Does he actually like them? Or are you just being nice?” Her blunt question takes me by surprise. Her sister pauses, stopping her search and watching me intensely.

“Of course he likes them. Why wouldn’t he?” I ask, not bothering to glance over my shoulder to confirm with him. She looks back at her mother before leaning in to whisper to me.

“Daddy told Mommy that boys don’t like bracelets and that it was dumb we made them. And none of the other guys stopped for one.” She looks at her sister, then back at me. “So I just gots to know if he really wants one or if you’re being nice for him. I just want to know if Daddy is wrong or not.”

My heart breaks at hearing her reasoning, slowly replaced with anger at the fact that her father was putting down something that clearly makes her happy. Before I can think of anything to say, though, Greyson’s warm presence at my side takes me off guard.

I turn my head and watch as he bends to rest on one knee beside me.

“She’s not lying. I really do love bracelets,” he tells her and all the breath is sucked from my lungs at the sight of a small smile stretching across his face as he answers the child in front of me.

A wide, toothy, and crooked grin stretches across the little girl’s face as she turns to face her mom.

“He really wants one, Mama!”

I glance up, finding the woman wiping a tear from her face as she grins down at her daughter. “Well, then you better give him one so he can get to his game.”

The little girl turns back, holding up her bracelets for Greyson and asking him which one he likes best. As he carefully interacts with the girls, suggesting they pick out the ones they think would be perfect for him, all I can do is stare at him.

Which is probably the only reason I finally notice the slight tension radiating from him and the tick in his jaw. Everything else about him seems relaxed, so different from the past two interactions I’ve had with him. The man before me now, kneeling and smiling, shows me the first glimpse of the boy I once knew. But the lingering unease is still there, just below the surface and showing me that something is still wrong.

As Greyson cracks a joke and slides a shiny red bracelet onto his wrist before turning to the girl’s sister, an intrusive thought creeps in.

Is this how he would be with our daughter? Would he be able to keep his issues and newfound grumpy persona aside so that she could just have fun?

“Everything okay?” a voice asks from behind me, and I glance over to find Dean standing in the doorway, confusion coating his face as he takes in the scene before him. Shoving away my own wandering thoughts, I smile and stand so he can see the sign the girls dropped.

“They brought you guys?—”

“Friendship bracelets? Hell yeah!” Dean interrupts excitedly and practically bounces over to us. “Oo is that sparkly one spoken for?”

I step back as Dominik and Landon join in, letting the guys have their moment with the girls. As I look around, I find Lilly and Ari standing in the doorway, grinning as they watch the guys. Tearing my gaze from them, I finally notice that everyone has taken notice of the team with the girls. Photographers snap pictures, calling out for the guys or adjusting to get better angles, but the team is in their own world as they finish up.

Greyson is the first to step away, his gaze immediately finding me. He closes the short gap between us and the relaxed smile he had while talking with the girls falls from his face as he stops in front of me. Which is something that shouldn’t bother me as much as it does.

“Got your bracelets?” I ask, ignoring the disappointment that he was able to smile so freely for those girls and not me. Instead, I focus on forcing myself to continue grinning as if nothing’s wrong.

He holds up his arm, showing off the four colorful beaded bracelets he now wears.

“It’s a good thing their dad wasn’t here,” he grumbles and my brows furrow.

My jaw drops open at the intensity of his scowl. “What? Why?”

“You heard what that little girl said. What kind of dad lets his kid hear him talk like that? Boys can like bracelets if they want. Wearing a sparkly thing on my wrist doesn’t change who I am. If some beads make your kid happy, just fucking wear the beads.” He shakes his head, glancing over at Dean finishing up with the girls. “I never would have even noticed them if you weren’t here.”

“I know. That’s why I stopped.”

His gaze lands back on me and I resist the urge to fidget under the intensity of his questioning stare.

He opens his mouth to say something, but Dean throwing an arm around Grey’s shoulder cuts him off.

“All right, now we really need to go, or we’ll be late for warmups.”

Greyson nods, shrugging out of Dean’s arms and moving to hold open the door for me. Cool air blasts my face and I can’t stop the shiver that rolls through my body at the air conditioning as my eyes adjust to the indoor lighting.

“Are you, uh,” Greyson stutters, clearing his throat before waving a hand in the direction of Lilly and Ari. “Are you good to go with them?”

Right. It’s game time. This is the easy part of today’s event. At least for me.

I smile up at him and place a hand on his bicep without thinking. “Don’t fall down.”

My cheeks heat at the words I haven’t said in years and the touch I clearly didn’t think through. Greyson’s eyes pop open in shock, the only sign that my words affected him. Mortification threatens to swallow me whole as I fight the urge to rip my arm away, considering there are probably a few eyes watching us. So despite my embarrassment for slipping up, I give his arm a gentle squeeze and slowly let my arm drop before turning to follow the girls to the suite.

As Ari immediately starts up the conversation about how much more boring it is to be in the suite and not able to bang on the glass to yell at her brother, I suck in a deep breath and glance back over my shoulder. I don’t know what I was expecting to see, but finding Greyson still standing where I left him and watching me wasn’t it.

I snap my attention forward again, but the weight of his gaze burns my back until I step onto the elevator and the doors close.

Forcing myself to focus on Lilly and Ari, I try not to wonder how the hell I’m supposed to get through five more events. This was the easy one, only thirty minutes as we arrive and leave the game together. But the next event is a charity dinner, followed by an all-day fundraising event.

This might be one event down, but something tells me the next five are not going to be any easier.