Page 33 of Wild Ride

So everyone kept telling him. She had a poor opinion of him, that was for sure, and because of that, yesterday he’d done something he would never have dreamed of doing in a million years:

He had listened at a door.

Twice.

As he raised a hand to knock on the office door, he overheard Kennedy and Ashley chatting about her dating. And her ex. And all these things she wanted in a guy, none of which sounded all that unreasonable. Quite enlightening, in fact.

Then because he’d learned so much, he decided to linger outside after he’d visited and delivered his apology. Surely the two friends would chat about the hockey player volunteer who had just stopped by—and yep, Dex was rewarded with a gift for his stealthy eavesdropping.

I’m not interested in someone like that. He gets around.

He didn’t usually indulge in shame but hearing that from Ashley had made him feel … something. So he wasn’t good enough for her. Fine. He wasn’t interested, either.

“She’s been pretty by the book with me, too. Won’t let me do any fun stuff until I’ve done all the crappy jobs.”

Cal grinned. “And you thought it would just be petting puppies and playing with kittens. Because that’s how the world works.”

He’d thought it would be a suck on his time, and it was. But he’d hoped the perks of being around animals would make up for it. Instead, he was hauling cat food, sweeping floors, and overhearing negatives about him.

The doc finished up his bandage and Dex walked out of the exam room to work off his energy in the gym. It wasn’t long before his thoughts returned to Ashley.

Her ex had run off with the babysitter and told her he wasn’t attracted to her as his parting shot. Sure, if faced with the choice between a tight-bodied hottie and a—fuck that! Ashley was gorgeous, with all those delectable curves, the great rack, the hair he could imagine tunneling his fingers through while she wrapped that prim little mouth around his cock. The father of her kid had actually told her she didn’t do it for him? What a tool.

On the other hand, Dex didn’t have the first clue about marriage. The closest he’d come was his fake engagement to Tara which lasted less than twenty-four hours. Marriage took work, or so he’d heard, and people fell out of love, or were never in love in the first place. Maybe attraction faded in the midst of laundry and child-rearing and all the mundane stuff that made up a life.

All that reality could dampen the spark of anyone’s sex life.

But Dex knew this much: Ashley Adams was hot as hell, even if she didn’t think Dex was worth giving the time of day.

After practice for everyone and gym for Dex, Durand Junior—Bast—suggested they go to lunch, and everyone decided on the Sunny Side Up Diner.

Maybe she wouldn’t be there.

But he didn’t want to risk it. No way in hell was he going to breathe the same air as Ruby O’Malley.

Dex tried suggesting the Italian place on Main but got no takers. It would have looked weird if he said why he couldn’t go, so he told them he’d forgotten something and would catch them up later. As that left him both irritable and hungry, he stopped by the players’ lounge where he ran into Isobel Chase. One of the Rebels co-owners, Isobel was married to their captain Vadim Petrov and offered skating consultancy with selected players.

“Hey, Dex, how’s it going?”

“Good. Just here for a bite to eat.”

“Mind if I join you?”

Like he could say no. But he didn’t mind, really. He didn’t know Isobel all that well, but she’d always struck him as a cool girl. A former hockey player, she knew the game inside out, and because she was married to his cap, there was no chance of him even thinking about her in that way, not if he valued his balls.

He grabbed a prepared sandwich and sat at one of the lounge tables with her.

She pushed her dark hair into a pony-tail. “How’s the injury?”

“Okay. Should be back in action soon.”

“I heard a dog bit you? For real?”

He relayed the story, which had her laughing. After a moment, she tilted her head and looked at him squarely. “So what do you think about this reputation rehab business? Really?”

Really, he thought it was BS and while he was probably not going to be incarcerated, he would likely be convicted of something and put on waivers before the end of the season.

“I think … I shouldn’t have lost my temper. It had already been addressed in the game. I should have let the penalty process play out.”

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