Page 107 of A Major Puck Up

My smile is a bit more forced this time. Terrible. Awful. Yet I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

If the term glutton for punishment had a face, it’d look like mine.

“It’s fine. Vivi’s a peach, so it makes my job easy.” The minute the words are out of my mouth, I regret them. How is it that one man could single-handedly destroy a saying—hell, the name of an innocent piece of fruit—like that?

I’m going to need a new drink of choice if our relationship doesn’t turn a corner soon.

“She’s a cute kid. Still can’t believe someone could just dump her like that.”

Aiden scowls at Camden in a way that looks so foreign on his typically cheerful face.

Oblivious, Camden keeps talking. “I was there, ya know? It was crazy.”

Nibbling on my lip, I consider whether to ask when this was. If anyone knows who the mother is. Whether Gavin has spoken to her. But that would be inappropriate. It’s none of my business. And also, Aiden might bite our heads off if we keep this conversation going.

“Hey,” I say to Aiden, another thought popping into my head. “I met someone who knows you.”

Aiden’s smile is back in place, his warm brown eyes relaxed. He’s got the same chiseled jaw as Gavin does, along with the rest of the Langfield men, but his golden-brown curls give him a boyish charm that softens the severity of the feature. “Oh yeah? Who?”

“Lennox Kennedy.”

His eyes flash bright, and he opens his mouth, but no words come out.

“When did you see Lennox?”

The feminine voice startles me, and I spin in my seat.

The woman in the seat behind me is dressed in black slacks and a blue sweater and has blond hair pulled into a ponytail and vibrant blue eyes.

Beside her, Brooks Langfield nods to me. The man is a beast. Thick wavy brown hair just a smidgen longer than Aiden’s and wise green eyes. If it was possible to make a copy of Aiden and enlarge it by about 20 percent, it would look just like Brooks. He’s built like a giant—perfect for his position as goalie—but he’s got the gentlest personality of all the Langfields.

“This is Sara, my girlfriend. She heads PR for the team.”

Sara…Sara…why does that sound familiar?

Oh shit, Sara is Lennox’s best friend. The one whose apartment she’s squatting in. “Oh, I met her in a coffee shop,” I fib.

Sara looks at Brooks and frowns. “When did she get back into town?”

Aiden clears his throat. “She mentioned me?”

Brooks barks out a laugh behind me. “Could you be more obvious?”

I shimmy my shoulders, still turned halfway around. “Obvious about what? What’s the tea?”

Sara sits back in her chair, her shoulders lowering, and eyes Aiden, then me. “Just that Aiden has a little crush he doesn’t want to talk about.”

“Do not.” Aiden’s tone is comical, like a five-year-old saying he doesn’t have cooties.

I arch my brow. “That’s too bad, because she certainly seemed—” I tap my finger on my lips, searching for the right word—“wistful.”

“Yes. You thought so too?” Sara scoots forward and leans around my seat. “Because she acts so strange every time I bring him up.”

“Yeah, I could see that. Like maybe she has a lot more to say but is afraid to talk about it?”

Sara slaps her hand on my armrest. “Exactly.”

“Hello! I’m right here.” Aiden waves, making us all laugh.

---