Page 68 of Dump and Chase

He was so full of shit. “Fine. Whatever.”

I tried not to think about it, but that was all I did the entire game. My head wasn’t in the right place. I missed passes, took stupid penalties, and missed a check that led to the Renegades scoring the winning goal. I was pissed off and wondering if Warde had done it on purpose, to get into my head.

I told this to Jeremy after the game when we went for a drink. I needed to unwind.

“Let me get this straight. You think he masterminded your bad game? Ethan, he’s smart, but he’s not that diabolical. You’re giving him way too much credit.”

“He’s trying to fuck me over.”

Normally, I could rely on Jeremy to back me up, but on this, he wasn’t having it. “First of all, you don’t own Tangi. If she decides to date Warde, and that’s a huge leap, that’s her business. You don’t have a say in it. And if Warde decides to pursue her, also not your business. Either you fight for her or you let her go.”

“She’spregnant.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Pregnant women can’t date?”

When had Jeremy turned his back on me, or was I really off-base now? But the thought of Warde and Tangi dating? I couldn’t deal with that.

I left Jeremy at the lounge with a few other guys after one drink. When I got back to the condo, Tangi’s light was already out. I got into bed and tossed and turned. I did manage to get to sleep, but when I heard Tangi in the kitchen the next morning, I got up. I had to be careful and not piss her off, something I’d had a difficult time with lately.

“Good morning,” I said, making myself a coffee. She’d already made one for herself and was reading the news on her phone with a bowl of oatmeal in front of her.

“Morning. Rough game. Sorry you lost.”

“I played like shit,” I said, mixing up a protein shake before I had breakfast.

“There are lots of games left in the season.”

I sipped my protein drink and jumped in like the fool I was. “Warde said he’s turned a new leaf.”

Her face lit up when I said my name, and my blood went cold. Son of a bitch, this was happening, and if I didn’t stop it …

“Good. I really encouraged him about that. He was like my psychological experiment. I’m glad it worked.”

“Yeah, he mentioned you two were friends.”

“I guess so,” she said casually. “He’s a nice guy when it comes down to it. You should really give him a chance. I think he’s determined to be a better teammate.”

I took a second not to lose my shit. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but are the two of you dating?”

She tilted her head to one side. “Dating? No. Is that rumor going around? If it is, I’m going to ask him to set people straight. I don’t want that kind of garbage circulating.”

“No, I just wondered. And before you say anything, Iknowwho you date is your business. I’m not going to stop you, but if you’re dating one of my teammates, I’d like to know. I’d like to be prepared.”

She laughed, and not in any kind of sarcastic way, more in an amused way. “I’m not dating Brandon. And I don’t really see any of your other teammates, but if on some off chance one of your teammates wants to date pregnant little me, I’ll keep you informed.” She laughed again, as if it was the craziest thing.

“I’m just saying.”

She finished her coffee and stood up, slipping her phone into her pocket. “There is probably one thing you should know. He figured out that you’re the baby’s father. I swore him to secrecy, and if he betrays that, I want to know.”

Warde knew! Not that it was going to be a secret forever, but we’d agreed to keep it quiet for now. I gritted my teeth. “Right. I’ll let you know.”

Maybe that was how I could crush him. If I told Tangi that Warde was blabbing, even though I was pretty sure he wouldn’t, she’d be done with him. But that was petty, and I wasn’t sure I could lower myself to that level. At least not yet. Damn it. I was starting to think I was losing my mind.

ChapterThirty-Three

Tangi

Neither Ethan nor I had a chance to go home for Thanksgiving, but I’d asked him if he wanted to host a Thanksgiving dinner with me. I suggested he invite a few teammates on the condition that he invited Brandon too. Canadians had celebrated their Thanksgiving six weeks earlier, so it wasn’t a holiday, not that any day was a true holiday in the hockey world other than Christmas. Still, Allan had been kind enough to let me have the afternoon off, while Ethan and the Kodiaks had simply gotten lucky by having the day off. So I’d put him to work with a list of things to pick up. If nothing else, I knew I could rely on him to get it all.

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