Page 4 of What If We Do

“Well, if you go by the outburst we all heard from the back of the church when she realized her fiancé didn’t show up, then yeah. You would feel terrible for her.”

“Uh oh.” I smile. “Sounds like a but coming on.”

“Buuut. She spent the rest of the night partying like it was her twenty-first birthday totally on the fiancé’s dime so…” Ledger shrugs with a laugh. “I guess things didn’t turn out so badly. I don’t know.”

“So, what’s she doing now? Throwing all this guy’s shit into the ocean? Pawning it off? Starring in a new reality tv show? The Un-housewives of L.A.?”

“No.” He huffs a laugh again. “She’s going on her honeymoon.”

My brows lift in pure morbid curiosity. “With the guy who left her?”

Ledger shakes his head. “No. She’s going on her own but she just put out a video asking for someone to go with her as her plus one to that big Once Upon a Halloween Night event in New Orleans. That’s why they chose New Orleans for their honeymoon destination. If I remember correctly, my mom mentioned they were taking the guy’s yacht out on a cruise after the party but Scarlett really wanted to attend this Halloween shindig.”

“I’ve heard that’s the party of the year. What influencer wouldn’t want to be there? She sounds like a smart woman.”

“You want to go with her?” He glances my way from his phone. “I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“What? No.” I frown. “Why would I want to do that?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs and pauses as if he’s thinking about it. “I mean, she’s a great girl, as far as dates go. Fun, talkative. Conversational. She was always a spunk of personality growing up and in our adult years she’s a been a fan of the team, but she’s not a fan girl…if you know what I mean.”

“You mean she’s not going to toss her tits in my direction and beg me to motorboat her in the hotel hallway?” I scoff teasingly. “No fucking thank you.”

“Exactly.” He laughs but then I watch as his smile fades. His eyes still on her video. “Actually, my mom said she was devastated last week once the circus ended. She’s a good person. Hardworking. Compassionate. She may have been engaged to a filthy rich fiancé but she’s far from a trophy wife. She’s not likethat at all. She didn’t deserve to be treated the way she was by this guy. He’s a glorified douche with a capital D. Scarlett wants to earn her spot in the world, you know? Like us.”

I cock my head. “Have we really earned our place in the world? Playing hockey, I mean?”

“Fuck man,” he huffs a laugh. “If we weren’t earning our place on the team, our fans and everyone else paying our salaries would drop us like a sack of hot shit.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Gesturing toward his phone with my chin, I ask to see a picture of her. When Ledger turns his phone around and I see her in the video she’s made, I must admit, she’s not at all how I had imagined.

I don’t know why I was expecting some blonde haired, blue-eyed valley girl, but Scarlett Dayne is anything but. Dark, burgundy-colored waves blow in the breeze around her heart-shaped face. Her mossy green eyes sparkle with excitement as she tells her story to all her fans. But what makes something in me sit up and take notice of her are the freckles peppered across her cheeks and the way her nose scrunches a little when she smiles.

She’s cute.

No. She’s more than cute.

She’s pretty.

Beautiful even.

“I mean, you’re going to be in town anyway,” Ledger murmurs next to me, noticing my piqued interest.

“Just for the game though and then we fly home.”

“Yeah, but we have two days off before we fly to Chicago. You can stay back and then meet us there. No problem.”

I glance up at the televisions hanging on the wall in the front of the bar. Two football games and another hockey game play on the screens. The hockey game looks to be the Red Tails and the Bay Scrapers. Red Tails are up two to one. My brother-in-law,Milo Landric is looking pretty sharp. I wouldn’t mind sitting at home and watching the end of this game.

“Why do you want me to do this so badly?”

My best friend gives me half a shrug and leans back against the booth. “Because the more I think about it, the more I think the two of you might get along really well.”

“How’s that?”

“Come on, Oli. You’re a fun guy and you’re single and she’s…” He shakes his head trying to find the right words. “She’s looking to be a little adventurous while she finds her footing after all the hurt she’s been through. Plus, if you do this, I won’t have to worry that she’s being taken advantage of. She’ll be safe with you. New Orleans isn’t necessarily the place to mess with strangers, you know?”

“And L.A. is?”

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