Page 102 of Perfectly Wedded

Rourke raises an eyebrow, clearly amused. “Well, I wouldn’twant to brag, but I have a lot of superpowers.” He grins and flexes slightly. “Might have something to do with these guns.”

Victoria laughs, then lightly touches his arm. “Is that the secret?”

Across the room, Leo’s attention snaps toward us. His jaw clenches as he watches Victoria, her laugh a little too forced, her hand lingering on Rourke’s arm. Lauren says something to him, but he doesn’t respond—his focus is locked on Victoria.

“Hey, Rourke,” Leo calls out, his voice louder than necessary as he strides over, a fake smile plastered on his face. “Didn’t know you were taking tips from me.”

Rourke nearly chokes on his eggnog. “You? Everyone knows I’m the team’s heartthrob.”

A strained laugh comes out of Leo’s mouth, and I can tell Rourke’s grating on his nerves. “I seriously question that.”

The problem withLeo the Egois that he won’t back down. Even if he doesn’t actually want to date Victoria, he’s not about to let Rourke win.

“Let Victoria decide,” Rourke says, turning to her. “Who’s the bigger heartthrob?”

Victoria glances between the two hockey players, her lips quirking before she locks eyes with Leo. “At least Rourke knows how to charm a lady.”

“Does he?” Leo says cooly. There’s no anger in his eyes—just a spark, like he’s enjoying the challenge.

I spin around to find Vale, but he’s nowhere in sight. “Do you know where Vale went?” I whisper to Jaz.

“I saw him step outside to take a call,” she says. “He told Brax it was important.”

Jaz hurries off to track down the brothers while I step into the middle of the living room, raising my glass. “Alright, since it’s almost the new year, has anyone made a resolution they actually plan on sticking to this time?”

Tate sits on the arm of the couch. “I’m going to stoppretending I like kale smoothies. It’s basically grass, and I’m done pretending it’s not.”

Everyone laughs, their high spirits fueled by eggnog and Christmas mules. I sneak a glance toward the door, waiting for Vale to come back in. He’s been outside for a few minutes now, and it’s either his mom wishing him a happy New Year, or something big is happening.

“Well, Jaz and I have an announcement for the team,” I say. “We’re starting a new social media account and this will be unlike anything we’ve ever done.”

“How’s that news?” Jaxon asks.

“Because the account is a fan account, calledCrushin’ on Crushers. It’s for people who want to submit their fan love for a player. They fill out an anonymous form and we post it.”

“You mean a place they can troll us?” Leo asks.

Jaz suddenly comes inside, her cheeks pink from the cold, jumping right into the conversation. “No, it’s a place where they can give an anonymous shoutout to their favorite players. We want to encourage more women to attend hockey games and shift your reputations from macho men to sweethearts.”

“Who said we want to be sweethearts?” Leo asks, crossing his arms. “I’m okay with our image.”

Okay, so maybe this is going to be a harder sell with the team than I thought. But the women we’ve talked to love the idea. If it boosts interest in the team—and our attendance numbers—we’ll consider it a win.

“Funny thing, Leo,” I say with a smile. “You were the first person who got a shoutout.”

“Really?” He sits up a little straighter. “What’s it say?”

I lift a shoulder. “I thought you weren’t interested?”

“I’m not . . .” he backpedals.

“Then you’ll have to wait and see,” I say. “We’ll officially start posting them after the New Year and continue to the end of the season.”

Suddenly, the door swings open, and Vale steps back insidewith his brother, his face lit up with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. His cheeks are red from the cold as he strides toward me, his eyes locking with mine.

“What happened?” I ask.

Vale pulls me close and whispers in my ear, “That was my agent. I got it. The NHL contract with Tampa.”

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