Page 22 of Anti Player

“You know me, Kaleb. I am a ladies’ man, like my father. Through and through. I won’t settle down and put a womanthrough what my mom went through,” he reminds. This isn’t the first time we are having this talk.

“You’re nothing like your old man. You forget, I was living next door. Henry confided in me about all the shit that went down in your house. You aren’t your father,” I repeat. “You just took in your sister and her boy. You aren’t the guy who walks away. You’re the guy who sticks.”

“Don’t go getting all sappy on me, Bardot. Go get ready for your date. Your dick needs wetting,” he says.

I get up from the couch. This conversation is a dead end. I don’t know what it would take for my friend to change his mind, but it’s not happening tonight.

“Tell Asher I say goodnight.” I wave as I leave his apartment.

“Sure.” He calls to my back, “Get laid, Bardot.”

I wince, hoping Asher is under a stream of water and didn’t hear that. I head to my apartment and shower. I may not be having sex tonight, but I am committed to giving Taylor a chance.

CHAPTER

FIVE

Madison

The event is wrapping up. I basically had two round tables I was responsible for serving. The job wasn’t difficult, and the pay was good since we got tipped on top of our hourly wage. We were asked to wear uniforms, so I head to the bathroom and change. Some of the other servers are in here too, but I am changing in a stall.

“OMG, Vivie,” one of the server shrieks. “He wants to meet tonight.”

“Who?” Vivie replies.

“Kaleb, the hockey player I was telling you about,” she gushes. “OMG, I googled him and he is making like 60 million dollars over the next eight years.”

“Wow, lucky bitch,” Vivie replies.

“Tell me about it. He said he wants to take things slow, which means he must like me,” the girl says. It’s terrible of me but I peek through a little opening in the bathroom door to see it’s Taylor, who is kind of my boss.

“How did you score that one and does he have any friends?” Vivie asks as she is slathering lipstick on her lips.

Shit. I can’t believe she’s talking about Kaleb. My stomach dips.

“I just acted like I didn’t know who he was when I went up to him at a small wedding. It was an intimate party, so we didn’t have a lot of work to do. The whole Rangers team was there. It was crazy. Another guy came up to me too, but I’ve read he’s a total ladies’ man so I decided to go for Bardot. I mean he’s a ladies’ man too, but I don’t know, I got a different vibe from him,” she explains.

I think I am going to be nauseous, or I am going to slam this door open and rip Taylor’s hair out. Kaleb does not deserve this.

“Well, introduce me to the friend,” Vivie says.

“It was Brett Noble. He’s already in his thirties,” Taylor informs her.

I am seeing fucking red right now.

“Yeah, that’s a bit old,” Vivie agrees as my pulse beats in my ears.

I walk out of the washroom stall with my head held high.

I give the women a saccharine look.

“Maddie, didn’t realize you were in here.” Taylor chuckles.

“Oh really,” I say unable to hide the sarcasm dripping through my voice. “I heard every word.”

Taylor’s jaw drops.

“I’m really not a bitch, I swear.” She giggles. “Kaleb is into me and I’m into him. We haven’t even slept with each other because we are getting to know each other. He’s really sweet.”

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