Page 33 of Conner

“Hey man, who is Sasha talking to?” Cash asked as he approached.

“I’m not sure I know her,” Conner answered.

“Sasha looks incredible.”

Conner turned quickly to tell Cash to back the fuck off, only to find him grinning at him.

“She does,” he agrees.

“Are you ever going to ask her out?”

Conner sighed. “Wes just asked me that the other day. Is it really that obvious?”

“Yeah,” he said, as he put his hand on Conner’s shoulder and patted his chest. “It really is. I'm going to go check out the auction. I’ll see you around.”

Then Conner was alone, still watching Sasha. He wasn't sure of his next move, but he was getting more and more certain it was time to take it.

“She’s a rare beauty, isn't she?”

He looked down to see Bridget standing beside him watching him watch Sasha.

“Yes. She is,” he said simply because it was the truest thing he could say.

“Why don't ye let me read your cards, lad?”

“Why not,” he said as he looked down at the amused woman next to him. She turned and he followed her over to a little archway that had a small table set up with two chairs and purple tablecloth with gold celestial patterns on it.

“Please have a seat,” she said motioning to the table across from her.

He nodded and sat down as she shuffled a well-worn deck of cards. She set them down on the table and asked him to cut the deck. He did and Bridget smiled up at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Let's see what the cards have to say.”

She picked up the first card. “This card will tell ye about your past,” she said as she flipped over the card. The Four of Cups. On this card was a man resting against a tree with three chalices before him and one being offered to him, he was paying no attention to. “Hmmm. It would seem that in your past ye’ve been closed off. You have our life set up nicely, yet you are denying yourself something that could bring ye happiness. You are closed off to certain opportunities.”

He bristled at this. No one wanted to hear they were closed off, but truth be told he was. He was all hockey all the time and closed off to everything else. Shutting himself off to relationships had helped keep the drama of his younger years away, but maybe with the right person it wouldn’t have to be. His sister had said as much to him yesterday.

“Now let's look at your current situation.” She flipped over the next card to reveal the Emperor. “Ahhh, the Emperor. You are a protector. It is in your nature. If your skills as a protector aren’t being called on currently, they will be very soon.

Now for your future,” she continued, looking up at him with that grin of hers like that cat who ate the canary. She flipped over the next card on the deck to reveal the King of Pentacles. The card showed a king sitting on his throne holding a pentacle. “You are a solid, steady man. I see before me someone who will have a wonderful career but also a man who is loyal and nurturing and dependable. With the right queen by your side, you will live a full happy life filled with success and family and everything else ye desire.”

She looked up at him with a smile. “Do the cards ring true, lad?”

He returned the smile, but his eyes still searched for Sasha.

“Why don't you go dance with the beauty in red?” she asked.

That’s when he spotted Sasha out on the dance floor with his sister and a few other women.

“Thank you very much,” he said, not taking his eyes off Sasha. "Excuse me."

He stood and made his way over to the dance floor to join them. He wasn't sure about much from the reading, but he was sure Sasha Maloof was meant to be his, and he would make sure of that tonight.

20

Sasha

Sasha was dancing the night away. Before long, they were joined by a group of players she had grown to like and respect in these past couple months. Wes, of course was out there, arm still in his cast, with his other arm around his girlfriend. Looking around she saw Cash, Ethan, and Conner. She shouldn't be surprised that all these beautiful men around her could dance, she'd seen them out on the ice.

Conner reached for her hand, and she allowed herself to be pulled closer to him. She turned to him and the look on his face caught her by surprise. She had never seen a smile quite that big on his face. She smiled right back at him and the moment between them felt as magical as this whole evening did.

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