Page 40 of Going All In

Now that was going to bite her in the ass. She had no idea if he’d said anything to his teammates. She didn’t want to contradict anything he told them, but it wasn’t like she could text him on the bench and ask.

“Well, you know we met at Casino Night, and yes, I thought he was a waiter. I maybe told him that I didn’t like hockey.” She drew out each sentence, attempting to buy some time to come up with more lies.

Sara laughed. “Great start to the relationship.”

“Bet he saw that as a challenge,” Penny said.

She could work with that. “Yep. He got my number from Ally and texted me. We were trying to keep it low-key, but then my mother outed us at your party.”

“Yes. But you guys didn’t really act like a couple at the party. Pretty sure he was flirting with a bunny for part of the night. I’ll kick his ass for that,” Penny said.

“Oh. Well, it was still casual. Like we’d only been on one date before that party. Um…We didn’t want to bring attention to it yet, I guess,” Darcy said, trying not to stumble over her words.

“So that was for show?” Penny asked. “Him flirting with that bunny?”

“Probably. We weren’t exclusive or anything since it’d just been one date. But if he does that again, you can kick him,” Darcy said with conviction.

At least she hoped it came out that way. They really should’ve perfected their backstory instead of discussing mundane details. It wasn’t like these women cared about Jake’s favorite color. Or what he was wearing under his pants.

“That man could use a good ass kicking,” Amanda said, with a grin. “But as long as he treats you right and stops taking shit penalties out there, I’ll leave his disciplining up to you.” She wiggled her brows. “You know, if you’re into that kind of thing.”

“Um…” Darcy stuttered, her cheeks hot as she thought about disciplining Jake.

Never going to happen.

“Ooh, give us the goods,” Amanda goaded.

“Don’t be a pest.” Penny scolded her friend. “As long as you’re happy and he’s treating you right, that’s all that matters. Ignore Amanda. She’s too nosy for her own good.”

“You’re no fun,” Amanda said, crossing her arms over her chest, and huffed. Then she brightened again. “Ooh, we should go on a group date or something.”

“Yeah, I’m in,” Penny said.

“Me too. I do have some nights off from C&B,” Sara added.

“What do you think?” Penny asked, all of them focused on Darcy.

“Uhh. Yeah. I’ll talk to Jake.” Were they group date ready?

Absolutely not. No way in hell.

“Great,” Amanda said. “I think we should do Urban Putt on Friday. The guys don’t have a game.”

“I’m in,” Penny said.

“I have Friday off too,” Sara said.

Then they all looked at her.

“Um. Yeah, let me check with Jake.” Shit. This was really happening. “So, we should probably watch the game, right?” Darcy asked, trying to steer the conversation away from her and Jake. And a potential group date they were not ready for.

Like not at all.

“Of course. You are going to love hockey in no time. If you have questions, I have the perfect book for you. Ethan got it for me so I could learn all the terms,” Penny said, plopping down into an empty seat and gesturing for Darcy to sit next to her.

What had she gotten herself into?

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