Page 56 of The Spice Play

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I parked the Porsche at the back of the lot. I hadn’t had to worry about a flashy car being a problem for my entire life, and somehow now, in all of this, that was at the forefront of my mind — making sure the car didn’t get damaged on its first, and potentially only, non-Matty-related trek.

But as I hit the button to lock it, I couldn’t help but stare at the beast, couldn’t help but wonder what in the hell it meant and what I’d have to do with it if I made the call to leave. Would I take it with me? Surely not. It was barely mine, even if he’d put it in my name. And without him covering the insurance, I couldn’t afford it myself. I’d have to give it back.

I shouldn’t have accepted it in the first place.

But maybe that was on me for not getting my truck looked after, and maybe it was on me for not splurging the moment the excess funds hit my bank account and purchasing a new, used car that was safe and reliable. Maybe I’d put myself in this situation.

Maybe I was the cause ofallof this.

I tried to put the car in the back of my mind as I walked toward the front steps of the dive bar. If Sebastian could feel comfortable leaving his Audi around here overnight, then I had to tell myself it would be fine.

Sebastian.

God, I needed a drink. I couldn’t control my thoughts this evening, couldn’t reign them in. Each attempt to shift gears just resulted in a worse train of thinking. Even the overwhelming noise of Smokey’s didn’t drown out the disappointment that swamped me — he hadn’t even tried to stop me from leaving tonight.Is there no part of him that cares that I’ve gone to the same place I took him home from?

And his comment before I retreated to the guesthouse… that had stung. Sure, I didn’t want him to need me at all hours or restrict me from going places just in case something came up with Matty, but the deadpanned,I won’t, hadfelt like a stab in the fucking chest.

Swinging myself up onto the closest barstool, I dropped my bag on the counter and decided I’d either get completely shitfaced, leave the car here, and go back to my apartment, or have a single drink and decide from there.

It was so, so busy.

I hadn’t realized that this was clearly a hockey bar the handful of times I’d come here with Rosie, but looking around now after being immersed in that world for months, it was obvious. Atlanta Fire jerseys hung on the walls and the backs of some of the customers, and a game between two teams I didn’t recognize was playing on the big screen with a crowd around it. Women in tight blue shirts with players’ names on the back above their numbers moved through the space with ease, sliding in between somewhat familiar faces I recognized from the rink.

His teammates were here.

Shit.

I grabbed my bag, reluctantly turning in my barstool. I wanted to getawayfor the night, not be shoved right back into this from a new angle, and more than anything, I didn’t want to be confused for…what had Sebastian called them? Fires?

“Blue give you the night off?”

Sandy brown, slightly overgrown hair, and a wicked smirk filled my vision the moment my stool spun all the way backward.

Bryan.

Why did it always have to be the freeze response with me?

“Maybe youarea flame,” he chuckled. “You picked here, of all places?”

I swallowed down my irritation, the burn of it far more annoying than any alcohol. “I didn’t realize this was a hockey bar.”

He snorted. “You know they all say that the first few times they end up here, right?”

His body slid between the barstools, nearly as tall and large andloomingas Sebastian. He leaned up against the counter, one elbow on the bar, his jersey hanging loosely around his midsection but hugging his biceps. I should have run, should have gone straight back out to the Porsche and driven anywhere else, shouldn’t have come here to begin with.

“So, tell me,Nelly.” He grinned, the hard lines of his jaw tensing from the action. “Were you hoping to find the best center on the team here, or is this just a coincidence?”

“Do you genuinely think that highly of yourself?” I scoffed. “Last I checked, Sebastian’s been having to fix your mistakes the last two games.”

His grin turned quickly into a scowl as he plopped his rear end down on the empty barstool beside me.

“To be fair, I watched from home, and that was a great assist you pulled off in Calgary,” I said, and a single brow raised in my direction, the satisfaction of receiving a compliment going straight to his fucking head. “Was just a shame it was for the other team.”

The satisfaction fell in an instant, and I drank every bit of it up.

“Leave me the fuck alone, Bryan?—”

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