Page 31 of Rowdy Hearts

“Like what? This much fun?”

His expression made it clear he was being serious. Then again…

“This chaotic,” I said.

Now his grin burst wide, and my heart beat a little fast. “Nah. Sometimes we actually play hockey.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Tressy

I mademy way down to the ice from the concourse. I didn’t see anyone else in the seats, although I could hear the guys in the locker room, their voices loud and laced with enough profanity to make my ears burn. It actually made me a little nostalgic for my performing days, when I’d huddle in a dark corner of the set watching the crew set up. They’d become used to me hiding there from my mom and the PR people who had “just one more interview.”

The arena was colder than any set I’d been on, and I stuffed my hands in the pocket of the sweatshirt. It wasn’t a very big arena, probably only held four thousand people. The auditorium my mom had rented for my sister’s concert last night held six thousand. At the time, I’d been amazed that it’d been sold out, because my sister didn’t have that big of a following.

I hadn’t questioned why my mom had wanted to hold my sister’s concert in New York. Tiff wasn’t as well known in NewYork, didn’t have some of the baggage she would’ve carried in L.A. And when my mom had guilted me into showing up, I had grudgingly admitted that I really should make an appearance.

But then my mom had sprung her trap. Even though she knew how much I hated performing now. How it made me physically ill to even think about getting on stage. It’d felt like a knife in my back when my mom had told me how she’d managed to sell out that auditorium. By promising the return of Teresa Sinclair to the spotlight. Along with a special guest.

“We need you to do this for your sister. All you need to do is this one concert. That’s all she needs to get back on her feet.”

The sound of men’s laughter drew my attention to the tunnel that led out from beneath the seats, pushing away the memories of last night.

My heart began to beat faster, and my lungs squeezed tighter. But this was totally different from the feeling I got just thinking about performing. I wasn’t going to think about why that might be. Instead, I forced myself to look around the arena, instead of staring at the entrance, waiting for a glimpse of Rowdy.

Nope, I was not obsessing over the guy. Not at all.

My gaze slipped to the short walls around the ice, covered with advertisements for local businesses. Tommy’s Auto Service. Martin’s Farm Stand, complete with a map that looked like it’d been drawn by a child. The Daily Register, where you could read all about your favorite teams. The local John Deere dealer and the local hardware store and the local restaurant.

Maybe I really had landed in an alternate reality, where people lived in small towns and actually enjoyed it. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere without round-the-clock delivery and decent Thai food. And the anonymity that came with living in a city of millions.

You’re a snob.

Probably. But I wasn’t enough of a snob not to drool over brawny hockey players with messy hair and scruffy chins,because,oh my god. My breath caught in my throat and my heart did a wild jig when the first guys stepped out onto the ice.

But none of them were Rowdy.

The men began to skate around the ice, but my eyes stayed glued to the entrance. And then there he was. The hair flowing around his shoulders and that smile that could totally sell millions for a toothpaste company. The slightly crooked nose and those dark eyes that made me want to stare into them like a lovesick idiot.

The crowd let out a cheer, but he looked up and looked straight at me, his grin widened, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. I deliberately looked away, watched the guys circle the ice a few times before breaking off into pairs and trios, laughing and talking with one another.

Rowdy and Rebel peeled off with a couple of guys at the other end of the ice from where I was, so I couldn’t hear them. Rowdy leaned on his stick, shaking his head, his mouth curved. Whatever Rebel was saying, Rowdy thought it was pretty damn amusing. And when he was amused, he smiled. This smile was open and free and totally easy.

Why now?

With everything going on in my life, why did I have to catch feelings for a man now? One I didn’t even know. Who was so totally outside the small bubble of my life. Was it a response to the stress from yesterday? Maybe my mind was trying to distract me with lust. If that was the case, it was working like a charm.

A loud bang, almost like a gong, made me start, my gaze snapping back to the entrance the guys had used to get on the ice. A member of the team was rolling out a metal barrel from beneath the stands. He smacked the side with a log again, making that gong sound.

Flames emerged from the top. It looked like the kind of thing you’d see at a campfire. Were they going to roast marshmallows?Make smores? Burn all those jock straps the rookie had collected?

I smiled, shaking my head as I remembered Rowdy’s laughter. And feeling that heat in my gut move lower.

“Mommy, did we miss the rishual?”

I turned with a smile to see Krista running down the stairs toward me. She looked happy, her normal reserve wiped away by joy.

“What have you been up to this morning, baby?”

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