Page 8 of Resist

She lifted one shoulder. “It’s not like the holes would make this dive look any worse.”

Coulton grinned, then started a conversation about his preferred drinking game—beer pong—as she restocked the glasses. He was surprisingly easy to talk to, probably because they weren’t talking about anything personal, the two of them chatting about favorite cocktails, bands, and movies. When he asked about the sketch pad, she played off her art, called it doodling, even though her drawings were so much more than that to her.

The sad part was, the entire time they talked, Ainsley found herself wondering what the hell was wrong with the guy because there was no way anyone could be this nice.

Trust issues much, Ains?

After an hour or so, Coulton stood. “Got an early morning. Guess I should head out,” he said.

She was tempted to ask what he was getting up early for, but instead, she just nodded, sorry to see him go because she very seriously doubted he’d return.

“I’ll cash out your tab,” she said.

Handing him the bill, he signed it, then stuffed three twenties in the tip jar.

“Thanks,” she said, trying for an air of casual indifference and failing. That was a hell of a tip. She was lucky to get a few lousy bucks from the rest of these guys, and that was after they’d spent hours here guzzling beer after beer.

“See you later, Ainsley,” he said.

She frowned, trying to decide if he meant those words or if that was just his way of saying goodbye.

“Um, sure,” she said. “See ya.”

Coulton gave her another one of those easy smiles, then turned and left.

See you later.

God, she really hoped she did.

CHAPTERTWO

Coulton leaned his head forward,relishing the hot water on sore back muscles. Following this afternoon’s game, he’d spent an hour doing his postgame workout and stretches to warm down, before hitting the showers.

The Stingrays won, but Coulton wasn’t sure how much credit he could take for that W. He’d let in three goals, struggling to find his rhythm and to get his head in the game—literally.

Fortunately, his teammates had been on fire, Tank and Blake both sinking two goals apiece, while the rookie, Lucas, gave them the fifth to put them up by two when the last buzzer sounded.

Coulton bent his neck side to side a couple times, working out the kinks, while silently kicking his own ass for letting any goals get by him at all.

Typically, he didn’t have a problem shutting down the outside world when he was out on the ice. In the arena, the only thing that ever mattered was him keeping the puck out of the net, and that was his single focus.

Today, other things crept in, distracting him.

Actually, just one thing.

A beautiful woman with tatted arms, a nose ring, thick dark hair, and piercing blue eyes, who cussed like a sailor and wielded a baseball bat like Babe Ruth.

It had been a week since his impromptu visit to Mick’s Tavern. Seven days, during which his fascination for the badass bartender seemed to have crossed the line from attraction to obsession. The team had been on the road four days this week, so he hadn’t had the opportunity to drop by the tavern again.

That was probably a good thing, because he wasn’t even sure if he should go. He’d enjoyed talking to Ainsley, and while she had been friendly on the surface, the woman had sent out some pretty hardcoredon’t get too closevibes. He felt like he should respect those, but instead, his curiosity was piqued.

Coulton turned off the water and reached for his towel, trying for the millionth time to put Ainsley out of his mind because this was getting ridiculous.

“Hey, Moore. Get your head out of your ass,” Tank said, rinsing shampoo out of his hair. “I’ve been saying your name for a full minute. What the hell are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Coulton lied. He and Tank were good friends, so he could tell his teammate about the bartender who’d been consuming his thoughts lately. In fact, it might be nice to have someone to talk to about her.

The reason he didn’t was because he knew exactly what Tank would say. He would tell Coulton to go back to the bar, take Ainsley home, and fuck her out of his system.

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