Page 22 of Falling for You

I was in a meeting with my sponsors when Dylan called. He was at a restaurant with Xanthe and noticed a certain redhead three tables from his and quickly took a photo of her, sending it to me while we were on the phone. He got up to speak to her as soon as I confirmed it was who I thought it was. However, his jealous wife stopped him and caused a scene all while I was still on the phone cursing her out, and by the time he looked back, the woman was gone, which fucking pissed me off.

I recognized her as the woman Pen was with at the bar when we met and again at the arena, I didn’t hesitate. I left my pissed-off agent, who is on her last leg after the whole banning Pen fromthe rink drama, and ran outta the meeting, happy the restaurant Dylan was at was only three minutes away.

He met me outside with his steaming wife and pointed which way the woman went. I just saw a flash of red down the street, heading to fifth, and I made a run for it, Dylan not hesitating to follow despite his wife screaming after him.

I dodge a dog walker, jumping over the leash and making the dog bark, but I ignore it and run faster as the woman puts her hand up for a cab.

“Fuck,” I gasp when one pulls beside her and I sprint quicker, not caring if I get an injury, not caring it could fuck up my game.

It’s been just over eight months since I last saw Penelope, and after one night with her, she had me hooked, but can I find her? No, I fucking can’t. Even with the pictures we had from security, my dad’s security couldn’t seem to locate her; it was like she didn’t exist.

New York is big, but it’s not that fucking big.

I watch hopelessly as the woman climbs into the cab and drives off and I curse as I come to a stop, putting my hands on my hips, my anger takes over before I boot the trash can near me while breathing hard.

“Fuck’s sake!” I snap, hanging my head.

“I’m sorry, Tay,” Dylan breathes, stopping beside me, “as soon as I took the photo, Xanthe went off despite knowing the situation.”

I shake my head and look around, unable to get my head straight.

It’s been over a month since we started playing again, since fans could come to watch us play to hopefully keep that cup in our arena, and yet the passes sent to Vine’s Criminal Law have yet to be used.

“Come on,” Dylan says as he wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me away from where the cab stopped andpicked up Penelope’s sister. “Xanthe can find her own fucking way home after that bullshit, let’s go get a drink.” He states, and I nod, hanging my head as I put my left hand in my jeans pocket, gripping the bracelet with six more charms.

“Fucking Xanthe!” Dylan snaps as his phone rings for the ninth time since we sat at Wolfs bar in Manhattan.

“She didn’t know,” I try to defend, why I don’t know, but to be fair, she didn’t know, right? I mean, no one is that fucking nasty, except for Elena anyway, but not my brother’s wife.

Dylan scoffs as he declines the call and states, “She fucking knew.”

Okay, never mind, she clearly is that fucking nasty.

I look at my big brother and raise a brow, but he shakes his head and admits, “I told her the girl looked like the sister of the one you were trying to find, and she still threw a hissy fit. I didn’t just explain she was someone you were looking for Tay, I explained everything.”

I groan. “She got jealous even though she knew the situation?”

He chuckles darkly and says, “Apparently, the sister is hot.”

I roll my eyes and mutter, “Fucking Xanthe.”

He nods, takes a sip of his beer, and mutters, “Hannah and I were looking over the photos of your girl again last week, so that’s probably where the jealousy started despite her flirting with every one of my team members to try and get my attention.”

I furrow my brows and ask, “Why were you looking at the photos again?”

He frowns, then admits, “Because your Penelope looked really fucking familiar.” I turn my body his way on the stool and lean my arm on the bar, and he sighs, “Remember the nurse that Kaylah wanted to set you up with, nurse Vine, as in Vine’s Criminal law?”

Fuck, I remember putting that together at the charity game, that the nurse's last name was the same as the law firm, butI completely bypassed it, my head fucked up over the whole situation. I nod and admit, “Yeah, and thankfully, she never called.”

He smirks before he sighs and admits, “For a moment, I thought she was your Penelope,” and I sit up straight, instantly regretting my words because I never thought they were the same. He gives me a sad smile and continues, “They both have dark red curly hair, both roughly the same height, so Hannah and I went back to the hospital to question her, and honestly, we were both excited; we thought this is it, this is her,” his eyes go sad, and I sag as he finishes, “The charge nurse mentioned Nurse Vine was on maternity leave.”

“So not my girl then,” I mutter sadly, and he nods.

“I’m afraid not, but it also explains why she didn’t fawn over me when Kaylah was admitted or why she never called you. The woman is clearly taken,” he says with humor lacing his voice.

I grin, “I bet she felt well flattered that our niece wanted her as an auntie and was trying to set her up with a pro hockey player.”

He laughs but nods as his phone rings again.

---