Page 53 of Dirty Pucking Tease

Kaia: You're a smooth talker.

Alex: There's more where that came from. Have dinner with me tomorrow night.

Kaia: I can't. I work.

I could end it by telling him I had a boyfriend, but Jax made it clear we didn't have labels. I hit the side button, making myscreen black, and shoved it back into my back pocket, and when it didn't vibrate again, I figured he'd gotten the point.

Running into the house, I grabbed my purse and keys. Now, I had to go to the rink and see how badly his mom's words affected us because nothing was ever easy with Jax.

35

Staring aimlessly into the distance, I rolled the silverware into a napkin. It was slow tonight, so I'd started my closing routine early. Thankfully, rolling silverware didn't require much thought because my mind was stuck on Jax.

I'd made it to the rink early for practice, but Jax wasn't there, and I was pretty sure he was avoiding me again. I was trying to be patient and understanding because this was all new to him, too, but it was getting harder and harder to understand why he did what he did.

"Hey," Anna shouted, pulling me from my thoughts. "A really hot guy just asked to be seated in your section out here."

I started to ask her if it was Jax, but I knew it wasn't because everyone here knew Jax. Since Trystan was gone, that meant it was probably Owen. I finished rolling the last silverware and placed it in my triangle stack before strolling out of the back through the bar and into the dining room.

But it wasn't Owen. It was the tall, dark-haired fighter who saved me from being trampled.

"Alex." I scowled.

"That wasn't the reaction I was hoping for."

"Sorry." I shook my head, shaking the surprised fog out. "I'm just... I mean... What are you doing here?"

"You said you were working, so I thought I would come and ask you out in person."

"You're persistent."

"I am. I won't go down without a fight." His lip curled into a grin. "Unless you give me a reason to."

"Like what?"

"Like you have a boyfriend, or you're married or something."

I shook my head. I wasn't sure what Jax and I were, but I knew this wasn't how I wanted to live: constantly worried about where I stood in someone's life, but I wasn't ready to give up on him yet, either. "No, I don't have a boyfriend, and I'm not married, but I'm still not interested."

"Yet." He smirked.

"Probably never."

"Probably?" I raised my brows. "You said probably. Which isn't a never."

"What can I get you?" I asked, fighting the grin tugging against my lips as I pulled my pad out of my apron and ignored his cocky grin.

"I'll have a burger and fries."

"Anything else?" I asked, jotting down his order.

"Yeah." My gaze flicked up as I pressed the tip of my pen to the pad, waiting for him to answer. He folded his arms in front of him and leaned forward on the table. "The time you get off."

"Not gonna happen." I smiled before spinning away.

This felt all sorts of weird. Here was this super hot guy begging to go out with me, and then there was Jax, the reason I was saying no, who wouldn't even return my call.

I punched his order into the system, fighting the urge to glance over my shoulder at the blue-eyed fighter.

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