Page 17 of Off Limits PUCK

Now I’m the one glaring at her. That was our secret. She knew she wasn’t supposed to ever tell anyone that back in the day, when I was a kid, I had a crush on Jake. I feel my cheeks turningscarlet red. And when I turn my eyes away from my traitorous friend to meet Jake’s gaze, I want to just sink into the floor.

His hazel eyes are humorous and he’s laughing! Kenz is in such big trouble right now over this.

Chapter ten

Jake

Talk about the newsflashof the decade. Allie has had a huge crush on me for years? I knew she used to stare at me, but I could never tell if it was just because she was a little kid and curious about me or if she disdained me. Now I know. She was into me from day one.

I can’t deny it changes everything between us. Now I feel responsible for her feelings. This isn’t just some hookup between us. This is something more.

The three of us are in my Mercedes, since all of my sports cars only sit two people. After my little sister’s huge mistake of revealing what Allie reminded her was supposed to be a secret, Allie said that Kenz was not going on her date but was coming with us to the dinner. Kenz looks miserable sitting beside Allie in the backseat.

I don’t know much about their friendship, but I know enough to know that something like this won’t tear them apart. It’s like Gator and me. It would take a hell of a lot to break our friendship, and we haven’t even been friends as long as my sister and Allie have been.

The drive to the assistant captain’s house is silent and awkward. Every NHL team has a captain who is the star player or the most point-winning player and for the Eagles, that’s me. My assistant captain is a senior guy in his mid-thirties. He and his wife are a friendly couple with two kids. It’s their house where the dinner is tonight.

I clear my throat. “You know, we can turn back around. Honestly, neither one of you really looks like you want to go tonight.”

Kenz looks on the verge of tears and keeps giving Allie contrite little glances while Allie looks stony faced and refuses to look at me at all. She was red after Kenz told on her, but now she’s just completely checked out, her mind far away.

“I’m sorry, Allie,” Kenz says for the third time.

Allie shakes her head, dismissing my sister.

Kenz looks at me for support, clearly not knowing how to reach her friend. I sigh. I’ll do my best, but I think I am the very last person Allie wants to hear from right now.

“If it means anything, I had a crush on our neighbor’s oldest daughter—Maggie. Remember her?” I ask them. We all lived on the same street growing up. Maggie’s little brother and I used to play outside all the time.

Allie’s stony face softens into a little smirk. Then she laughs and her dark lashes flutter as she looks up at me. “Maggie?” she says. “Library Maggie with the bangs and glasses?” She laughs a little to herself.

“We called her Library Maggie because she got a part-time job there,” Kenz explains to me.

“I didn’t know the frumpy girls were your type,” Allie says, her tone a little icy. She still chooses to focus on all the girls I might have gone out with in my younger and wilder days. I mean, I still do, but just not as often.

I wait until she looks up at me in the rearview mirror before I say, “I never had a type until very recently.”

Her cheeks flush a little, but she doesn’t smile. I don’t know if she’ll ever trust me. But I’m being honest. I find myself liking her the more I get to know her. And by now I’ve seen her in a wide variety of situations, so I think I know her pretty well. She has a solid head on her shoulders, knows what she’s talking about with my physical therapy, and still has enough sass in her to stand up to my bossy little sister. Most girls are fake, from my experience. But Allie is as real as they come. It’s nice.

Kenz looks at me with that knowing look she gets when she’s putting pieces of a puzzle together. She holds her peace, though, not asking what I mean.

“We friends again?” she asks Allie, holding out a hand.

Allie sighs. “We’ll always be friends. Even when your big mouth gets us into trouble.” She takes my sister’s hand and then they chatter away, as if there never was an issue between them.

“So, how do you feel about leaving early tonight, then?” Kenz asks, immediately pushing the limits with Allie. “That way we can still meet up with that guy I matched with?”

Allie shakes her head. “No. I’m sorry, but I can’t be the third wheel again. It wasn’t exactly fun for me last time.”

Kenz frowns. Then she brightens up. “I know! We’ll take Jake. We’ll leave this stupid little team dinner thing around eight o’clock tonight and then we can go to that beach themed bar so you can wear what you have on and not be out of place. It’ll be perfect. You and Jake can talk while I get to know this guy.”

“I don’t know how comfortable I am with you meeting up with so many guys,” Jake says. “It doesn’t seem safe. How well do you know them before you meet up?”

She wrinkles her nose. “We always meet up in a public place. And I don’t really waste any time ‘getting to know them’ on the dating app. People can fake all kinds of things digitally. I would rather see them and get to know them.”

Jake opens his mouth to reply, but she cuts him off.

“Oh my God, Jake. Do not even try to tell me you spend days and days getting to know the girls you match with online before meeting up with them in person. I know for a fact you had just gotten back from the Maldives with your latest little bimbo not two days before Allie started working for the Eagles.” Kenz gives her brother the stink eye. “So don’t judge me.”

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