Page 88 of Goalie Interference

I shook hands with the older couple who’d won the bid at the auction. They’d lost their family pet recently, so they’d been attracted to the idea of helping animals get homes. The first in a long series of photos were taken of me, and Cian, and the couple.

The rest of the team was catcalling. Delores brought out a pit bull mix who was overwhelmed by the bright lights and noises. Her teeth were bared and she was growling, but her tail was tucked between her legs. I knelt down in front of her. She reminded me a lot of Beast.

She wasn’t ready for this, not right now. She needed to be calmed down. But Delores had a lot of animals to take care of, so I could help this poor girl if the photographers could start with someone else…and an idea popped into my head.

“Hanny!” I called.

He came over, keeping a wary eye on the dog I was dealing with. “Yeah?”

“See that woman over there at the net?” They had a camera set up there, wanting pictures of a hockey player and a rescue animal in front of the conspicuous hockey background. “Tell Delores you and the guys can help.”

“Help how?”

“She’ll figure it out.”

By the time I had the pitty ready for a shot, five of my teammates had been paired up with an animal and been photographed. Now I had fewer photos to do since the other guys had posed for most of the shots.

Smartest idea I’d had in a long time. It cost me—the guys insisted I had to spring for lunch since they’d done my job. I took them to the Tex-Mex place Sophie and Diane had taken me, near the shelter.

Surprisingly, it turned out to be a great day.

The next day, while I was still feeling smug about what I’d done at the shoot, Cavanaugh mentioned in the weight room that he’d made reservations for Valentine’s Day at some restaurant that sounded expensive. A couple of other guys mentioned the plans they’d booked.

Right. It was February fourteenth soon. Was I supposed to do something for Sophie? How did casual work with Valentine’s Day? We’d gone out a couple of times, but I hadn’t been recognized and she hadn’t seen anyone she knew. Making a big deal of being together didn’t seem right, not when we didn’t have a future, but ignoring the fourteenth of February altogether felt wrong. Like she wasn’t important.

Hanny didn’t have any advice beyond talking to her. “You don’t know if she wants to do something, not with the weirdarrangement you have. Maybe she prefers something low-key. So, ask her.”

“Wouldn’t it be more romantic to just plan something nice and surprise her?”

“I don’t know, Remy. Just how romantic are the two of you?”

That shut me up. Because I’d like to be as romantic as fuck, but I was holding back. If I made a big deal of the day, would she think I was pushing too hard? Or would she be disappointed if I didn’t?

Hanny was right. I texted her.

Do you want to do something Friday?

After five minutes watching the phone, I shook my head. She was busy working and I’d just have to wait. But considering the bad luck Smitty was having trying to get a reservation, it wouldn’t be easy to get a booking on Friday. My status on the team wouldn’t pull many strings.

I went back to the carriage house after working out. For shorter periods I was comfortable leaving Beast alone now. He didn’t destroy the contents and only barked when the cat came around. If that bothered anyone, they were free to make the cat leave. I had taken Beast out for a short walk, including a long pee, before I got a response from Sophie.

Everything will be booked. And busy. What about doing Saturday instead?

She must know Friday was Valentine’s Day, since that was why every restaurant was so busy. Was I relieved that she was being practical, or disappointed that we weren’t spending Valentine’s Day together? Maybe I needed to slow my roll and take this for what it was. I agreed to Saturday, and Sophie said she knew a good place.

When I picked her up, she was wearing a dress with heels and jewelry. Her hair was down and curling. My dress slacks andshirt with a blazer matched style-wise. At least for dressing, we were on the same page.

She punched the address into the GPS again. I was getting more familiar with the city and could navigate easily. I had a few restaurants I liked, the bar the team liked to hang out at, and was getting comfortable here. Which meant I was probably about to leave.

I pulled my mind away from that. “You look great.”

She smiled. “Thank you. I hope you were okay going out tonight? I didn’t think you were set on Valentine’s Day, and the day after is so much less chaotic. Everyone who was out last night is probably staying in tonight, and things like flowers and chocolates drop in price.”

“That’s very practical.”

She flushed. “Do you mind? Ollie and I always…”

Hmm.Ollie hadn’t wanted to make the effort to go out on the day? Did no one put themselves out for her? “I’m good with whatever you want. But if you’d wanted the fourteenth, I wouldn’t have minded paying more for flowers or going out on a busy night.”

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