Page 144 of The Wingman

Her mouth twists. “A little.”

I make a low, sympathetic noise and smooth a hand over the back of her soft hair. “I’m sorry.”

“No, um.” She shakes her head, cheeks going the same pink as the moments before she’s about to come. “I kind of like it.” She sends me a hesitant glance, biting her lip. “Is that weird?”

A breath rushes out of me, and I grin down at her, settling my arm around her shoulders. “I like it, too.”

With every moment I spend with Darcy, she becomes more entwined in my DNA. She becomes a bit more mine.

God, I hope she feels the same way. It’s getting more difficult not to spill my feelings all over her.

Her phone rings with a call from one of the other analysts. She mouthsone secondand heads outside.

I smile at her through the windows, where she’s talking a mile a minute with bright eyes. The Storm are going to playoffs and the analysts are working overtime, but Darcy couldn’t be happier about the long hours. It’s everything I wanted for her—to finally love her job, for her to be excited to go to work in the morning.

Jamie and Pippa’s wedding is in a couple of days, and worry knots behind my sternum. Darcy seems happier than ever, but I can’t be sure. I’ve been wrong in the past. I never knew how unhappy she was with Kit.

“Hayden?”

At the sound of my name, I turn, and my gut drops through the floor.

“Jess.” I probably look like I’ve seen a ghost from the way my jaw goes slack. I blink in surprise, but I recover and give her a shaky smile. “Hi. How are you doing?”

Jessica Haley, my high school girlfriend, gives me a huge, pleased grin. “Better now. Fancy running into you here. What are the odds?”

My pulse picks up and uncertainty weaves through my gut. “Yeah. Life’s funny like that.”

“I just moved back to Vancouver from Saskatoon,” she says with a smile, attention lingering on my arms and chest. “You look amazing.” Her gaze drags up and down my form, and an unwelcome, uneasy feeling settles in my stomach. “What’s new?”

“You know. Hockey.”

I glance to the windows where Darcy is still on the phone. I’ve just started to shed the player stereotype with her, and I don’t want her to look over and think that the second her back is turned, I’m hitting on other women. I’m trying to show her I’m boyfriend material.

I don’t evenseeother women.

Jess nods, eyes moving over me with admiration. “Yeah, I’ve watched you on TV with the Storm.” She laughs to herself. “All my girlfriends know that I lost my virginity totheHayden Owens.”

Something unpleasant yanks in my stomach, and I fight a disgusted expression. “Uh. Yeah.”

We’re ten years older, but I feel seventeen again, trying to act cool and unaffected as she tells me she had fun with me, but that she’d rather date some other guy.

She steps into my space and lowers her voice with a secretive smile. “I forgot how big you are.”

I clear my throat and involuntarily take a step backward. “Uh. Yeah. Always been tall.” I rake a hand over my hair.

The tone of her voice leaves no room for interpretation—she’s interested. I glance around for Darcy, who’s no longer on the sidewalk.

“We should exchange numbers,” Jess says with a smile.

“Look, I don’t want to be rude, Jess, but?—”

“Hi.” Darcy’s hand slips into mine and she leans against me, gazing up at me with a pretty smile.

Immediately, I relax.

She doesn’t even look at Jess, she just keeps her affectionate gaze locked on me. “I missed you, baby,” she says in a soft voice.

Baby? My brain starts to slur, wading through warm, sluggish feelings as I grin down at her, probably wearing a dopey, stupid expression.

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