Page 25 of My Fair Player

He was always looking for her, thinking of her, wanting to reach out and trying his best to hold back because man Ashley was so cool or standoffish sometimes. She never really let anyone in, and never seemed to show any feelings, except the rare cases where she gave him a smile or reached for him. He must have replayed that moment at the kitchen table a thousand times in his mind.

There was something regal about her that spoke to him. When they had the meet-and-greet for the team, she had stood by his side, like some imperial princess bestowing smiles, making small talk, and her posture and body language seemed to scream ‘grace’ and ‘elegance’ – which made his fingers curl. Then that interview? Sublime - just the way she handled things when pushed was utterly sublime. Gosh, he wanted her to let her hair down, to let him in, to see her lose her cool composure someday.

Everyone took their seats. Salas, his wife and kid took up a few seats as Jamie sat there with their son propped against her shoulder. The kid looked exhausted like he’d missed a nap or something. He hoped the boy slept and wasn’t one of those screaming children that you run into sometimes on a flight, the pressure changes hurting their little ears.

Jett Acton sat down casually, opposite of him – grinning. The man enjoyed getting a rise out of people and always had something smart to say. Ashley sat primly, buckling her seatbelt across her like it was nothing. It probably was to her because she’d done this very thing thousands of times.

Most of the guys had their families with them. Everyone was talking and making small talk as they took off toward their destination of Seattle.One step at a time, one win at a time,Liam thought silently as Ashley read a book on the Kindlehe’d surprised her with yesterday. He had thought it would be a sweet, thoughtful gift but was now hating the idea because they were the only couplenottalking on the flight.

She was reading.

He was sitting there – avoiding Acton’s knowing look and that smug smirk on his face. It wasn’t very long before things started to get bumpy. A quick look at his wife, seeing her composed with all the turbulence, had put him at ease.

If she wasn’t worried, then he wasn’t either.

And then came another jolt.

Followed by another.

There was a lot of turbulence, and with each ‘drop’ or ‘bump’, Liam was glancing at Ashley like she would be the marker of whether they were in danger from dropping out of the sky… and still, she was unfazed.

Larsson, the goalie, was looking around like a meerkat in the zoo. His head kept popping up, looking left and right, almost panicked – and Salas saw it.

“Dude,” Salas said flatly. “Knock it off. You’re freaking me out, and my family is on board, too. I’m telling you now if you make my son cry – you’ll need wires to hold your jaw shut.”

Larsson’s wife sucked in her breath like a geyser about to explode. Liam wondered if he was going to have to separate the two men to keep peace on the airplane and saw Salas smirk at the couple.

“And I mean that will all the love – one straight dude to another,” Salas added, making Lafreniére chuckle as Coeur and Boucher bumped their knuckles together, muttering something to each other that caused the trio to laugh.

And then came Jett’s response. Goodness, that guy could alwaysbe counted on to say the unthinkable; Liam grimaced, fighting back the urge to roll his eyes.

“I love the fact that our very own Brawny man had to clarify that he’s straight – especially with his wife and kid beside him,” Acton called out and then gave Liam a wink. Salas held out his arm, extending it into the aisle, with one digit held up for Jett Acton that was unmistakable.

“Love you too, bro,” Acton replied, laughing. “In a straight way, of course.”

“Y’all are ridiculous,” Ashley said suddenly beside him, putting her Kindle in her purse and unclasping her seatbelt, surprising him. She had obviously had enough between the turbulence and the talking, and they must have been bothering her more than he realized.

Liam was speechless as she stood up, smoothed her skirt, and took off down the aisle of the airplane toward the restrooms for a moment of silence. The second she shut the door, Acton moved. The man leaned toward him lightning-fast, hissing at Liam wildly.

“Dude, Savage, if you cannot see the writing on the wall…go get her, bro!”

Huh?

“What are you talking about?” Liam blurted out, trying to put it together in his mind that was currently focused on Ashley, wondering if she was okay or if the turbulence was making her ill.

“Mile high club? Hellooo?” Acton said callously, causing a few titters of laughter, and a few envious looks tossed Liam’s way, mixed with a few knowing smiles as the crass man continued, not caring who heard him. “Yourhot wifejust went to the bathroom on aprivateplane wearing askirt.”

“It’s not private – you’re here,” Liam said in a flat voice, frowning. He did not care for the other man, referring to his Ashleyas ‘hot’. You weren’t supposed to describe another man’s wife as attractive in any way, shape, or fashion. That had to be an unspoken rule somewhere, right?

Acton’s eyes widened in shock as the man slapped his forehead.

“Oh my gosh, are youdense?” Acton nearly yelped in dismay, gesturing wildly over his shoulder. “If Karen was here and she took off for the bathroom, you’d hearmemoaning…from the cockpit!”

“Thank God for small miracles,” Salas intervened, giving Acton the finger again. These two sure flipped each other off quite a bit, he started, wondering if maybe there was a secret hatred between the two.

Liam sat there, seeing several men looking at him on the plane – their eyes curious, confused, and almost pitying. Was it because they knew something was wrong between him and Ashley? Did they see something he didn’t? Had she said something to someone?

“You really think so?” Liam asked, unable to help himself, because what if he was the loser Nadine had mentioned so many times.

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