Page 45 of Second-Rate Superstar

“You did great,” Hannah declared.

Forcing my eyes open, I glared at her, saying through gritted teeth, “You’re not my favorite person right now.”

Throwing a hand to her chest, she let out an exaggerated gasp. “You wound me. And here I thought we could invite you into our girl gang.”

Closing my robe, I sat up. “If this is how you have fun with your friends, I think I’m good.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “You know, they’re not all that much fun right now. I was getting a little lonely, so you fell into my lap at just the right time.”

“Lucky me.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I didn’t want to appear ungrateful for the day of pampering Hannah was treating me to, but I would have liked the option to say no to the waxing.

Our final stop was manicures and pedicures.

Sinking into the chair beside Hannah, I let out a sigh. Nowthiswould be good for me.

The nail techs offered a selection of colors and styles. I asked for a simple French manicure and picked a pale pink for my toes. I wasn’t flashy; I liked the understated, feminine look. Hannah, however, went for a shocking cherry red.

They offered us mimosas, which Hannah lunged for, throwing back the contents of an entire champagne flute and asking for a refill immediately.

“You can take mine,” I offered.

Head whipping to stare at me, she said, “Oh no. I’m not drinking alone. Been doing that all damn year. All my friends were either pregnant or nursing. It wasawful.”

It was impossible to say no to this woman, and I folded under the pressure. “Okay.” Taking the glass held out to me on a tray, I took a sip. The orange juice wasn’t enough to overpower the dry taste of champagne.

Boy, these are strong.

Making a conscious decision to nurse a single mimosa as Hannah pounded them down, I figured we needed one of us sober enough to drive home. What I would do with her once I got back to my place, I wasn’t sure. Maybe I could offer to let her sleep it off.

Not wanting the day to be a total waste, I asked, “So, what do you do for the Comets? Braxton mentioned that you work for the team?”

Hannah nodded. “On the record, I’ve been the anthem singer for over ten years, but they don’t pay me for that. As of last season, Iampaid as their travel coordinator. I book the accommodations for road trips, work with the in-house teams at other arenas, and make sure everything is all hunky-dory while the boys travel for away games.”

“How often do they travel?”

Attempting to count on her fingers several times and missing, I realized how sloppy she was getting. Dragging her to the car wouldn’t be fun.

“Let’s see—eighty-two regular season games. Half are away . . . So that’s . . . That’s . . .”

“Forty-one?” I gave her a much-needed assist on that simple math.

“Bingo!” She pointed her finger in my face. “You’re sooooooo smart!”

It was so hard not to laugh at her drunken glee.

Hannah’s words were slurred, but she continued, “My unofficial position involves analyzing the game. My dad is the head coach, so I’ve been raised at the rink. He played until I was ten before moving on to coaching. I’m a student of the game. I know it inside and out. Even played it until I hit my teen years. I’m the one pouring over hours of film scouting recruits and free agents during the offseason and offering suggestions. Beyond that, I’m pretty good at putting a bug in a certain few players’ ears. It’s like I have over twenty brothers.”

“But you’re dating a player, correct?”

She sat bolt upright, causing the nail tech to miss where she was painting her big toe. “Yes!” Slumping back into her seat, she added, “But that was a whole ordeal. I wasn’tallowedto date the players, or rather, they weren’t allowed to date me. If you haven’t guessed, the rules can’t hold me, so I didn’t stop till I bagged one.” Hannah bit her lip but couldn’t stifle a moan. “Oh, and boy, did I get one. Highly recommend.”

Before I could respond, a blond behemoth of a man walked into the room. He was easily the tallest man I’d ever seen in real life, and you could see every defined muscle beneath his tight-fitting T-shirt and perfectly tailored jeans. The man was gorgeous, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

I breathed out, “Oh. My. God.”

Hannah followed my line of sight before exclaiming, “Baby! You made it!”

This guy?

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