Page 52 of Full Tilt
“Pray tell,” I reply, equally amused and enraptured by anything and everything this girl has to say.
She raises a single brow and looks between Kendra and me. “The absence of one Tommy Schneider.”
The brief mention of his name fires off a surge of goose bumps as they break out over my skin.
“No snarky comments or cocky smirks. Just a bunch of friends having a great night, like the old times.” Darcy joins our conversation when Archer returns to a small group of his teammates.
She props a hand on her hip. “I’m convinced, even at five months old, Emily hates him. She threw her teething ring on the floor when he joined the team on the bench tonight.”
“You should’ve been at the game earlier,” Collins adds, gaze floating from Kendra to me. “The look on his face when the Jumbotron focused in on him, it was a sight to behold. He was seething at being benched for multiple games.”
“He shouldn’t be a first-rate arsehole then.” Darcy snorts. “He’s definitely getting traded before the March deadline.” She downs the rest of her cosmo in one, enjoying a child-free nightwith her husband and friends. “Although I’m not convinced he’ll find another team.”
“Why isn’t he here tonight?” I ask casually, brushing off comments about Tommy getting traded.
I haven’t spoken to him since our last text exchange, where I told him my car stank and it needed detailing. The truth is, it did smell, just not badly. I swear his cologne has permeated my seats, and I hate that. The best place for Tommy is on the other side of the country and as far away from me as possible.
I don’t trust him, but more than that, I don’t trustmyselfaround him.
“Probably licking his ego wounds.” Kendra rolls her eyes.
“The team was way more cohesive without him on the ice. If they play like that again for the next few games, I’m certain the GM will put him on the trade list,” Collins adds. “The only reason he made it to New York in the first place was because of the GM insisting. Sawyer tells me he’s even turning his back on the guy. I don’t think Curtis Freeman taking to social media helped either.”
My heart rate picks up to a wild pace. “Wait. What do you mean?”
I assumed Tommy was being punished for something he had done in practice. The Blades haven’t made an official statement about why Tommy was benched, and frankly, him being reprimanded isn’t exactly news.
Collins tips her head to one side, surprised that I’m not aware. “A couple of days ago, Curtis Freeman took to his socials with a scathing three-paragraph post, calling for Tommy to be canceled from ice hockey, like his dad basically was. He said he was a danger to the sport or some shit like that. The post was taken down really fast, but naturally, screenshots were taken. Sawyer thinks it was Freeman’s frustration bubbling over when the league deemed no action needed to be taken for the wayTommy had beaten him up in their last game, but the Blades have obviously responded with a punishment of their own.” She blows out a long breath. “I can’t say I blame them for benching him, someone had to do something.”
My throat runs dry. Maybe that’s why Tommy hasn’t been in touch for the past few days. It sounds like he has bigger fish to fry than antagonizing me.
Or maybe he just grew tired of our antics.
Discomfort settles in the pit of my stomach as my girls continue to speculate on how long the Blades enforcer has before he’s shipped out altogether.
“You know what?” I finally speak up after losing track of time. I don’t make eye contact as I adjust my handbag on my shoulder and feel a vibration. “I’m going to head out.”
The first person I make eye contact with is Kendra. Running out on her when she just dropped the biggest news of her life makes me feel like a shitty friend.
“I’ll text you when I get home,” I tell her.
She nods once, and Darcy laces her hand through mine. We’ve grown way closer since last year, when I stayed over at her place one night and she told me all about the secret pregnancy with Archer.
“Do you need a ride home?” she asks. “Archer isn’t drinking, and I’m sure he’d run you back to your place.”
I shake my head immediately. Thoughts of a ten-minute walk in the cold November air grows more appealing with each passing second. I need to clear my head.
“No, it’s fine. I’m fine,” I lie, just as my phone vibrates again. “Let him stay and celebrate a hard-earned shutout. The entire walk home is lit, and I have a can of three-year-old pepper spray in my bag that I’m dying to use.”
Collins snorts a laugh, and Kendra rolls her eyes. These girls know that leaving bars alone—or with strange guys—isn’t unusual for me.
“Did you get a booty call or something?” Collins chuckles.
Heat rises from my toes to the tips of my ears as I scramble for an answer. In the end, nothing materializes, and I conclude my silence is probably the best option since telling them I can’t stop thinking about the most hated guy in Brooklyn—or his tattooed cock—likely wouldn’t land well.
Collins raises her glass in my direction. “Jen is getting dicked down tonight. Let’s all say our goodbyes and wish her a pleasure-filled evening.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
