Page 8 of The Husband Game

CHAPTER THREE

Dustin’s brand-new husband was not happy.

Charlie had barely spoken a single word to Dustin that morning and he’d side-eyed the breakfast Dustin had ordered from room service.

He’d looked positively green at the sight of the eggs, sausage, and toast Dustin had wolfed down.

Instead, he’d retreated to the desk on the far side of the hotel room, clutching a bowl of Greek yogurt and berries that he’d picked at in fits and starts in between texting his best friend, Taylor Hollis.

Which was undoubtedly why Dustin had received a flurry of voicemails and texts from his close friend Jamie Walsh, who Taylor was dating.

Dustin really should call Jamie back but despite the water, electrolytes, hearty breakfast, and painkillers, Dustin still felt vaguely queasy and his head was throbbing.

Jamie was probably going to murder him.

And his family. Oh God, they were definitely going to murder him. He was ignoring those voicemails too.

And the ones from his team in Toronto.

Basically, the only message he had responded to was the one from his agent, Wade Cannon.

Thankfully, Wade was in Las Vegas too.

He’d come to the NHL awards not only because he was a huge name in the hockey world, but because he was dating an NHL player.

The number of out players in the league had exploded in the past few years and culminated in dramatic fashion at the awards last night, when Ryan Hartinger dropped to one knee and proposed to Zane Murphy.

Unfortunately, the news of Dustin and Charlie’s marriage had completely upstaged that.

Whoops.

Dustin would have happily let the newly retired players bask in their time in the spotlight but, well, here they were.

Charlie had raised a skeptical eyebrow at Dustin when Dustin asked if he wanted clean clothes and toiletries brought up from the shops in the lobby but he had nodded, then held a hushed phone conversation with the concierge about what he wanted.

When the purchases arrived, Charlie was in the shower, so Dustin signed to have them charged to his room, then knocked on the bathroom door.

“I have your clothes and stuff,” he called through the door. “Want me to bring it in?”

When a muffled shout of ‘yes’ came through, Dustin walked in, trying not to stare at Charlie in the glass-surround shower.

A part of him wished he couldn’t remember the details of their reckless wedding and the scorching hot sex after, but other than some slightly blurry moments, the memories had returned with a vengeance.

Under any other circumstances, Dustin would enjoy reliving the hours they’d spent in bed, but now that Charlie had made it clear he wasn’t pleased with the way their night had gone, Dustin wasn’t sure what to do.

So he carefully hung Charlie’s new clothes on the hook on the back of the door, set the bag of toiletries on the vanity counter, then retreated from the bathroom with a grimace.

He hated how unhappy Charlie was.

Maybe it was too much for Dustin to hope that Charlie was pleased about their marriage, but he hadn’t expected him to react quite so negatively.

Then again, one of the things Dustin had liked best about Charlie when they met at the birthday party for Jamie’s daughter Ava last March was that Charlie never quite did what anyone expected.

Dustin had watched him curiously the whole time, wondering why he looked sad when no one was looking at him. Why the smile on his face and his laugh seemed forced.

So Dustin had poked at him, delighted when Charlie lit up and snarled in response.

He’d looked like a feisty tiger cub when he’d argued back and the nickname had dropped from Dustin’s lips without a second thought.

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