My Lucky #13

by Piper Rayne

  Halfway up, Saige stops and bends over to catch her breath.

  I jog in place. “Come on.”

  “I’m not training to box anyone. Let me alone.” She waves at me.

  I throw her over my shoulder because, hell… I want to. She squeals and I run up the steps to the top. I shout and throw up one fist.

  “Put me down now?” She pats my back, laughing the whole time.

  I lower her to the ground, disappointed because I enjoyed touching her, even if it wasn’t sexual in nature.

  “It’s beautiful here,” she says, staring across the city.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Drake?” A small voice interrupts us.

  I look down to see the kid whose dad just screamed at me. Obviously they’re hitting all the nearby tourist stops too.

  I squat. “Hey, what do you need?”

  He hands me a piece of paper and a pen. “Could you sign this? I’ve never met a real hockey player before.”

  Saige sighs behind me.

  “Sure. What’s your name?” I scribble down my signature and wish him luck.

  He stares at the paper with wide eyes and a huge smile. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime.”

  The kid leans forward. “Sorry about my dad.”

  I wave him off. “No worries. You have to stay faithful to your team. Always.”

  The kid walks back to his mother, and I catch sight of his dad at the bottom of the stairs with their daughter.

  “That was so sweet.” To my surprise, Saige initiates contact by sliding her arm through mine and resting her head on my upper arm. “After his dad was such a jerk and everything.”

  I nod, but it’s not the kid’s fault his dad’s a jerk.

  “You made his day,” she says.

  I want to tell her that she made my day. That spending these couple hours with her makes me crave more time with her. But that’s not in the cards because she’s seeing someone else. Someone who directly affects my own success.

  “A photo shoot?” Aiden groans.

  “More like a few poses of you in your casual clothes, maybe in your house or something. Just so people can get a feel of who you are off the ice.” I slide my chair side to side.

  “Just you in bed,” Tedi adds. “No worries, we’ll cover the important parts with a sheet.” She laughs.

  He glances at her and sips his coffee. After the trip to Philly, I’d be lying if I said I don’t feel more connected to Aiden. The way he handled the obnoxious fan, the way he picked me up, the fact that he’s not at all like what anyone would picture a professional hockey player to be.

  “I can put on my Speedo and we could go to the beach,” he jokes.

  “Perfect.” I smile. “Just make sure they’re the super low ones so we can see those hip indentations.”

  He moves his hands to cover his chest and crotch. “I feel dirty now.”

  Tedi laughs from her desk.

  “The other thing is… would you mind if I follow you around for a day?” I bite my lip because I hate asking this. I’m sure he’ll hate the idea. “We could invite Maksim and kill two birds with one stone.”

  He holds up his hands. “Hey now, I don’t kill innocent animals.”

  I tilt my head. “Har har.”

  He shrugs. “Sure. Actually, Maksim and I are going fishing tomorrow morning. Want to join us?”

  I scrunch up my eyebrows. “Fishing? Don’t people wake-up really early?”

  “Not much of a morning person, huh?” He sips his coffee.

  “No, but I’ll make do. I’ll bring my camera and do some candid shots of you both. Tedi?”

  “Hell to the no.”

  Aiden turns around in his chair. “What if I told you Tweetie was coming?”

  Tedi blushes. I’m as amazed by her reaction as Aiden seems to be. While we were in Philly, she was never in our room. From what I heard, she and Tweetie rented their own room because Ford said he wasn’t leaving his and Tweetie’s.

  “I’m curious, did that fuck-it bucket list include ‘have a relationship with a hockey player’ on it?” Aiden asks.

  Tedi balls up a piece of paper and throws it at him. “I never thought it would happen, okay? But I’m not through with him.”

  Aiden turns to me and raises his eyebrows.

  I lean over and whisper, “Is he really a good guy?”

  Aiden scrunches his eyebrows at me and finishes his coffee before throwing the cup into the trash can.

  “I’m going to the bathroom,” Tedi says and walks out of the office, leaving Aiden and me alone together.

  “So is Tweetie a good guy?” I ask again.

  Aiden stares at me. “What kind of answer do you want? The one I should give the best friend of the girl he’s banging or the truthful one?”

  I stare at him. “Seriously? That bad?”

  “Nah.” He waves me off, dropping his foot so both are on the floor. “He’s a good guy. If Tedi wants something serious, he might too.” He shrugs. “I mean, he’s not a perpetual bachelor like Ford or anything.”

  “Hmm… she rarely puts herself out there. I mean, she’s been with him more than once.”

  “Is that like Guinness Book of Tedi’s Records or something?”

  “Kind of. Ever since I’ve known her, she’s never wanted a boyfriend or any kind of commitment.” I shake my head. “And I probably shouldn’t be having this conversation with you. So back to fishing.”

  He laughs. “It’s cool, I’m down with the girl talk.”

  I open my drawer and pull out some paperwork. “I’m sending these home with you for you to fill out. You can give them to me tomorrow. Let me know if you have any questions.”

  He groans. “You’re giving me homework?”

  “I do travel all over creation for you.” My eyebrows rise, and he chuckles.

  “Technically, you’ve traveled once. Which reminds me, when we head to New York, my cousin is having an adoption party. Her husband is adopting her daughter. I thought maybe you’d want to go with me?”

  My eyes widen and my heart trips over itself. Is he asking me out on a date?

  “Completely platonic, of course. I’m getting them tickets to the game that night and they’ll be sitting with you, so I thought you might like to meet them beforehand. Their daughter, Jolie, is the best thing ever. She’s seven and loves me because hello, I’m the best hockey player ever.” He raises his shoulders as though he’s bragging.

  “Oh, well, um… sure.” I’m unsure how to answer. It’s weird that he’s asking so early. What if the drink thing is already off the table by then because it stops working?

  “I have to give her a head count, and I figured this way you’re not stuck in the hotel room the whole time either.”

  I laugh. “You did say New York City, right? I’m pretty sure I could find a thing or two to do.”

  His smile falters. “Oh, then by all means, you don’t have to come with me.”

  There’s something weird in his expression, like he’s disappointed I might not go.

  “I’m happy to go. You’re right. It would be nice to meet them before we’re all watching the game together.”

  His cloudy expression clears. “Great. I’ll let her know. She’s been on my ass about it.”

  “Perfect.”

  We sit in silence for a moment before he stands. “How’s Joran? I haven’t heard from him in a while.”

  Funny he says that, because I haven’t either. “He’s good.”

  “Good.” He knocks on the corner of my desk. “All right. See you tomorrow.”

  “Can you text me the address?”

  “Definitely.”

  He walks out of the office and I lean back in my chair, unsure what exactly is happening between us. Then I head to the window and wait the three minutes it takes him to ride the elevator down and head out to his SUV in the parking lot. He walks out of the building threading his fingers through his dark hair, then circles his keys arou
nd his finger. When he stops at the driver’s door, he glances toward my office. I’m thankful for the mirrored windows so he can’t see me. Then he slides in and drives away.

  “What are we looking at?” Tedi whispers in my ear and I jump.

  She and Aiden clearly have the same sense of humor.

  “Nothing.”

  “Bullshit. You were checking him out.” She sits on the edge of my desk. “Let’s get real for a moment, shall we?”

  I walk over to our small kitchen area where there’s a coffeemaker and a few snacks. “Let’s drop it. He’s a client.”

  She turns to look at me. “You can tell me.”

  I can trust Tedi with anything, I know that. But admitting anything to her is admitting it to myself too. I can feel myself almost bursting though, dying to talk to someone.

  “He’s an attractive guy,” I say. “A really nice guy. By all accounts, a decent guy. Of course I’m kinda into him, but I don’t date athletes anymore.”

  “Oh please. Aiden and Jeremy are on two opposite sides of the field.”

  “You say that now, but their lifestyle is very similar—on the road, girls galore, anything they want at their fingertips.” I refill my coffee mug and head back to my desk.

  “Not everyone will take advantage of that.” Tedi has her serious look going. The one that suggests I need to forget Jeremy and move on.

  “Okay, okay, enough personal talk. Time to get to work.” I shoo her off my desk.

  She hops down and heads over to hers.

  “Also, if you keep asking me questions about Aiden, I’m going to ask you about Tweetie. What is his real name anyway?”

  She laughs. “I haven’t a clue.”

  I shake my head. Maybe that inkling in my stomach was wrong. Maybe Tedi doesn’t see anything more than sex with Tweetie.

  The next morning, I’m in jeans and a sweater with a jacket over top. My hair is flung into a messy ponytail and my makeup isn’t the best it could be. Who gets up at this ungodly hour to catch fish when you could buy them in the grocery store?

  I head down to the marina. Surprisingly, I see a lot of people loading different boats with fishing poles and coolers.

  “There’s the beauty of Aiden’s eye!” Maksim yells from what looks to be one of the biggest boats in the marina.

  Even the other boaters groan, because it’s still too damn early for that.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. And we need to discuss your comment on Twitter last night.” I point at Maksim and accept the hand he’s offering to help me into the boat.

  “What? That guy thought he’d school me on vodka? What the fuck ever. Then he told me I’m a sellout because I play here in the US? What am I supposed to do? Just let that shit go?”

  I drop my bags on a bench. “Yes. That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. I’m your social media person now. At least call me to consult before you go off on someone publicly.”

  He shrugs. “I don’t want that fan anyway.”

  “It’s not about wanting the fan, it’s about keeping your cool. Who the hell cares about vodka brands?”

  “Oh, you did it this time. He might just throw you overboard.” Aiden comes up from under the deck, and the sunrise does wonders on a face. While I look as if I just woke up after a bender, he looks refreshed and gorgeous with the backdrop of yellow and orange sky. “Good morning.”

  Aiden winks and I melt, almost losing my footing and falling to the bench.

  “Good morning,” I choke out, hopefully sounding unfazed.

  “I told you that whole vodka thing was bad.” Aiden slaps Maksim on the shoulder and comes over to me. “Do you get seasick or anything?” He offers a pill in his hand.

  “No, I should be okay.”

  “Perfect.” He pockets it and his gaze roams up and down me. “Amazes me how prepared you always are.”

  “I wouldn’t say I’m prepared. This is extremely early, and I’ve never fished in my life.”

  He grabs ahold of my hip and slides by me. “Then I can’t wait to be your teacher,” he whispers in my ear, causing a flutter of goose bumps to race up my spine.

  He goes behind the wheel and starts the boat.

  “Is this boat yours?” I ask.

  Aiden nods rather than talk over the sound of the engine starting. Maksim must be on the boat a lot because they work together like pros to get away from the dock. Then Maksim sits in the front of the boat, watching it move through the water. I decide to take a few candid pictures of them. A far away one of Maksim at the front of the boat, and one of Aiden driving.

  “What’s her name?” I ask, raising my voice over the engine noise and the wind whipping past us.

  “Twilight.”

  “I didn’t peg you for a fan.”

  He looks at me with a crinkled forehead as though he doesn’t understand.

  “Team Jacob or Edward?”

  His head rolls back between his shoulder blades. “I named her Twilight because I love taking her out right as the sun sets.”

  My mind plays tricks on me, thinking about being here with him. Us anchored in some secluded area while I’m stretched out naked for him. “Sounds like fun.”

  He laughs, his gaze on me as though he knows what I was thinking. “Maybe another time we can leave Maksim home?”

  I stare at his lips. So full and pink. I wonder briefly what they would feel like on mine. How does Aiden kiss? Hard or soft? I clear my throat. I shouldn’t think like that.

  “Did you finish your homework?” I ask, changing the subject.

  “My dog ate it,” he says, but nods toward the downstairs part of the boat. “Just kidding. It’s down there. We’ll be anchoring in about twenty if you want to go down and have a look at it. Or wait and enjoy the wind in your hair.”

  “It needs to be about twenty degrees warmer for that,” I say with a wry smile.

  He reaches toward my ponytail. “Do you mind?”

  I hesitate for a second and then shake my head. He expertly undoes my ponytail and my blonde hair fans out, blowing straight back behind me.

  I close my eyes and relish the breeze flowing through my strands even if I do have a slight chill. “Oh, that feels good.”

  When I open my eyes back up, Aiden’s staring at me with a smoldering expression that has me thinking maybe I don’t care so much about consequences anymore.

  My phone rings while I’m in the lobby of our Denver hotel, waiting for Saige to come down. Luckily, this hotel is used to having sports teams, so other than one guy stopping and asking me if I’m Aiden Drake, I’ve been left alone.

  Joran’s name flashes on the screen. I’ve been dodging him as much as I can lately because I’m heavy into his girl and that’s not cool, even if I have no plans to do anything about it. Since I’m about to see him because I’m shooting a commercial and Saige is coming with to grab some social media shots, I might as well get it over with. All three of us will be thrown together soon enough and I’ll have to endure the sight of them together.

  “Hey, Joran,” I answer.

  “How’s my favorite center? Plane ride good? Who won your card game? Tell me you beat Ford.”

  I nod and laugh because Ford can’t win Oh Hell to save his life and it’s becoming more comical the longer his losing streak continues. “I’m good, and Maksim won this time.”

  “Did Ford have a shit fit?” He chuckles.

  “How’d you guess?”

  “Sorest loser I know. Thank god he’s not my client, what with his anger issues.”

  He makes Ford sound like a bad guy. At least Ford pays for all the damage he does.

  “I’m just waiting on Saige, then we’ll head over to the studio.”

  “Perfect. I’m almost there too. Had a meeting first.”

  To be honest, I have no idea what Joran does the majority of the time. He’s got all different clients, but when I was in my slump, he was up my ass nonstop and now he’s nowhere to be found. I’m not even sure why h
e’s babysitting me with this commercial campaign.

  “Okay, we’ll see you there,” I say and hang up as Saige makes her appearance.

  “Do you ever go anywhere warm?” she says.

  We both look outside at what I think might be a blizzard starting.

  “At least the sun’s out.” I point toward our view of the mountains.

  We walk out of the hotel and the doorman flags a taxi to take us to the shoot location, which is a bit out of the city. I’m happy to have more time alone with Saige, even as fleeting as it will be.

  “Did Tedi come?”

  “Tweetie’s here, isn’t he?” She chuckles. “I ran into Tweetie coming out of the elevator on our floor when I was leaving. I’m not so sure about those two.”

  She files into the taxi and I tip the doorman before sliding in right next to her.

  “Pretty soon you’ll be a bridesmaid.”

  She balks. “Tedi? Marriage? Never.”

  “Why’s that?”

  She shrugs. “You heard her. She has a fuck-it bucket list. Who has one of those and is looking for a serious relationship?”

  She’s got a point. “You do know if I had a fuck-it bucket list, you’d think a lot less of me.”

  She looks at me with my favorite smile of hers on her plump lips. The one that says I’m right but she’ll never admit it. “Maybe. Like if your buddy Ford said he had a list of women he wanted to sleep with—”

  “I said myself. Why are you switching it to Ford?”

  She laughs. “Because you’re not like that.”

  I stretch my arm out along the back of the cab bench and give her my full attention. “How do you know that?”

  Her eyes lock with mine for a second and her smile dims. “I guess I don’t.”

  I lean across. “I’m kidding. You do know me. I’m not that type of guy.”

  She doesn’t say anything and shifts to watch the world go by while we make our way to where the shoot is happening. The silence isn’t uncomfortable per se, but I get the impression she had something more she wanted to say to me but didn’t.

  The taxi eventually stops, and I hand some money to the driver through the window then step out. I want her to know I’m not that guy, but more importantly, I want her to know for certain in her gut that that’s not me. I’m not out picking up women after games. Something in my own gut tells me she’s been hurt before, even if she’s never expressed as much.