Her eyes widened and her mouth formed an “O” but no sound came out. Then she frowned, sadness in her voice as she whispered, “He actually said that?”
“Yeah. He did.” I still had her pinned against the wall but something had shifted. Her breath was coming in short, staccato little bursts now, her 34D’s rising and falling at the same time. Her eyes blazed with—pain? Anger? It was hard to tell, but when she licked her lips, the moisture glistening on them beckoned to me like a beacon in a storm.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice was uneven, her tone apologetic. “I didn’t know—”
“Just this one time, can you shut up, please?” I muttered. “Because I’m going to kiss you. Unless you say no. But the window for you to do that closes in two seconds.”
Her mouth opened and, once again, nothing came out.
“Hadley.” I met her gaze and she gave me a barely perceptible nod but that was all I needed. I crashed my mouth to hers, sliding one arm around her waist and pulling her against me. Her lips parted beautifully, her tongue meeting mine stroke for stroke, and I didn’t let up. I pillaged her mouth like a thief in the night, taking pull after pull until she was grinding against my groin, our bodies pressed together. And hers was made for loving. Slender, with luscious curves, and goddamn, those tits made me insane. I would’ve given my left nut to suck on them.
“Aunt Hadley? I had a bad dream…where are you?” Annalise’s voice from the hallway made us jump apart and Hadley hurriedly smoothed down her top as she took a shaky breath, her eyes not meeting mine.
“I’m coming, baby.” Gaze still averted, she hurried out of the room without looking back.
I watched her retreating figure with a mixture of frustration and regret. I would have done anything to follow her, kiss her some more, but I knew better. One kiss probably didn’t change how she felt about me and I wasn’t the kind of guy to take advantage of a woman who was feeling vulnerable. The trouble was, I was vulnerable too.
“Lauren and I want you to be the baby’s godfather,” Ben said, a smile lighting his face as he eyed me. “You down?”
“For you and Lauren? Anything.” I paused. “Wait, let me guess, Hadley is going to be the godmother.”
Ben laughed, a full-on belly laugh that made me want to knock him off the barstool he was sitting on. “Lauren said Hadley had the same exact reaction when she asked her about being the godmother. You two are such a hot mess.”
“I truly have never met someone who pisses me off the way she does.” I took a sip of my drink.
“I think the two of you want each other bad, but you’re too damn stubborn to admit it.”
“Would I have sex with her? Sure. But I can’t talk to her for more than thirty seconds before I want to kill myself, so I’m going to say no, we do not want each other at all beyond maybe a quick roll in the hay. Assuming she actually even likes sex.”
“Look, she and Lauren are going to be here any minute. Could you please just try to be nice?”
“I’m not the one who’s not nice,” I shot back. “And it kind of pisses me off that you’re always defending her.”
Ben sighed. “You think I don’t defend you when the tables are turned?”
“I don’t know. Do you?” I met his gaze with irritation. Things hadn’t been the same since we’d left college. We were still tight, of course, but with me playing in New York and him in St. Louis, it was hard to stay in touch, keep up with the day-to-day details we’d shared since we were fourteen. Not to mention, he now had a wife and a baby on the way. Meanwhile, I was still footloose and fancy-free, sleeping my way through Manhattan while playing hockey for one of the best teams in the league.
“Come on, you know better than that. I’m just giving you shit, and while I really do wish you and Hadley would get along, nothing comes between us. You’re my brother—biology notwithstanding.”
“I know.” I looked away.
“What’s really bothering you? Everything okay?”
“It’s been weird playing without you. I love what I’m doing, and the hockey here is fucking amazing, but I don’t love living here, and my teammates have been a little standoffish. I think I’m gonna get traded.”
Ben’s eyebrows rose a little. “For real? You have any feelers out?”
“My agent’s been on top of it, but I’m not sure where we’re at.”
Ben looked thoughtful. “Any interest in coming to St. Louis?”
I was surprised. “You think that’s possible?”
“I don’t know for sure, but we could use a winger like you to round out the second line. Let your agent know you’re interested.”
“I will. Definitely.” I was about to thank him when I spotted Lauren and Hadley coming through the restaurant toward us. Lauren looked more beautiful than ever, her tiny baby bump on display with a tight sweater and leggings. Hadley looked like a freakin’ supermodel, with a full face of makeup, wearing all black and the highest heels I’d ever seen.
“Hey, babe.” Ben got up to kiss his wife and pull out her chair and I reluctantly got up to do the same for Hadley.
“Hey, ladies.” I leaned over to kiss Lauren on the cheek and Hadley used the momentary distraction to slide into her chair before I could pull it out.
“Hey, good-lookin’!” Lauren hugged me before sitting down.
“Hey, Ben.” Hadley briefly smiled at him before pulling out her phone and typing something in.
God, she drove me crazy, but we were about to become godparents to Ben and Lauren’s baby, so I had to suck it up and be on my best behavior. Thank God I only saw her once or twice a year.
“So did Ben tell you the news?” Lauren asked, grinning.
“Yup.” I grinned back at her because I truly loved my best friend’s wife almost as much as he did. “And I can’t fucking wait. I don’t know what a godfather is supposed to do, but I’m in, whatever it takes.”
“We know that,” Ben said. “That’s why we chose you.”
Hadley put away her phone and though she was cool as fuck to me, the four of us carried on pleasant conversation all through dinner. Lauren wasn’t drinking, of course, but Ben and I were three or four bourbons in by the time dinner was over, and I’d lost count of how many martinis Hadley had ordered.
She was kind of cute when she was drunk, though, giggling a lot—even at my jokes—and constantly telling Lauren she loved her. It was obvious how close they were, despite the distance between them since Lauren was in St. Louis with Ben and Hadley worked here in Manhattan. Ironically, I had zero desire to hang out with her even though we only lived about ten subway stops from each other.
“I’m going to the ladies’ room.” Hadley got to her feet and stumbled a little.
“You want me to come with?” Lauren asked her.
“I’m good!” Hadley waved a hand, tottering on those stupidly high heels as she weaved in and out toward the back.
I watched her go because she had a great ass and long legs, but I wasn’t the only one who noticed. At least half a dozen heads in the restaurant turned, especially one guy sitting at the other end of the bar. Once we’d finished dinner and dessert, we’d moved to the bar so our waiter could seat another party at the table, and there had been quite a few guys eyeing Hadley since it was pretty obvious we weren’t together. She was oblivious, though, and I wasn’t sure whether it was because she was drunk, she wasn’t interested, or she genuinely had no idea how gorgeous she was.