Wild Ever After: A Marriage of Convenience Sports Romance (Wildcat Hockey Book 3)
Wild Ever After: Chapter 17

Something is wrong.

I haven’t quite figured out what, but from the second Jade and I sat down at dinner, she’s been acting strange. The vibe of the restaurant is fun and playful, which makes her behavior stand out that much more.

A live band plays at the front of the restaurant. The meal is buffet-style, and the drinks are bottomless. The tables are pushed close together, making the place feel like a big party. It’s not what I would have chosen for our last night here. Slowly, I’ve been replaceing out more about Jade, but here, it’s impossible to talk, without couples nearby hearing our every word.

The band switches to a slower song and several people around us stand and make their way to the dance floor. Jade watches them almost wistfully.

Downing the rest of my drink, I stand and offer her my hand.

She hesitates, but slips her hand in mine. That familiar heat at her touch has my chest tightening. I’ve been careful not to let my gaze linger too long and to keep my hands to myself this week. She said that she didn’t want to go there again, and I respect that. Doesn’t make it any easier, though. Jade is smoking hot and the chemistry between us is unreal, but more than that, I just like being with her.

I pull her close and we move to the music. I keep my tone playful as I say, “You look beautiful tonight.”

“Thanks. I figured I might as well go all out for our final night.” She moves one hand from my shoulder to my neck. “You look nice too. Then again, you always do.”

“I do?” The question is out before I can think better of it.

“Don’t play like you don’t know. The bartender earlier was ready to jump over the bar and eat you alive.”

“The bartender?” I ask. It hits me as soon as she starts speaking again.

“I saw you on my way to the gift shop. She likes you.”

I tense a little, hoping she didn’t get the wrong idea. The bartender was cute and nice, but I’d never do something like that to anyone. Let alone Jade. “We were just talking.”

“I know,” Jade says. “I trust you.”

“Good.”

“But I think maybe you should sleep with her.” The words tumble out quickly and then she peers up at me.

“You want me to sleep with someone else on our honeymoon?”

“No one really knows us here and it might be your last chance.”

I don’t say anything. I’m angry and frustrated, and I don’t entirely know why.

“Twelve months is a long time,” she adds.

“And you? Are you going to sleep with someone else too? Maybe that server that keeps checking you out every time he walks by.” My jaw tightens while I wait for her answer.

“What server?” She looks around but then shakes her head. “No. I’m not…I don’t want to sleep with some random person.”

“And you think I do?”

“I’m responsible for getting you into this mess. I owe you this at least.”

“You owe me the chance at a quick fuck with some chick I don’t know?”

Her eyes squeeze shut, and when she opens them again, she looks flustered. “I don’t know how to navigate this. The gravity of what I’ve gotten us into is sinking in and I don’t know how we move forward, but I don’t want you to hate me when this is all over.”

Her chin drops and I use a finger to lift it, so I can look in her eyes when I say, “I could never hate you.”

“You say that now.” Her voice is raw and filled with pain.

“I promise it.” I take her hand and place both of our palms over my heart. “I vow it. Whatever happens, at the end of this, we stay friends.”

“Friends,” she whispers, and her stare drops to my lips.

Adrenaline makes my limbs feel jittery. I’d like to kiss her and say damn the consequences. Not that it’d do either of us a lick of good. But, hell, if it wouldn’t feel amazing.

We dance through the song and then stay for the next.

Slowly, the pained look on her face has abated.

“I feel like I still don’t know that much about you,” she says.

“What do you want to know?” I ask, hoping the topic doesn’t go back to my mom. I’ve told very few people as much as I told her today.

Her face flushes and an almost embarrassed smile pulls at her lips before she asks, “When did you get the piercing?”

“I was nineteen or twenty and drunk off my ass. I lost a bet.”

“A bet?”

“Yeah, it was dumb.”

“But you kept it.”

“Should I not have?”

Her face flushes again. “No. I like it. I was just surprised.”

I remember how much she liked it and the thought sends all my blood rushing south.

“What else do you want to know?” I ask, hoping to change the subject.

“Have you slept with a lot of people?” she asks. Then says, “No wait. Don’t answer that. What I really want to know is if it’s always like that for you?”

“Like what?” I ask, knowing damn well what she means, but wanting to hear her say it. That night was…unbelievable.

“I know we were drunk, but I’ve never gotten off that many times in one night.”

This conversation may actually kill me. My dick is inflating fast.

“No, it’s not usually like that for me either.”

She lets out a breath. “Maybe we should have spent the week banging it out of our system. It’s going to be a long year without sex after that.”

She’s right about that and if she’d said it on day one, I probably would have jumped at the opportunity. But tomorrow we’re going home, and we have to figure out how to be around each other and stay friends. Plus, I don’t think she’s over Sam, and I don’t want to be his stand-in when it comes to sex.

I press a soft kiss to her lips, letting myself linger there only a second before pulling back. Her pupils are blown wide, and I can feel her heart hammering in rhythm with mine. “Maybe, but I doubt I’d ever work you out of my system. I’d just want you more and more.”