Man. He groaned.
“I’m taking that as a yes,” Jai said, which earned another round of laughter from Ryan.
“You guys are not exactly being supportive right now,” he grumbled.
“Your partner is pretty,” Chris said. He waggled his eyebrows.
“Don’t go there, man. She is, but we can’t do anything.”
“Now that sounds like a man who wants to do something,” Jai teased.
“Yeah, the very man who said he’s not doing relationships until he’s quit hockey.” Ryan grinned.
“And I’m not,” he snapped. “There’s nothing there. She’s a professional, and so am I. And anyway, I don’t want a relationship with her.”
Judging from the new round of jeers he shouldn’t have bitten. This was such a mistake. He was gonna get slaughtered, crucified, his rep would never be the same. As soon as he’d finished this morning’s interview, his phone had blown up with all kinds of mocking tease. He’d thought answering the video call from his friends would be the easiest way to explain what was going on, but clearly this was a mistake. If his friends were treating him like this, what would his teammates say? What would all the opposition teams say? They’d think he’d gone softer than soft, couldn’t play hard or fight anymore, and the reputation he’d built up these past ten years would be blown to smithereens.
“If it makes you feel any better, I can’t wait to see you dance, man,” Mike said.
“So proud of you,” Bree Vaughan called from the background. “Don’t listen to them, Luc, you’ll be great!”
He exhaled heavily, then glanced across at where Bailey sat frowning at her phone, headphones in. He hoped she hadn’t heard what he’d said about her. Even if it was true. Well, kinda true. He could be a professional—would be a professional about this. Just because they were spending lots of time together, and he was noticing all kinds of things about her, like how soft her skin was, or how light lived in her hair, or how good she smelled, didn’t mean anything had to happen. It couldn’t. They had a clause in their contract forbidding it.
“Is she there?” Ryan asked.
“No,” he fibbed.
“She is, isn’t she?” Bree said again.
Luc sighed. “Haven’t we had a conversation or two about how these chats are supposed to only be for us guys? No offense, Bree.”
“None taken,” she said. “So, is she? I want to meet her if she is.”
“No. She’s busy, and anyway, I want to change the topic. You know I’d much prefer to talk about manly things.”
“Too late for that, Mister Dancing King,” Mike teased.
“Yeah, put her on,” Chris said.
He sighed, and nudged Bailey. She took off her headphones and looked at him. “Hey, do you mind talking to the guys?”
“And me,” Bree’s voice called.
He winced. “And Bree Vaughan?”
“Who are they?”
Laughter fell from his phone. “I loved she didn’t know who he was,” Ryan said.
“What else was it she said?” Jai said. “She didn’t know much about hockey? Luc’s ego must’ve sunk to a new low.”
Just wait until they saw him dance. Ugh.
“Sounds like she doesn’t know who any of us are.”
“So we got a clean slate to work with here, fellas,” Chris said. “Time to spill all the juice on our Luc here.”
Man. “Just say hi.” Luc shoved the phone at her.
Bailey instantly grinned and waved at the screen. “Hi.”
Then, in a boss move, she handed it back. He fist-bumped his appreciation. Well, tried to, but she looked at his clenched fist as if not sure what to do with it, so he dropped his hand. Clearly they were from different worlds.
“She’s pretty,” Bree said.
“And she can still hear you.”
“Good! Then tell her I’m happy to tell her anything she needs to know.” Bree smirked.
“You don’t know as much as we do, babe,” Mike said, wrapping an arm around his wife.
Bailey laughed, and gestured for Luc’s phone. He shook his head. No way was this getting out of control any more than it already had.
“Tell her I’ve just followed her on Instagram,” Bree yelled.
Bailey tapped her screen and held up her own phone. “Tell her I’ve just done it back.”
“No, you can’t,” Luc protested. “They’re my friends, not yours.”
