“Hey, J-man!”
Jackson whirls to see EJ coming from the left. “Mr. EJ! I gave you good luck! And look!” He holds up the puck. “Mr. Brayden gave me a puck.”
Speaking of whom, Brayden appears a few feet behind him.
EJ picks Jackson up. “That’s awesome. Did you have fun?”
“Yes. And look!” He tugs on his jersey. “Ms. Deanna bought it for me.”
“She did? Did you thank her?”
Jackson nods and yawns.
“Let’s get you home. I’m sure your momma is waiting to hear all about your night.” Looking at me, he says, “Thanks, Deanna.”
“No problem; thanks for the sweet seats. And tell Raelynn I want to do lunch this week.”
He nods and walks back the way he came. Brayden eyes me for a moment, his hands in his pockets, and then he holds out a hand, which I take.
“You didn’t say you were coming.”
“Surprise,” I say with a smile.
“Are you tired too?” he teases.
“Nope.”
“Some of the guys are going somewhere for food and drinks. Do you want to go?”
“Sure. This is kinda creepy,” I say, referring to the underbelly of the arena.
Brayden rolls his eyes and with his free hand pulls on the Rebels logo in the jersey. “Did you have to think about whose jersey you should buy?”
“Jackson tried to convince me to buy EJ’s, and he almost succeeded,” I lie. “I also thought about buying one of the Kessy jerseys.”
Brayden frowns at that. “You’re a terrible girlfriend, you know?”
My grin is cheeky and cheesy.
“What?”
“That’s the first time you’ve called me your girlfriend, aside from when you said it to Jackson, which I’m totally not counting.”
Brayden shakes his head like I’m crazy. We’re outside now and he opens the door to my car as soon as I unlock it. “Follow me there, okay?”
“You got it.” I give him a quick kiss.
A little while later, we’re at a restaurant and pub. Brayden heads to the table while I walk to the restroom. When I return, I spot Zane at the table, too. Nerves wash over me. After it finally hit me that he likes me, I’m not too thrilled to join the table, even with Brayden there. I decide to stall by stopping by the bar to grab a drink first.
That turns out to be a bad idea.
“Hey, Deanna.”
I turn to Zane. “Hey.” Then, I find the bartender and stare him down. Hurry up with my drink! The last thing I want is for Brayden to find me talking to Zane.
“I texted you; I was trying to check in,” he says, leaning forward to cut off my view of the bartender.
“I was with Brayden, so I didn’t see it. Things are obviously fine. You don’t need to worry about me or my relationship with Brayden.”