Lucas (Cold Fury Hockey 8)

"Hey," she says as she walks toward Jules and me, her eyes going back and forth between us.

Max is off with Simone, making some introductory rounds. While he's been a little more accommodating to her feelings about dropping out of school, I've not made any bones about the fact I think it's the dumbest thing she's done or ever will do in her life. Needless to say, she's a little miffed at me right now, but I still want her to meet Stephanie when they come back around.

"Hey," I say as I lift my chin. "Glad you could make it."

It's friendly.

No hugs or kisses on the cheek, which could violate the no-strings-sex boundary, which is sort of fucked up. I can lay her down and suck on her clit until she screams my name, but I can't kiss her hello because that's actually more intimate and makes more of a statement about a relationship.

Totally fucked-up reasoning, but we're both going with it.

"Sorry I'm late," she says as her eyes flit around the kitchen, where we're standing near the food. "Forgot I had to get gas."

"No worries," Jules says. "I'm just glad you came, and I'm excited to talk some more about the nonprofit idea."

"Me too," Stephanie says as she moves closer to Jules, her smile wildly energetic and enthused.

It makes me smile to see her so fired up about something. I hate thinking she's in a career that's just satisfactory to her. I love my fucking career and it's a big part of my happiness. I'd like to see Stephanie have that for herself, not only to compensate for those things she doesn't have but so she can pass on to our kid that anything is possible if you want it bad enough.

"Do you want to get a plate of food and then go find someplace to sit?" I ask, jerking my thumb over my shoulder to the long counter spread with catered food. Garrett decided to go with an eastern North Carolina barbecue spread and I'm starving.

"Sounds good," Jules says as Stephanie nods.

"Dude," I hear from behind me as two large hands come down on my shoulders and squeeze me a few times. As I turn to look, the hands then pat me hard before retreating. My eyes make contact with Cash McCain, who just got called up from the minor leagues this week to fill in on the third line for one of our defenseman who has a hamstring pull. He's twenty-one, energetic, and slightly annoying. I wonder if I acted like that at that age, and if I did, how I ever got laid.

"What's up, man?" I ask as I give him a curt smile.

"This party is off the hook," he says while swinging his arms outward in exaggeration.

I look around and wonder since when did gathering for barbecue and birthday cake constitute "off the hook," but then he answers my question.

"I mean...I always wondered how you partied in the big league, and well...this is so stylish and elegant," he gushes.

My eyes go back to the food. It's in silver serving trays, so I guess that's stylish.

"And whoa, who do we have here?" Cash drawls out as he pulls his chin in and eyes Jules and Stephanie up and down.

Kid's not been here long enough to know Jules, so I make it a point to introduce her properly. "This is Jules, my soon-to-be sister-in-law."

And then the dork of a defenseman actually impresses me a little. He gets super respectful and sticks a hand out to Jules. "Oh wow. Max talks about you all the time. Nice to finally meet you."

This doesn't surprise me. Max does talk about Jules all the time in an annoyingly cute kind of way.

But then Cash gets idiotic again when he pushes his hand out to Stephanie, who I can see by the expression on her face is thoroughly amused.

"I'm Cash McCain," he says in a voice smooth as silk. "And you may be the most beautiful creature I've ever seen."

I try hard not to gag as Jules snorts beside me. Stephanie shakes his hand and even gives a tinkling laugh when Cash brings it up to his lips to kiss her knuckles. I suppress an eye roll because Cash is nowhere near Stephanie's league, plus he's way too young for her to even consider not only in age but in maturity.

"Dude," I mock Cash's earlier words with a hand to his shoulder and squeeze hard enough that he lets Stephanie's hand go. "Your flirting is a little cheesy."

"Oh, I don't know," Stephanie teases with a mischievous smile. "It was pretty good to me."

"Seriously?" I ask her with a cocked eyebrow. "That was good flirting?"

"All flirting's good," Stephanie points out.

"Yeah, no...cheesy flirting is not good," I maintain.

"Dude," Cash interjects. "I'm standing right here while you're ruining my game."

Jules snorts again, and this time, I squeeze down into Cash's shoulder before giving him a "friendly" push away, but I make sure I give him a cordial-enough smile so he knows I'm joking.

Well...half joking.

"Get out of here, kid," I tell him. "You're out of your league."

And because he's a big goofy dork with a pretty good nature, he laughs and points a finger at me. "You're the man, Lucas. Whatever you say, I roll with."

All three of us watch Cash melt into the crowd, and then Jules says, "You see...that's the way I sort of envisioned all professional athletes."

"Young, dumb, and idiotic?" I ask.

Stephanie gives me a light punch on my arm. "Leave him alone. It was cute."

We all laugh and then I turn toward the food, making a sweeping gesture with my hand. "After you, ladies."

With food plates piled high, I lead the way through the crowd to the large outdoor screened-in deck at the back of Garrett's house. There's not as many people out here because it's a little chilly, but he's got two large outdoor heaters ru

nning so it's bearable.

I spot Max and Simone at a table in the corner talking to Hawke and Vale. Hawke and Max are pretty tight and Vale is one of our trainers. They're both cool in my opinion. As we approach the table, Simone's gaze goes right to Stephanie, as I told her I was bringing a friend tonight. She of course thought a "friend" meant something more, and although technically it is more because there are benefits, I assured her this was nothing like that.

Which is thoroughly confusing even to me.

Hawke and Max immediately stand up and offer their chairs to Jules and Stephanie. The women get situated and the men hover behind them in a circular group.

I make introductions. "Simone, this is my friend Stephanie."

They smile at each other and Simone says, "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Stephanie replies.

We all make idle chitchat for a while, but the conversation eventually turns to Stephanie's idea about bringing kids into nursing homes. I think she's a little embarrassed to have such a big crowd discussing this when she thought it would just be Jules and me, but by the smile on her face I know the fact that everyone has been enthusiastic about it means a lot to her.

As I watch her interacting with friends, family, and coworkers at this table, it again amazes me how outgoing Stephanie is. She has a huge personality coupled with such a funny wit, it's hard to believe that is just her exterior shell. It's hard to believe there's a woman underneath who has been so deeply hurt by abandonment that chances are you'll never get closer to her than her fun and engaging personality, which she uses as a brilliantly deceptive shield.

"I need to use the restroom," Stephanie says as she rises from the chair.

"I'll go with you," Simone says, also pushing up from the table.

"Does anyone need anything?" Stephanie asks. After a chorus of nos, the women make their way back into the house.

"You know," Jules says as she looks around the table but lets her gaze rest on me. "Stephanie's got a really good idea, and to my knowledge there is no organization that provides something like that in this area. I hope she runs with this."

"I hope so too," I say, but I leave it at that. Not going to share with them that Stephanie is not only facing a potential job loss soon but she's not going to take a risk on a new endeavor unless she's absolutely prepared to do it on her own. I've learned at least that much about her, that she wants to do this independently outside of some advice we give her. On top of that, I think she might be little overwhelmed with the pregnancy, so her focus is naturally going to be on that.