Wild Zone (Rough Riders Hockey 4)

The mix of shock and disbelief on Beckett’s face made Tate laugh a little, but he was grateful when he saw most of the missing boys arriving on the ice. He started to stand. “Kids are here—”

“Wait.” Beckett grabbed his arm and pulled Tate back to the bench. “They’ll wait. This is important. Bro, talk to me.”

A little of that guilt Tate was trying to get rid of snuck in. “Everyone does it all the time, including you before Lily and Eden. I’m not gonna be telling you anything you don’t already know.”

“Hey, I’m not judging you, man. I’m just surprised. It was never your style, not even before Lisa. And there’s been no one since Lisa. Then, bam, you meet a girl, talk with her, what? Thirty minutes, tops? And take her home the same night? I’m just checking in with you. Making sure everything’s okay.”

“Yeah, sure,” was Tate’s automatic response, because on the surface, everything was okay. “I mean,” he shrugged, “we just…she’s just…”

“Special?” Beckett finished for him.

Tate let the air he was holding release. “Yeah, I guess.”

“What do you mean, you guess? You fuckin’ took her home, Tate.”

“It just sounds, I don’t know, juvenile I guess. I liked her. We clicked. I took a chance.” He shrugged. “She made it easy.”

“No, this doesn’t have anything to do with anything she did. I’ve seen women literally fall all over you—as in, you had to unhook them to get away—and you still didn’t take them upstairs to your room. Dude, remember those twins that sat in the hall outside your room in Tampa?”

Tate started laughing and rubbed at tired eyes. “Crazy women.”

“I met her,” Beckett said. “I went into the kitchen last night after I found out our caterer was rushed to the hospital to give birth and met Olivia.”

Tate’s head came up. “Rushed to the hospital to what?”

“She didn’t tell you?” When Tate shook his head, Beckett said, “Our caterer went into labor right before the party started. Olivia didn’t go in and help out. Olivia went in and took over. Eden gave the family a ridiculous tip that was more like a second freakin’ payment.”

Tate’s mouth hung open as his mind replayed the night. He couldn’t remember hearing anything about the caterer, which wouldn’t have been unusual when he’d been hanging out with the guys most of the night. Olivia sure hadn’t mentioned it. Tate had hung on the woman’s every word and that was certainly something he would have remembered.

“You know Eden,” Beckett said. “She admires anyone who’ll run toward a problem instead of away from it. After it was all said and done, Eden wanted to canonize the woman.”

That made Tate smile. As a paramedic in DC, Eden saw her share of rough situations. “I could see that.”

“Hold on,” Beckett said, frowning. “Isn’t she from out of town? Isn’t she here visiting her family?”

“Oh yeah. Way out of town. She lives in Paris.”

“She lives in Paris?”

Tate laughed, but it held less humor than resignation. “I know how to pick ‘em, right?” He shook his head and another wave of disappointment tried to drag him down. “It doesn’t matter. It was just one night.”

Beckett stood and parked his butt on the half wall between the rink and the bench, facing Tate. Crossing his arms, he settled a smile of anticipation on Tate. “So? How was it?”

Olivia filled his mind, and his body and heart responded. He couldn’t keep the fucking smile off his face. He dropped his head and rubbed at the burn in his cheeks w

ith both hands. “Oh, my God,” he laughed. “Best fuckin’ night of my life.”

Beckett broke into laughter. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Tate grew serious and glanced up at Beckett for a second. “I didn’t know it could be like that, man.” He refocused on the floor, a little hard to believe it really happened now that he was mired back in everyday life. “She’s…”

Everything I never knew I wanted.

And she lived in Paris.

“She’s great. But, again, it was one night. And she doesn’t want anything more. I’m just a fling for her.” On a deep breath, he looked at the ice. “Come on, the kids are waiting.”

“Nah, nah, nah, hold on.” Beckett put a hand on Tate’s arm. “You deserve a good woman in your life.”