Page 34 of Bar Down Baby!
Barry laughed and set his duffle down before sinking onto one of the mismatched bar stools.
“No prize, and I think they only gave it to me because it was my first home game.”
“You got a goal, and also an assist,” I said, repeating what Jeremy said three times in exclamation about the game.
“She knows hockey now,” Barry teased. “One game really changes a girl.”
“Well, it does when you have a twenty-two-year-old super fan giving play-by-play the whole time.” I poured the steaming water over a bag of the only pregnancy tea Kate found that didn’t taste like shit. “He said thanks for the jersey, by the way.”
“Jersey was for you, but he’s welcome. I’ll get you as many as you want.”
“Don’t tell my brother that,” I said.
His eyes dropped to the team shirt I was still wearing, then back up to my face. He opened his mouth, ready to say something, then sealed his lips shut in a tight smile.
“What?”
Barry shrugged. “Nothing.”
I glared and slid his cup of cocoa across the counter to him. “Come on.”
“I just like seeing you wear it, is all.”
Now it was my turn to close my mouth. I felt my cheeks heating and a slight smile pulling at my mouth. We were getting dangerously close to flirting territory, so I didn’t press farther, instead opting to change the subject.
“I didn’t know you were rich,” I told him. Barry laughed, a loud, crisp sound of delighted surprise. “What? You never told me.”
“Well, you never asked,” Barry said. Of course, when I met him, I assumed he was kind of rich, but like six-figure salary rich, not eight-figure contract paid out over six years rich.
Barry took a long sip of his cocoa and stood to come around the island toward me. He reached in front of me to put the mug in the sink and ran some water to rinse it out. I couldn’t move out of the corner of the kitchen without brushing my bodyagainst his, so I stayed still and tried not to breathe in his cologne, which was warm, spicy. I didn’t know shit about cologne, other than when it smelled bad or was too much, but Barry seemed to have struck the perfect balance of cologne to skin ratio. The scent of him so clean and close in my little kitchen was heady.
“You didn’t tell me you were famous,” I accused.
“I’m not famous,” he said, eyes full of humor but still on the mug he washed in the sink. “Probably not even in the top thirty most famous players in the league and only some people even know about hockey to begin with. You didn’t know who I was.”
“You’re famous to my little brother. He talked you up like you were the best thing to happen to this team in years.”
Barry shut off the water and placed the mug on the drying rack before turning his body to face mine. I was so aware of his proximity, could almost feel him on my skin.
“You were good,” I admitted.
“You sound surprised.”
“I thought being traded meant you were bad,” I whispered. His dimples pressed deeper into his cheeks, and I wanted to poke the stupid things for how cute they were.
“Thank you for coming,” he said, and when did he lean one of those big hands on the counter next to me? When did his face get so close to mine? “Will you come to another? You might be my good luck charm.”
I swallowed the dryness in my throat.
“I think Jeremy was the good luck charm. I might be your totem of bad luck. Harbinger of doom.”
“Is it bad luck if I’m not mad about it?”
We looked at each other for longer than could be seen as a normal interaction—this was veering definitely into the realm ofromantic moment. Then, providence divine, my phone buzzed on the counter, startling me and pulling my attention.
I squeezed past him, my pregnant belly brushing against hisside. The new distance between us was an icy bath of relief as I peered at my phone and tried to get a hold of myself.
“Jeremy wants me to tell you that you can sleep at his apartment if you get sick of the dungeon, but be warned, he has three roommates.”
