Page 91 of Hot Shot
“Oh.” She glances over her shoulder. “This is EJ. Elliot. EJ, this is Hunter, my boyfriend.”
Fuck. Did not see that coming.
Elliot Jacobs, the defender for the Nashville Fury, is Madison’s EJ?
The guy’s a beast at well over six foot and nasty to boot. The last time we played the Fury, he checked Winston into the boards so hard he couldn’t play the last period.
This guy was her best friend? The one who screwed her over?
Elliot doesn’t put out his hand to shake mine when introductions are made. He simply glares at me.Great. Loud and clear, buddy. Loud and clear.
“EJ.” Madison steps out of my arms and turns her attention to her friend. “Be nice,” she hisses.
He simply nods at me, his brows furrowed. I open my mouth to say something, but quickly shut it as Elias bristles next to me. I look over at him to see him raise his chin toward Elliot.
His teammate.
Fuck me, did this get complicated fast.
“We’ll let you get on with your dinner,” Madison says to us. “Nice to meet you, Elias.”
“Nice to meet you too.” Elias shoves his hands in his pockets. “I’m going to check on our table.” He nods towards the hostess stand before ambling away.
I pull Madison to me before she can leave, placing a chaste kiss on her lips. “Bye, sweets. I’ll call you later.”
“Bye, hot shot.”
I look up to see Elliot glaring at me. If looks could kill, I’d be dead.
With a wave Madison heads out the door, Elliot close behind her.
I sigh, turning to see Elias chatting with the hostess. I make my way over to him, and she grabs menus, telling us to follow her.
“That was awkward,” he says once we’re seated. “Not the part about meeting your girlfriend. She seems nice. But seeing her with Elliot. What’s that about?”
“It was weird,” I agree, studying the menu.
Before he can respond, the waiter comes over and takes our drink order—a beer for me and a gin and tonic for Elias.
“They grew up together. In Colorado. Small world, right? He seems nice,” I say sarcastically.
He raises his eyebrows at me. “He’s a jackass.”
“I got that impression,” I say with a shake of my head.
“Thanks for agreeing to have dinner with me. I know things between us haven’t been easy.”
“Yeah.” Apparently we’re diving right into things.Fun.
Elias takes a sip of his drink. “I’d like us to have a better relationship. I thought after our conversation a few months back, we were on the same page, but you’ve barely been responding to me.”
“It’s complicated, Elias. I can’t simply flip a switch and we’re buddies. We hadn’t seen each other in how many years?” I take a sip of my beer.
“I get it, but I’d like to put all that behind us.”
“I’m trying. I’m here now, aren’t I?” I gesture around us.
“Yeah,” he concedes.
