Page 78 of Xander

I wasn’t delusional.

I knew there couldn’t be anything real between Xander and me. If our familial ties hadn’t done it, his age and celebrity status sealed the deal. If the emails and phone calls today were any indication, I should be counting my lucky stars that one of the most sought-after players in the NHL gave me the time of day.

I presumed he had been with plenty of women before me, and there’d also be plenty after me.

I just assumed there wouldn’t be anyone else during me.

The evidence suggested the contrary, and why shouldn’t that be the case? He was a young athlete with his whole life ahead of him, and he should be with one of these girls—someone his age.

They kept giggling as they alternated between filming themselves and photographing the players as they skated onto the ice. After an initial dismissive glance, the girls hardly appeared to notice me at all. But they pulled themselves out of their little bubble long enough to see the dark thundercloud building up inside the rink. That thundercloud was, of course, Xander, who had skated onto the ice and was looking directly at me. Once more, I hadn’t been looking at him because I was distracted by the puck bunnies. He looked like it took every ounce of self-control not to skate over here and punish me for the transgression.

Thoughts of the other women disappeared in the shuffle of the unmistakable sound of skates scraping on the ice, the announcer’s voice booming through the speakers, and the jumbotron displaying player statistics. The atmosphere was simply too electric to be concerned with girls half my age.

My attention was suddenly hijacked by something else, or rather, by someone else. On the ice, the hockey players were making rounds. I couldn’t quite place everyone through their protective helmets, but Xander was easy to recognize since he was so damn tall. He was also the only one who wouldn’t stop staring in my direction.

For once, I was returning the favor. I couldn’t take my eyes off him had I tried. I saw him play yesterday, but there was nothing like game-day adrenaline. He was a natural on the ice, gliding like he owned it. Like he was home.

I was submerged in a sudden bitterness toward Henry. Why did I let him bully me into missing this monumental moment for years?

I dismissed the thought once Jasper joined me. “Isn’t it exciting to watch this live?” he asked, sipping on one of the drinks someone had brought us.

“I can’t believe I’ve never been to one of his games.” I stared at Xander in awe, begrudgingly abiding by his demand to keep my eyes on him.

Xander zoomed across the ice, his movements so swift it was almost impossible to track. Within minutes of the puck dropping, he crashed into someone with immense strength, and the other player audibly collided against the glass.

I winced when his coach screamed his name loud enough that it echoed off the humming rink, though unlike yesterday, he didn’t sound quite as angry. Apparently, he agreed that Xander was magnificent on the ice today. Because I wasn’t the only one frantically tracking him like a madwoman. There was a reason the team’s owner had paid an exorbitant amount to sign him, and the proof of that was present this evening.

The energy was electric, and I was caught up in the exhilaration of it all, though my eyes kept chasing after the same man. I’d see and then lose him again in the flurry of bodies moving in synchronicity.

It might be a crazy thought, but I got the acute sense that Xander was purposefully going out of his way to ensure this game was legendary, and he was doing it because I was in the audience. I had seen clips of his games before, but I’d never seen him play like this.

He pursued the puck relentlessly even when it seemed his heart was about to give out from exhaustion. He kept going when I was sure there was nothing but sweat left of him. He took every shot he could get his hands on. At times, he even seemed to outdo players from his own team, not giving anybody else an opportunity for glory.

Every time he possessed the puck, I dug my nails into my palm as I waited to see what he’d do next, how he’d maneuver around opposing players, all while retaining flawless control of the puck. My adrenaline spiked as he neared the opposite team’s goalie, and I jumped out of my chair and screamed my heart out.

“Let’s go, Trojan Warrior!”

Jasper was at my heels. “Shoot it! Shoot the damn puck!”

He shot the damn puck, and it soared straight into the net. A deafening horn blasted through the arena to announce the goal, followed by the earth-shattering screams of the crowd.

The hiss of skates made me straighten as Xander glided to a halt right in my eye line. Despite the hefty gear, he was graceful, making his bulky frame seem downright massive. His coach screamed another bout of obscenities, this time from excitement. Xander paid him no mind. He threw a thumb at the net and then pointed at me. Almost as if he were saying that goal was for me.

The entire stadium seemed to come to a halt at his pointed gesture. At first, the other girls in my section thought he was pointing at them and jumped for joy. One of them flashed her tits, but his eyes never deviated from mine. An unseemly satisfaction warmed by blood when they picked up that he was silently communicating with me, but even their glares couldn’t topple my mood.

Jasper was watching me as well, inquisitive eyes studying my new vibrant personality, which I supposed he hadn’t witnessed during the entirety of my marriage to his father.

“Do you know those girls?” I couldn’t help asking him, especially since the one to flash Xander hadn’t put her shirt down yet.

“No. But I’m assuming they were invited by Kai and Logan. They’re generally the ones who invite puck bunnies to their games.”

“Oh. Then why are most of them wearing Xander’s jersey?”

Jasper scoffed. “Probably because they’d rather be here for Xander, but my brother never invites girls to his games. So, they try to meet him through the other guys by flirting with them.”

I tried to laugh it off but couldn’t quite manage it. “Brilliant tactic. Does it ever work?” I shouldn’t be pressing the topic. Why couldn’t I drop it?

“On Xander?” Jasper asked as if I had gone mad. “I can’t even remember the last time he looked at a woman.”