Page 75 of Desire or Defense

Colby nudges his head in between me and Mitch’s. “Yeah, I’m with Bruce on this,” he says in the loudest whisper I've ever heard. A whisper so loud and dramatic I burst out laughing and shoo them both away with my hands.

Mitch sends them both a we’ll be talking about this later look. I realize then that he and Remy are the dads of the group. The stern ones. A thought enters my head that Mitch would be a great dad. I push the thought away, because wow… way too fast, Andie.

Just then, a tall woman with short, blonde hair walks through the doors of the arena. Her eyes brighten when she spots our group and starts walking toward us. Her smile is natural and pretty and she reminds me of a 1920’s swinger-goddess… with her long limbs and lean figure. Her curly hair coils gracefully around her face. But despite her reed-like figure and her short hair, she oozes femininity and beauty.

Mel stands and rushes toward her, they hug each other and chat enthusiastically.

Bruce giggles behind me. Yes, the man giggled like a school boy. I hear Colby tell him to shut up. Turning around, I pin them both with a curious stare. “What am I missing?”

Remy, being the only mature adult in the row behind us, answers, “That’s Noel, Mel’s best friend, and Colby’s unrequited love.”

“Oooooooooh.” I pump my eyebrows up and down to a now very red, Colby.

Mel and Noel amble toward us, arm in arm. “Andie! Meet my friend Noel,” Mel says, gesturing toward her gorgeous friend. I stand up to shake Noel’s hand, but she releases Melanie and pulls me into a big hug.

“Great to meet you!”

“You too,” I say, pulling back from the hug. Noel is a good six inches taller than me, but her hug is warm and she smells really good. I can see why Colby is enamored with her.

Colby, who’s recovered now from Noel’s unexpected appearance, is back to his charming self. “Noel, baby,” he drawls. “Where’s my hug?”

Noel shoots him an annoyed look. Mel chuckles at their encounter and gestures for West to scoot down and make room for her friend. Noel takes a seat between me and Mel, then Colby leans down, still trying to win Noel’s attention. I have a feeling he’s used to being the center of attention, and doesn’t often fail at getting the attention he desires… especially from women.

“So, you’ll come to Noah’s games but not mine?” he says.

She sighs heavily. “I’m here to hang out with my friends, Knight. I couldn’t care less about hockey.”

He jabs his fist into his chest like it’s a knife and then groans dramatically. Noel ignores him.

“So, you don’t know who Wayne Gretzky is, then?” I ask.

She glances at me, a question in her eyes. Probably wondering why the heck I’d ask about Gretzky. “Of course I know who The Great One is. Everyone knows that,” she huffs out a laugh as she says it.

Mitch starts snickering beside me and the rest of the guys laugh so loud, I swear they rattle the bleachers again. We’re going to get kicked out at this rate.

But I also can’t help but laugh right along with everyone else. A happiness filters through me that I haven’t felt in a long time. That feeling of belonging, of having friends. Of having a tribe. I always sit alone at these games, and I never realized how lonely that was until now. Until I had these people here, making me laugh. I scoot a little closer to Mitch and relish in the feeling of being surrounded by him and his teammates. He may not consider them close friends… but deep down, I think he’s a lot more fond of them than he even admits to himself. I feel his chin rest on the top of my head and close my eyes.

Three things I’m grateful for: Mitch, his goofy friends, and not sitting alone during Noah’s game.

CHAPTER 28

MITCH

Sunday, we pile onto the Eagles’ private plane and head to Canada for a series of away games. Bruce is thrilled, he’ll get to see his family in Quebec. Normally, I’d be happy too. Five days away means not having to watch the guys with their families. No Daddy jerseys, no wives, no girlfriends. But Andie disintegrated that damn lockbox in my chest, and now I just want to be near her. Five days now seems agonizing.

I’m utterly and completely whipped… and I like it. Yeah, I don’t even know who I am anymore. But I like this new version of myself, and Dr. Curtis probably would too.

I take a seat by the window on the plane and pull my phone out to text Andie that we’re about to take off when West slumps down in the seat next to me. I get it, we’ve been tolerating each other. And if I’m honest, my chest doesn’t tighten whenever he’s around anymore. But sitting next to each other on the plane? That might be taking things a little too far.

My thoughts must be reflected by my facial expression because West takes one look at me and huffs a laugh. “Come on, man. Us taken guys have to stick together.” He winks.

I sigh in resignation and make myself comfortable. The seats on the Eagles’ plane are large enough for us to relax. The smell of clean leather fills the space around us, and the seats even swivel so we can face each other and play games when we want to. I had planned on texting Andie this entire flight, but West has other plans. Apparently, he’s in a chatty mood.

“So, Andie’s great,” he says with a wide grin.

“Yep.”

“I think she’s good for you. You’ve changed.”