“I want to know if he took that waitress up on her offer.” Though he directed the answer at Dave, Gage’s seething gaze didn’t waver from Quinn.
Quinn opened his mouth to speak, but Dave took over with practiced calm. “You’re jumping to conclusions again, Nelson. You didn’t see the whole exchange. Yeah, she wanted to get friendly with our boy, but it was strictly a one-way street. If you remember, he paid in cash and got the hell out of there. I never saw him give her his room number. In fact, he told me to chase her.”
“And did you?” Gage spurted.
Dave crossed his beefy arms. His beard was so long it practically brushed the tops of his forearms. “Exactly why is that any of your fucking business?” he snorted.
Sarah tugged on Gage’s shirt. “Gage, I don’t think—”
Dave glanced at her, then landed his gaze back on Gage. “No, I didn’t. To my knowledge, she didn’t sleep with anyone on the team—unless you hooked up with her.”
“Hell no!”
Dave pointed a finger in his face. “So stop making up shit about your teammates.” Then he gave Gage a chin lift, one side of his mouth curling into a smirk. “Chillax, Boy Scout.”
Dave sent Sarah a wink. “Nice to see you, Sarah.” And with that, he walked off, leaving the three of them in charged, awkward silence.
Quinn swiveled his head to Sarah and locked on her wide eyes. She took his breath away, and he gawked at her for a beat. Glossy dark hair brushed behind her perfect ears, tiny diamond twinkling on her pert nose, full mouth hinting at a smile. She was wearing a blue sundress that brought out the color of her eyes and showed off her curves and shapely legs. His mouth had gone dry, and he couldn’t swallow.
Damn Nelson! Why’d he bring up Whitney? Until this moment, she’d been relegated to a nonexistent blip in Quinn’s memory bank. When he’d seen Sarah, he’d let himself believe he had a chance, that she’d traveled all the way here to tell him she’d changed her mind. Nelson had just turned any chance into a climb up fucking Mount Everest. In Quinn’s peripheral vision, his asshole best friend stood stony and rigid.
“Hey, Sparky,” Sarah said with a lightness not reflected in her diamond-brilliant eyes.
“Hi, Sunshine.” He congratulated himself on his own fake-casual air. Could she hear his heart slamming against his rib cage?
Didn’t matter because Nelson snarled, “Wanna tell me what’s going on, Hadley?” Deep vertical creases between his knitted brows broadcast his irritation.
“I told him,” Sarah blurted. “About us.”
A tap dance broke out in Quinn’s gut, and he restrained a smile. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. As you can see, he’s not happy about it.” She gave Quinn a conspiratorial smirk.
He pulled himself a little taller and faced Nelson. “Doesn’t matter whether you’re happy or not, Nelson. I’m crazy about your sister, and I sure as hell hope she feels the same way.” He darted her a look and was rewarded with a head bob that made his heart race faster.
“I thought you two hated each other,” Nelson practically whined. “I expected to deal with a dead body after one of you murdered the other.”
“It might have started that way, but we got to know each other, and … Voila!” Quinn flung out his hand.
Nelson narrowed his eyes. “Voila?”
“It’s French for ‘ta-dah,’” Quinn and Sarah said at the same time. She folded over with mirth. Her contagious laughter soon had Quinn chuckling. God, he’d missed hearing her laugh, laughing with her.
“See, Bro? I told you he and I had a lot in common.” She tried to get herself under control, but she continued to bubble over.
Damn, she was adorable! The possibility she had come to Canada just for him about blew him off the rooftop. Was she ready to put the unbearable limbo of the last few months in the rearview mirror like he was? Fuck, he hoped so. He reminded himself it was up to her, and he reined in his optimism.
Nelson stood like one of the hotel pillars.
“I like you, Nelson. Always have,” Quinn said. “But whatever happens between your sister and me is totally her call, and you’re gonna need to get over it. Yell, take your best shot, let me have it. Let’s get it out of the way now.”
Nelson’s shoulders eased, and a smirk formed. “I think I’d rather wait until we’re on the ice and I have a bag of pucks at my disposal.”
“Shit. You wouldn’t.”
“Better believe I would, Sparky. Nothing I’d like better than to rearrange your pretty face.” Nelson jabbed a finger at Sarah. “That’s my sister, and I’ve always thought she was smarter than me, but clearly I was wrong. I have no idea what you did to make her lose her mind.”
More like she made me lose mine.And I don’t regret it one bit. “So are you kicking me off your line?”
“Not up to me, but I hope Coach doesn’t move you. I’ll be able to take more shots at you on my wing.”
“Um, Gage, don’t you think Lily’s done ‘freshening up’ by now?” Sarah wore a devilish smile that had Quinn’s insides hip-hopping. “Her suitcase was crammed with new lingerie she was dying to show you, but I wouldn’t wait too long. She might nod off— neither of us slept well last night.”
Nelson blew a breath through his nose, clearly torn between leaving his sister behind and following his dick to Lily waiting in his room. Quinn nearly hissed a “Yes!” when Nelson gave into his baser, sex-deprived self.
He glared at Quinn. “Keep your hands off my sister, understood?”
Only if she says so. “Understood.” Now get the fuck out of here!
Gage gave Sarah a warning look and finally left when she made a shooing motion. The guy practically raced toward the elevators, and Quinn corralled a laugh.
“So,” she said. “Want to have a seat, or do you have someplace to be?”
“No place to be, although I’d
