“I’m not sure what this means,” I said slowly. I had to be careful because this could go wrong in so many ways. “I’m happy to be her date to the wedding and be her stand-in for whatever, but how does she want to handle it?”
“I’m not sure. She was so embarrassed that she’s put you in this situation, she asked me to approach you and see if you were willing to play along.”
“Well, sure.” I took another long pull of my beer to buy a little time. “I mean, she’s awesome and we’re already friends. Did you think I’d say no?”
“To be fair, we don’t talk as much as we used to, so for all I know, you’ve been seeing someone.”
I snorted. “Yeah, with what free time? I’m a thousand percent single.”
“All right. Then give her a call? She’s been so stressed and embarrassed about it, I plan to say something to my grandfather. I don’t know what’s come over him because he obviously has never pulled anything like that with the rest of us. Yes, she’s the only girl, but she’s not a child. She’s twenty-eight, with a doctorate degree and a good job. It’s not as if he’s taking care of her.”
“I agree, it’s odd.”
“I’m going to talk to Granddad when we get to Scotland, but for now, if you could go along with this until the wedding, I’d be grateful. Since you’re single anyway, I hope it doesn’t inconvenience you or—”
“Wait. You think this is a hardship?” I asked in surprise.
“Of course not. My twin is as amazing as I am.” He grinned. “But you’ve never shown interest in her so I figured she’s not your type and I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’ve never shown interest in her because she lives thousands of miles away and she’s my best friend’s sister. You don’t go there.”
“How come?” Ian looked genuinely confused.
“Because if things went wrong, it would impact our friendship and that’s not negotiable for me.” Why was he looking at me like I was an idiot?
“Why would it impact us? The only reason I’d ever get involved is if you hurt her physically, and I know you wouldn’t do that.”
“I, um…” I had no response. Why hadn’t I known he wouldn’t mind if I dated his sister? We were supposed to be best friends but I didn’t know his feelings about something so basic?
“Are you interested in her…for real?” Ian’s eyes darkened slightly.
“Well, I mean, yes and no. Yes, because she’s smart, beautiful and a lot of fun. No, because she lives thousands of miles away and I don’t know how we’d make it work.”
“The two of you should talk,” Ian said with a soft smile.
“Is she…into me?” I practically held my breath as I waited for his answer.
“Hey, Dax.” My friend Lennox Briggs sank onto the stool next to me.
“Hey.” Her timing sucked, but I was glad to see her. Lennox was a retired Marine who worked as a bodyguard now for some elite agency here in town. We’d met at the gym and worked out together in the off-season, and I invited her to a lot of the games. I’d asked her out once, but we’d decided our schedules would make it impossible to see each other, so we’d morphed into good friends.
“Sorry about the season,” she said, leaning against the table. “But you can’t win the whole thing every year.”
“You’re right about that.”
“Bloody hell.” Ian motioned with his head.
I followed his gaze and noted Bo and his buddies waiting for Coach Wylde as he came out of the restroom.
“Bring back Coach Barnett!” Bo had a bottle of beer in each hand.
“Toli Petrov for head coach!” one of his friends yelled out.
Lennox grinned at me. “Can I kick their asses? Please?”
“Someone needs to,” Ian muttered.
Bo had gotten in Jared’s face and I wondered about his self-control. Back in the day, Jared had been as wild as his last name, and was known for being scrappy on the ice. The last thing we needed was for him—or any of us—to wind up in jail after a season-ending loss.
I got to my feet and headed in that direction, Lennox and Ian on my heels.
“I’ve politely asked you to move,” Jared was saying to Bo and his friends. “Next time won’t be as polite.”
“You gonna take me on, Coach?” Bo was all but pounding his chest.
“If necessary.” Jared’s eyes had narrowed dangerously and I recognized that look, the one that said someone was about to get a beatdown.
“Knock it off,” Kelly said, hurrying up to the slowly growing group.
“You man enough to meet me outside?” Bo taunted Coach.
Coach sighed. “Give me a break, man. You seriously looking to spend tonight in jail? Because I’m not. I’ll defend myself, but I’m not going to go out of my way to fight you.”
“Pussy!”
The chorus of disparaging insults that followed reminded me of high school, and I stood next to Coach wondering what was next.
“Whassa matter?” Bo slurred, sneering at us. “Coach Wylde can’t take care of himself?”
“He totally can,” Lennox said in a casual voice. “But it’s a lot more fun if he lets me do it.”
“You want a go with me, honey?” Bo snaked out an arm to grab her and yanked her against him. “’Cause I can think of way better things for you to do than fight.”
I bristled but Lennox wasn’t fazed in the least. She merely cocked her head. “You should let me go.”
“Or what?”
Lennox moved so smoothly, I almost missed it, but Bo was on the ground a second later and she had her foot on his chest. “Or I’ll put you down,” she said simply.
“I love her,” Tore stage-whispered, coming over to join us.
“Love you too.” Lennox flashed him a smile, slowly moving her foot.
“Fuck you!” Bo managed to get
