Not that she would ever tell him. God. He already had an ego up to his head, she didn’t need to add to it.
She shifted her weight and blew out a breath. Her arms were bunched across her chest, trying to keep herself warm. She probably should have prepared herself for going to an ice rink. Her thoughts were more on the fear that Aaron was going to somehow find her hiding at Lily’s while she was alone, and then… And then, she didn’t know what. She didn’t know what to expect from Aaron, and that was what scared her the most.
“Don’t I know you?”
The voice cut through her thoughts – which was probably a good thing. She didn’t need to look stark white – as pale as the sheet of ice Alec was skating on – with her eyes wide, just highlighting the bags under her eyes. She genuinely didn’t care what she looked like – the baggy t-shirt and leggings should have hinted at that already – but she did care about coming across as obvious. She didn’t want anyone to question her because she was a shit liar.
“Um, no?” Noah wasn’t sure if that was true or not. She avoided looking at him, not wanting him to recognize her on the off-chance that he was right. She wished she had left her hair down so she could cover her face with it, but she hadn’t.
“Yeah, I know you. You’re Aaron’s girlfriend.”
Aaron’s name caused her entire to seize up with ice. She froze, tensing every muscle in her body to keep herself from looking at him even after the words that came out of his mouth. Who was this? How the hell could he know who she was? Aaron didn’t have many friends, at least, that she knew. She couldn’t let him know who she was, even if he knew, even if he thought he was right.
Carefully, as naturally as she could, Noah shifted her weight and straightened out her arms so they relaxed over her chest rather than bunch up awkwardly. She tilted her head away from this stranger and found Alec. He wasn’t looking at her – good, she didn’t want him to know she was staring – but she instantly felt safe. She didn’t know why. Alec got on her nerves more than she liked to admit, but there was something about him that made her feel like everything was going to be okay. Which was crazy to her because she hadn’t felt that way in a long time.
She began to fiddle with her hair again. She shouldn’t be thinking about Alec that way. There was no reason for it, and, quite honestly, there was a stigma behind that she didn’t want to read into. The best thing she could do was settle her nerves so this person couldn’t tell how tense she was due to his mere mention of Aaron.
“I’m sorry,” she forced herself to say, “but I think you’re mistaken. I don’t know an –“
“Why are you lying?” he asked. “You have the freckles, the hair wave thing.” He wiggled fingers as though that would help emphasize his point. “Aaron won’t stop talking about you. He never said you broke up.”
“Well, we did, and I’d appreciate not being reminded about it,” she said quickly. This conversation was getting away from her and she needed to figure out a way to get it back before things came out that she desperately needed to stay hidden. Like where she lived. “Why are you even here at an AHL practice?”
“I’m a journalist, or did you forget?” Pat replied. There was a slight annoyance in his tone, like he was upset she didn’t remember him the way he remembered her. “I write for the sport section. Apparently, number three is in some deep shit with the big boss, Seraphina Hanson. You heard about her, haven’t you?”
“Not really,” she replied, looking down at her shirt and fiddling with some lint. If she was being honest, she’d rather talk about Alec or hockey than Aaron. The last thing she wanted to talk about was Aaron, especially with one of his friends who thought she and Aaron were still together.
“She’s the owner of the Newport Beach Seagulls – the NHL team? She also owns the affiliate team, the Irvine Mayhem. You ever heard of them?”
Actually, she had. She had been following Alec’s career since she had heard he was drafted. Not in a stalker way, but more out of curiosity. To keep tabs on someone. Alec seemed to be a grounding force, even when they weren’t in each other’s lives.
Instead of telling Pat this, though, she gave him a noncommittal shrug. The less he knew about her, the better.
“Well, anyway, Sinclair is in tough shit, or so say the rumors,” Pat continued. “His reputation is in the shitter.”
“Isn’t he a good player?” Noah couldn’t help but asked.
Pat raised his brows like even he was surprised by the fact that she actually spoke to him about this. “Well, sure,” he said. “The problem isn’t his play. The problem is the fact that he’s known for what he does between the sheets rather than on the ice, if you catch my drift.”
She rolled her eyes and bunched her arms closer to her body. Of course, she understood what he meant. She didn’t even bother to respond.
“Anyway,” Pat said, continuing when he didn’t get the reaction he had hoped for, “I’ve heard whispers from my contacts inside the organization that Hanson is at her wits end about it. She’s threatening Sinclair’s position on the team if he doesn’t shape up.”
“Shape up, how?” Noah asked, despite herself. She didn’t want to give him any sort of indicator that she actually cared about what was going on, but at the same time, the words came out of her mouth before she could
