“Is he still with your mom?”
The corners of his mouth dropped down and he shook his head. “She died of cancer when I was in high school.”
“I’m so sorry. That must’ve been really hard.”
“She was always my number one fan. My parents both came to every game, but she built me up when I had a bad one. My dad pounded me into the ground over the bad ones.”
“Were your parents together when she passed away?”
“Yeah. But my dad was running around on her and drinking too much even back then.”
The sadness in his voice made me want to walk around the table and hug him. His dark expression cleared and he looked over at me.
“Are your parents still together?”
I nodded. “They’re a good match. My dad’s overbearing and my mom’s laid back. He travels so much that they both kind of do their own thing a lot. When they’re together, they like to come get Kyler and take him places together.”
“All the way from Nashville?”
I smiled. “Kyler’s the son Dad never had.”
“You’re everything a parent could want.”
I arched my brows. “Not Butch Price. I’m not a hockey player.”
“Does he get involved with Kyler’s hockey?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s a big source of conflict for us.”
Luke grinned at me. “You and your dad fight?”
“Like cats and dogs.”
“I’m impressed you’re not afraid to stand up to him.”
“I don’t play hockey, but I was raised in it. I’ve never been a wallflower.”
“What about Kyler’s dad? Is he around?”
I shook my head. “No, but he comes to see Kyler once a month and for two weeks in the summer.”
“So you’re pretty much on your own with Kyler then.”
“My friend Sadie is a big help. She lives with us and takes care of him when I’m working.”
“The one you wanted to fix me up with?”
My cheeks warmed as I remembered that conversation. “Yes.”
“I hope you’re not still thinking about that.”
“No … I’m not.”
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and just looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“I was just gonna say that if things were different – if I wasn’t a hockey player and you weren’t a hockey trainer, I’d be asking you out right now.”
I had to stop myself from babbling like an excited teenager. If I said anything right now, it would sound stupid. Instead I smiled silently.
“Say something,” he said. “I can tell you’re thinking something.”
I shrugged, not wanting him to know how happy I was about what he’d said. “I’m just thinking you don’t seem like the dinner and movie type.”
“What type do I seem like?”
“The ‘come check out the mirror on my bedroom ceiling’ type.”
“Ouch.”
He seemed less and less like that guy, but there was safety in my blanket assessment of hockey players. “Any guy who could get away with it would do the same in your shoes. It’s the biggest perk of being a hot hockey player.”
He shook his head slowly. “I’ve got friends on my team who are happily married.”
“How old are they?” I asked skeptically.
“Late 20s. 30s. It’s all about finding the right person.”
The waiter walked in with a tray of food and I breathed a sigh of relief. I had no idea how to respond to what he’d said. We’d established that I wasn’t the right person due to our jobs, but I was filled with envy for the woman he’d eventually decide was the one. She was incredibly lucky. I was getting a small taste of her future life right now.
Late dinners with a broad, blond hockey star whose smile upped the temperature in a room. I hoped she’d appreciate him for him, and not his money. Luke deserved a loving family of his own.
The thought of the future Mrs. Hudson having his babies was too much. I shook away the thought. I wasn’t thinking about that right now. Instead I wanted to enjoy my taste while it was just a couple feet away, looking sexy as hell.
Chapter 4
Luke
Of all the guys on the team, I’d been forced to move in with Vanderschmidt. He was a strange one. And while I wasn’t a clean freak, he was a fucking slob of epic proportions.
“Jesus, V, your dirty dishes have been sitting here for days,” I said, scowling at the caked on taco-meat remnants on the plates and skillet he’d left on the counter.
“Sorry, ma,” he said, not looking away from the TV screen displaying his video game.
I’d walked in to water nearly ankle deep in my apartment almost a week ago, forcing me to live with a roommate while the place was stripped of everything and cleaned up.