Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Hayes’s smile grows bigger. “You’re the reason, then, that she gives a lot of love.”
My heart glows a little more, and I tell myself it’s just the dog story making me emotional. “Maybe,” I say. “But I think it’s also her personality.”
“I think she found the right person,” Stefan says, his voice warm now.
“I like to think so, too,” I say. “Someday, I want to donate a bunch of money to the two shelters and get a plaque for all the dogs waiting to be adopted, and it’ll say Roxy’s Playroom, and all the dogs will get homes.”
I try to shake off the emotions. I certainly don’t need to get teary-eyed in front of two strapping hockey studs who called me up for my kale expertise. This isn’t my personal therapy hour, where I bare my soul about my feelings about family, and taking care of other people, and trust, and support. “I’m just glad Trina tipped me off about her. She has a dog from the same shelter—a three-legged Min-Pin named Nacho. We call them cousins.”
“Found family includes dogs,” Hayes says.
“Definitely. And they’re lucky pooches,” Stefan adds.
My head swims with even more questions. How is it that they both understand my overly emotional attachment to an animal?
I tell them more about Roxy and Nacho, how she stays with Nacho when I have to travel for work. Like this weekend. The mascot doesn’t travel with the team—whipping up the crowds is solely a home-arena job—but the team asked me to travel with them to Vegas for a promo stunt the Sabers want me to do with their mascot.
Will it be weird to travel with both of these guys? With the one man who got me hot and bothered in the equipment room and this other one who’s growing on me now? Of course, I probably won’t even see them on the trip. They’re the players. The stars. I’m just a girl who puts on a sweltering, fluffy costume and trips on the ice on purpose.
A girl like me, trying to hold onto her side hustle, can’t afford to fall for one co-worker, let alone two.
Shake it off.
I stand, smoothing down my crocheted top, centering myself. “About that kale…”
They get to their feet, and Hayes, leads me up a winding staircase to the roof, Roxy in my arms, Stefan behind me. “Does she have a whole collection? Of bandanas?” Stefan asks.
“Of course.” I toss him a guilty-not-guilty grin. “She’s a scrappy little fashionista. Like me.”
It’s the first time I’ve acknowledged my handle in front of Stefan, and a realization clobbers me.
He didn’t come across my newsletter by accident. He searched it out. He commented on it. He tracked me down. I am the certain someone.
“And she seems to enjoy the attention,” he says, his blue eyes locked on mine, like he knows a secret.
“Maybe she does,” I say evenly, trying not to give too much away. Just that he doesn’t have the upper hand. “Number Eighteen.”
It only seems to delight him more that I’ve put it together. Hayes looks at his friend curiously, assessing, but doesn’t seem bothered that Stefan’s flirting with me.
That surprises me. Hayes gives off possessive vibes, like when he told me not to talk to other rooftop gardeners. Is he unbothered because he already backed off? Is this some sort of hand-off from one guy to the other?
My head hurts, and really there’s no point in trying to puzzle this out. My guy radar is out of whack.
My plant radar is not though. It’s hot again on the roof, the sun beating down. As Hayes strides to the planters, he reaches for the hem of his shirt and peels it off.
I was not expecting that.
He shoots a confident glance my way, his dark eyes glinting a message. Two can play at the shirtless game.
With the same swagger he’s shown since he announced he’d take me to the wedding, he turns back around, like he doesn’t even care if my eyes are on him.
The sexy, cocky fucker.
I do care. I care so much that I sway. The man’s muscles are insane. He’s long, strong, and toned everywhere.
As I stare at him unabashedly on wobbly knees, Stefan reaches out a hand and steadies me, grasping my elbow. “The view can be dizzying,” he says with an amused smile.
I roll my lips together and nod, sealing up my sighs.
Yes, the view is dizzying.
Two toned, strong, shirtless men on a rooftop.
I don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into, accepting this invitation to the garden, but I can’t seem to resist stepping into temptation with Hayes. And now, it seems, with Stefan.
But is it that I can’t resist either of them? Or both of them?
Forty-five minutes later, my girl is stretched out on the patio, frog-dog style, back legs splayed behind her and her eyes closed as she sunbathes. Nearby, there’s a telescope—the stargazing must be amazing from up here on a clear night.