I was in such a rush that morning, worried about my brother and Joy and the baby, wishing I’d done things differently with Lainey. I didn’t even think to leave her my cell. “I made a mistake—granted, it was a big one. I just . . . you didn’t recognize me. I didn’t think . . . can I give you my number now? I get that this is a lot to take in, and maybe you need time to think? I can give you that, but please, at least give me a chance to explain.”

She shakes her head, but she pulls her phone out of her pocket, keys in the pass code, and hands it over to me. I quickly add myself as a contact before she can change her mind. Then I send myself a message to make sure I have her number before I hand it back.

I don’t know what to do with my hands, so I shove them into my pockets. “Can I call you later so we can set up a coffee date?”

She holds her phone to her chest, eyes darting to the STAFF ONLY door and then to the group of women gathered by the information desk before coming back to me. There’s no warmth, just wary mistrust. “I don’t even know you. Why would I go on a date with you?”

“Don’t say that. You know me, Lainey. The only thing you didn’t know about was my job. That’s it.” I take another step toward her, but she shakes her head and backs away.

“That’s it? It’s not a little lie, RJ. You told me you were an alpaca farmer instead of telling me you were the captain of a professional hockey team. That’s kind of a pretty huge detail to leave out, don’t you think?” Her voice shakes, whether with anger or another emotion I can’t be sure, but she looks as if she’s on the verge of tears, and I hate that I’m the one who did that to her.

The door behind her opens. “Lainey? Sorry to interrupt, but I need your help with the otters. Ollie keeps trying to make moves on all the female otters, and you’re the only one who seems to be able to control him when he’s like this.”

“Of course. I’ll be right with you.” I don’t like how relieved she seems by the interruption. She spares me another wary glance. “I have to go. Take care of yourself, RJ, if that’s even your name.” She spins on her sneakered heel and speed walks away from me.

Even in the awful beige pants her ass looks fantastic, which is a terrible thing for me to notice or focus on.

I take my hat off and run my hand through my hair, cursing under my breath. What are the chances that I’d run into her here, of all places? That she would end up in my city? At least I know where she works, and I have her number. Now I just have to work on getting her to agree to talk to me.

I head back to the party, take part in the team photo, and watch fifteen kids from newborn to six years old turn a room upside down faster than a bunch of drunk frat guys on a bender.

Alex steps up beside me and sips out of a red cup. “You all right?”

“Yeah.” I nod, even though I’m probably the furthest thing from all right. For a few minutes I was ecstatic. Now I’m confused, disappointed, and freaked out. I just want to sit Lainey down and make her hear me out. And I want to understand what the hell happened to the note she left and why it wasn’t there when I went back this summer.

I was pretty sure I was falling in love with her, and I figured it was mutual. One minute she was the center of my world, and the next she was just gone.

“I’m gonna call bullshit, Rook. Wanna tell me what’s going on with the tour guide?”

“Lainey. Her name is Lainey. And we had a . . . thing a while back.” I’m being vague, mostly because explaining this sucks. I’ve never told anyone the full story about what happened with her.

“She doesn’t really seem like your usual type, or what used to be your usual type, anyway.”

I nod in agreement. “You’re right about that.”

Alex looks around and slips a flask out of his pocket. “You look like you could use a shot.”

I lift a brow.

He motions to the screaming gaggle of children, players, and wives. “I know you’re here because you’re the team captain and you want to make a good impression on your teammates, not because you love spending your Saturday afternoon with a bunch of screaming kids. Add in whatever’s going on between you and the tour guide, and you definitely deserve a drink. Besides, I figure this’ll get you to talk. Can’t keep it all bottled up forever, Rook. I know the last couple of years have been intense.”

He has a point. I hold out my glass of lukewarm soda. I’ll leave my car here and pick it up in the morning if I need to. And based on how things are going, I have a feeling a lot of alcohol will be involved in the rest of my evening.

“So, tell me what’s going on with the tour guide.”

I drain half the cup in one gulp. “I met her on Kodiak Island last summer.”

He’s in the middle of a sip and cough chokes. “That’s the girl from Alaska? I thought you said she was from Washington. What’s she doing here? Don’t tell me you have another stalker.” The year before I took over for Alex as captain of the team, we got pretty close, mostly because he took me under his wing and mentored me. At the time I didn’t realize he was grooming me to take his place. Since then we’ve stayed pretty tight.

“Yes, she’s the girl from Alaska. Yes, she’s from Washington. She got offered a job here and took it, and I’m pretty sure she’s not stalking me.”

“How can you be sure? I mean, you’re not that hard to find.”

“She wasn’t big on technology.” I scrub a hand over my face. “And I never told her I played professional hockey.”

“Too busy getting busy to be bothered with the chitchat?” Alex asks.

“No. Well, I mean yeah, there was lots of . . . sex, but that wasn’t what it was all about.”

“So how is it that you being a professional hockey player never came up?”

“I might’ve lied about where I lived and what I did for a living.” I mumble it quickly and drain my cup. I could use another drink. Or just downing whatever is left in his flask.

“Why lie?”

“She didn’t recognize me, and she wasn’t into hockey. You know how it is with bunnies. They’re just in for the fuck and the ride, right?”

“But she’s not a bunny, so I’m not getting why it would matter then.” He looks confused more than anything.

I sigh, aware explaining my rationale isn’t going to be easy. “I wanted to be normal for a few weeks.”

Violet squeezes her way between us, snatches Alex’s cup, sniffs it, and raises an eyebrow. “Seriously, Alex? You better be careful how sauced you get. Your parents said they’d have a sleepover in the pool house with Robbie, and you know how I get in my second trimester.”

Alex grins and bends to whisper something in her ear. She hands him back the cup, turning her attention to me. “I assume you’re coming out for drinks after this shitshow.” She motions to the table of children shoveling cake into their mouths.

I rub the back of my neck. “Uh, we’ll see.”

“Rook’s trying to hook up with the tour guide,” Alex supplies.

Violet grins knowingly. “You mean the poor woman who was trying to hide that huge dolphin dick?”