Chapter 4

Wayne’s POV

Robb is lucky he’s like a brother to me because if not, there is no way in hell I would ever put up with this shit.

First, I have to spend the entire weekend with my teammates in the off-season. Don’t get me wrong, I love these guys, but I also love my me time. And now, he’s telling me I have to spend the weekend with the girl who punched me in the face just minutes ago.

Sure, I was in the wrong for pulling into the parking lot with my music blaring like a maniac, but I don’t think that warranted being hit in the face by a stranger.

Especially not in the parking lot of my own business.

I glance over at my attacker. She has her head thrown back, laughing at something Alisha, the team’s social media manager, is saying.

Looking at her now without all the mascara running down her face and the crazed look in her eyes, it’s clear I should have picked up on the fact that this was Kris’s sister. It’s obvious they’re related. Their faces are the same shape, and they have the same full lips and the same pert nose. Hell, even their hair color is the same shade of brown. They look like they could be twins instead of having a two-year age gap.

And how do I know all this information? Robb. The dude never shuts up about his wife-to-be. But I suppose that’s to be expected when you find your person.

I thought I had found my person once upon a time. Oh, how wrong I was. So very, very, embarrassingly wrong.

Elena must feel my gaze because she glances over at me, and that smile she is wearing is replaced by a deep frown in a matter of milliseconds. The change is so drastic it makes me laugh. Which, of course, pisses her off even more. It’s like she’s annoyed by my mere existence.

She glares at me, and my smile pulls even wider. I chuckle when she turns her back to me completely.

We did several run-throughs for the wedding tomorrow, and each time I had to link arms with Elena, she grew stiffer and stood farther away from me. It didn’t take long for Kris to pick up on it, and she pulled Elena aside. I have no idea what they talked about, but when we ran through it for the fourth time, it was much smoother.

Now that we’re done practicing, Elena is back to being ice-cold. Funny because I should be the one who is upset given the circumstances of our introduction.

“Having fun yet?”

My teammate Rhick slides up next to me. He takes a sip from his champagne glass, then lets out a long sigh like he’s as exhausted by all of this as I am. Which is even funnier knowing that out of all of us, he’s the one who has been married the most times.

I glance at the scar on his face, and I momentarily feel bad because even after all this time of knowing him, it’s still the first thing my eyes drift to. I guess when you have a scar from right under your eye down your cheek and slicing through your lips, and it’s as marred and jagged as his, it’s kind of expected.

If he notices, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he takes another drink, looking out at the small crowd in front of us. There aren’t many people, only around twenty-five, but it feels like a hundred with how badly I don’t want to be here right now.

I grunt in response to his question.

He laughs. “You look like you’re having about as much fun as I do in crowds.”

One of our best defensemen on the Carolina Comets, Adrian Rhick, isn’t exactly known for being social. He’s as notorious for skipping out on interviews as he is for his stats on the ice. He doesn’t do press, and he certainly doesn’t do crowds.

Hell, before his wife, Ryan, came along, we had to fight tooth and nail to get the dude to go have a beer with us — his own teammates — after a game. While we do still have to coax him into coming out more often than not, there have been many times in the last year that he’s said yes without us prodding too hard.

But still, the dude hates crowds. For me, it’s not so much the crowds; it’s just the event itself.

“I’m just glad Ryan didn’t make me wear a tie. I get enough of that during the season.”

Fuck, he’s telling me. If I could burn my suit and tie, I would. I know some guys love dressing up for games, but I am not one of them. Which is exactly why I wore a pair of dark jeans and a button-up shirt. I already have to dress up for this event tomorrow. I’m not doing it today too.

“Man, I’m glad we never had to go through all this formal shit for our wedding.”

“I mean, to be fair, you did get married in Vegas…twice.”

He grins like he’s thinking back on it. “And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Even the first time?”

“Especially the first time. It led me to Ryan.”

I grimace at the lovey-doveyness of it all.

Rhick takes notice and chuckles at my discomfort. “You know, it’s kind of funny that as a guy who hates relationships so much, you co-own one of the hottest wedding venues with your sister.”

“Trust me; I see the irony in it as well.”

Not too long ago, my younger sister, Stacie, came to me with the idea of opening a wedding venue next to the brewery we own together in my hometown, which just happens to be about two hours from the arena I play at.

I’ll admit it took some convincing for me to be on board with the wedding venue idea. We’re a brewery — why did we need to host weddings? But when it became clear to me that it was something she was passionate about, I thought it was fair that I supported her. After all, she gave up a lot of her childhood for my dreams and aspirations of becoming a professional hockey player.

So, we tossed up a new building and connected the two with a huge outdoor seating area that’s easily transformed into the perfect outdoor reception setting.