Falling for the Backup
Page 29

She stopped and looked at him, a full grin coming over her face. As he stood up, she said something to one of the ladies she was with, then walked toward his table.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, still smiling.
“Having dinner. You were here the whole time?”
“I was! We always go to J. Alexander’s. I love this place.”
He leaned over to kiss her quickly before introducing her. “This is Elli and Shea Adler, my boss and my captain.”
Still smiling, Aynslee took their hands and said, “It’s so nice to meet you. Jordan adores you guys.”
“Oh, thank you. We love him too,” Elli gushed as Jordan pulled a chair out. “Join us, please.”
“I’d love to! I already ate, though, so I’ll just drink more wine,” she said as she sat down.
Jordan smiled and took a seat beside her, reaching for her hand. After Aynslee ordered a glass of wine, she and Elli started to talk as if they were old friends. He always joked that Aynslee had never met a stranger in her life. He loved that about her and admired her for it. Soon she had the whole table in tears, telling them about a kid who had covered another kid with glue and then thrown glitter on her.
“I was so mad! I tried to explain that he shouldn’t do that, but then the girl was, like, ‘But I want to sparkle!’ I died. I couldn’t hold it in, I was laughing so hard.”
“Oh, my stars, that is crazy! I can’t wait for my oldest, Shelli, to go to school. She’ll probably be the one throwing glitter on herself.” Elli laughed as Shea nodded.
“She would. She’s crazy—gets it from her side of the family,” Shea said, pointing at Elli.
Aynslee giggled as Jordan brought her hand up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. His heart was aching as she held his gaze. Playoffs were starting that week, which meant that their time was winding down. The guys weren’t playing the way they usually did, and people didn’t think they were going to get out of the first round. He could be leaving in two weeks, especially since he’d signed the contract today. The GM wanted Jordan to start training with the goalie staff as soon as possible, and Jordan also needed to find a house and get settled before training camp began. Things were about to change, whether he was ready or not.
“So I bet you are just so proud of Jordan.”
Aynslee nodded before looking back over at Elli. “Yes, he is amazing. I’m very lucky,” she said, running her thumb up and down the small space between his thumb and index finger.
“You are. I’m very proud that he has fully recovered from his injury. He will do great things in Carolina for the IceCats.”
Aynslee’s strokes stopped as she stared at Jordan, shock written all over her face. Jordan’s heart seized, and all he could do was look into Aynslee’s eyes. He should have known Elli would bring up the transfer. He should have called Aynslee earlier, but instead he let this happen and now he could see her shutting down. Neither one of them wanted this, but it was happening.
“He will,” she said, turning her eyes back to Elli. Her hand slowly slid out of Jordan’s. “I have no doubts about that,” she added before reaching for her drink.
“Are you excited about living in Carolina? It’s so beautiful,” Elli asked with a bright grin.
“We haven’t figured all that out yet,” Jordan said quickly, feeling as if the world were coming down on him. He tried to reach for Aynslee’s hand, but she just shook her head.
Taking in a deep frustrated breath, he looked at Elli as she said, “Oh, well, you better! If we don’t beat these damn Blackhawks, playoffs will be over in a week.”
He knew that. He also knew that he might very well be losing the love of his life.
Aynslee couldn’t breathe.
The room was spinning, and her heart was breaking inside her chest.
He signed a contract? And didn’t even tell her?
What the hell?
Standing up suddenly, she looked over at Shea and Elli and said, “I’m so sorry, but I need to get home. I have school tomorrow and I’m worn out!”
She laughed, trying to be lighthearted, but it was taking everything she had to keep the tears in.
“Oh, we completely understand. It was so nice to meet you.” Elli stood up to hug her tightly.
Aynslee shook Shea’s hand and then looked back at Jordan. She could see the hurt in his eyes. Still fighting back the tears, she quietly said to Elli and Shea, “Nice to meet you too; bye.”
And she left. Without saying one word to Jordan. She wasn’t sure if she could actually speak to him without crying. Once she was outside, Aynslee took in a lungful of air and tears ran down her cheeks. She cried throughout the entire drive home. She didn’t understand. Why hadn’t he told her? Why hadn’t he given her at least a little warning? Instead, she had to find out from his f**king boss.
He could be leaving in a week, and she had no clue what that meant. Would he just walk away, say, Nice knowing you, and that would be it? He still hadn’t asked her to come with him, so did he even want something more than what they already had? Had she been wasting her time? She didn’t know, and it was killing her.
A sob broke out of her as she pulled into her driveway, got out, and slammed her car door. As she made her way up the walk, she heard someone else pulling into the drive. She knew who it was even before she turned around.
Jordan jumped out of his truck, looking unbelievably handsome in a nice black dress shirt and khaki dress pants. He had trimmed his beard, just the way she liked it, and even though she was so upset and torn up over the recent news, she still wanted to wrap her arms around him and get lost in his kisses.