Whatever he says does the trick. Daisy abandons the conversation with my mom—to everyone’s relief—and grabs Alex. Kissing him on the cheek, she leaves behind pastel pink lip marks. Then she molests my mother—kidding, they just hug. Daisy invites her and Sidney to come over for dinner. Thankfully they’re leaving early tomorrow morning. I can’t imagine the gongshow Alex’s parents’ house would become if such an event transpired.

Daisy pat-hugs me. It’s limp like her handshake.

“What about your sister?” I ask Alex as she and Robbie traipse to the exit.

Alex plows through the crowd to stop them. They’re too far away for me to hear their brief conversation. Alex doesn’t look happy. I can’t believe his parents would willingly leave their daughter with the likes of Buck.

Sidney uses this as an opportunity to take my mother back to their room, saving Alex and I from further humiliation.

Alex returns a minute later, rubbing the back of his neck.

“What did they say?” I ask.

He surveys the bar with a frown. “She’s staying with friends in the city. I thought she’d be at the condo with my parents tonight.”

“Why don’t we see if we can find her? Maybe she’s with the team.”

“I fucking hope so.”

The VIP section is packed, but Sunny and Buck are nowhere to be found. Buck better not be using this as a way to get back at Alex, otherwise a WWE match is likely to occur.

As gargantuan as Buck is, Alex is aggressive when he’s pissed. Now that I’ve borne witness to his temper, I’m not interested in watching it flare up in response to my thoughtless, yet sometimes lovable, stepbrother.

Glancing around, I spot Charlene sitting beside Darren. She’s not in his lap, but she’s close. Darren is the picture of a gentleman: arm wrapped loosely around the back of her chair, his attention totally focused on her while she talks animatedly. I point them out to Alex.

“Will wonders never cease.” He squints. “Isn’t that Charlene? What’s she doing here?”

“She came, too. Mostly to meet Darren.”

“She’s a good friend. She was extremely helpful when you weren’t talking to me.” He smoothes his tie.

That’s totally a jab. There’s a sharpness to his statement. He did a good job hiding his hurt before, although phone sex was likely helpful.

“I’m sorry.” It’s a long overdue apology. “I should’ve called and let you explain. I was worried you’d tell me you were hooking up with someone else and I was going to be your side bunny, so I avoided you altogether.” I stare at his chin as I ramble on. “Am I forgiven?”

If this relationship is going somewhere, I’ll have to learn how to deal with all the media crap, which means talking to Alex. My main concern is becoming one of those paranoid freak girlfriends who will require endless reassurance. It’s scary to be someone’s girlfriend, especially when that someone is a well-known hockey player with unlimited puck bunnies looking to take a ride on his monster cock.

He tilts my chin up and brushes his lips over mine. “You’re here aren’t you? I invited you. I want to be with you.”

“So I am forgiven?”

He grins. “Mostly.”

“Mostly?” My heart squeezes. I want to be totally forgiven.

He brushes my hair over my shoulder. It seems like a tender gesture until I realize he’s looking down my top. “I think I’ll get over it better if I could clock some time with your boobs in our room.”

“That’s a reasonable demand. As long as you’re equitable about things. I’d hate for the rest of my body to get jealous.” I can feel his semi against my stomach as he presses into me. “Speaking of our room, we should head back there.”

“Don’t you think you should talk to Charlene first?”

“Oh. Right.”

It takes a while to get Charlene’s attention. “Hey!” She jumps up. “I need to use the little girls’ room, and you need to come with me.”

Way to be subtle, Char.

I turn to Alex and Darren. “We’ll be back after we’re done talking about you two in a public restroom.”

Darren snorts as Charlene shoves me from behind. Once we’re inside the stall, she flaps her hands and mouths things I can’t decipher.

“Charlene, I can’t read lips.”

She grabs my hands and does the thing girls do in the movies when the dude they like likes them back—she squeals loudly and jumps around in the confined space. If the stalls were smaller, she’d be banging into the wall.

“I’m in love!” She grabs my shoulders and shakes me. “Okay, well, that’s a lie, but Darren is the hottest guy I’ve ever met, and he’s smart and he’s got all his teeth! Isn’t that unheard of for a hockey player? Does Alex have all his teeth?”

She sucks in a deep breath, wheezing, and continues. I know better than to cut her off in the midst of one of her monologues, and this one is going to be fun.

“So after you took off to make Alex feel better with the locker room lovin’—”

“Shh! This isn’t a soundproof bubble. People can hear you.”

She rolls her eyes. “All the guys are talking about it. Well, not all of them. Some asshat named Kirk wouldn't shut up, even when Darren told him he’s going to kick him in the nuts. He was even going on about it with Buck there, but the blonde tree hugger seemed to be a good distraction—”