Playing the Game (The Renegades) (Volume 3) (31 page)

He hoped she’d stop being so nervous; these guys were
like family to her. But she wasn’t here with Mel as their PR gal
today. Today she was one of them, one of the girlfriends, and he
wanted her to fit in.

“
Hey, bro! Where’ve you been?”
Trina ran over to Tyler and hugged him.

He turned to Paige. “Tri, have you met Paige?”

“
No, I haven’t, but I’ve heard all
about you.” Trina pulled her into a hug, her belly bumping against
Paige’s waist. Tyler threw Sam a glance, and Tri caught him. “Oh
stop it Ty, he said nothing but good things about her. She sounded
perfect for my baby bro, and she is super cute too! Paige, it’s
very nice to finally meet you. Is the
face of the hockey
league
treating you right?”

“
Yes he is.”

Ty watched Paige’s eyes flick down to Tri’s stomach.
She wouldn’t have heard that Sam was going to be a daddy, because
the team had kept that quiet. He had to admit that bump didn’t look
like it was supposed to be on a tiny body like Tri’s.

“
Hey, Paige.” Sam appeared at
Trina’s side, and pulled Paige into a hug. “We weren’t really
telling anyone until she started to show, but as you can see, I’m
going to be a daddy.” He rubbed his hand along Trina’s
stomach.

“
Oh my God! Sam, that’s wonderful.
I’m so happy for you two! You are going to make one amazing
dad.”

“
The only problem is where is the
kid going to learn how to surf? The Allegheny River?” Tyler joked
as Sam tossed his blond hair out of his eyes.

“
You guys and your surfer jokes,
you’re so funny.” Sam mocked.

“
Oh no, here comes trouble,” Tyler
mumbled loud enough to make sure everyone heard. He gave an
exaggerated an eye roll at a shirtless Dom jogging over to them.
Tyler pulled off his t-shirt and puffed out his muscular chest,
which made Paige laugh. Well he had to try to out macho
Dom.

“
Hey Cap!” Dom said as he pushed
out his hand towards Ty.

They shook hands and he motioned to Dom’s tattoos.
“Dom. Sure you don’t want to cover those things up a little?”

“
Nah, I’m good. Paige, I wasn’t
expecting to see you here.” He flashed Tyler a devilish grin then
turned his attention back to her with a wink. Dom really was
harmless. He just liked to flirt, but he wasn’t sure if Paige saw
it like that.

“
Alright Zanetti, you said hello.
Now take your tattoos back to the pool. Maybe find a shirt while
you’re at it.”

Dom chuckled and jogged back over to the pool, but
not before calling over his shoulder to Tyler, “Hater.”

“
Whose idea was it anyway to put
that guy on our team?” Tyler whined.

“
Paige, you know we’re just
playing, right?” Kris asked. “We like to tease Z because he’s young
and is the only one that’s so tattooed. Plus, he likes to flirt
with our ladies, so it’s fair.”

She nodded. “Got ya.”

“
C’mon, let’s make our rounds,”
Tyler said, and they made their way down to the pool.

“
Tyler!” Kat ran over to him and
gave him a squeeze. “I’m so glad you made it. And this must be
Paige.” She pulled Paige into a soft hug.

“
Paige,” Kris said. “This is my
wife, Kat.”

“
It’s nice to meet you, and thanks
for having this party. Your house is just lovely.”

“
Oh thanks, but I can’t take all
the credit. Kris had pretty awesome taste before I moved in. I
haven’t really done much to change anything.” She directed her
attention to Tyler and lowered her voice. “Patrick and my sister
are over there. You guys going to be okay?”

“
Kat, I told you Ty and Pat are
good now,” Kris said.

“
Yeah, but what about Gia?” Kat
answered.

Tyler felt Paige’s eyes on him and he glanced at her.
She knew some of the history between them, but not everything. He’d
definitely patched up his relationship with Pat, on and off the
ice; that was clear to see. But she knew they’d fought over Gia,
and now she was there in front of them. He would just have to make
sure Paige knew that there was nothing left between him and
Gia.

Tyler pulled Paige into his side and with a smile,
said, “You know Kat, I think we’ll be fine.”

“
Well you two better be. I have a
little one asleep inside I need to watch; I’m not about to babysit
you two as well. Speaking of the little guy, it’s time for him to
get up, excuse me.”

“
You sure, Ty?” Kris asked, with a
worried look on his face.

He smiled a confident grin and took a deep breath.
“Yeah, I am.” With Paige at his side, they walked to the lounge
chairs and set down their bag. She glanced at him again, and he
gave her his most winning smile to convince her there wasn’t even a
hint of angst in him. All he felt right now was love for Paige.

He watched as she slid off her tank and shorts,
exposing her far too sexy purple bikini. A hot twinge of desire
shot through him. She gazed all around as if she’d suddenly
realized she was half naked in front of these guys who only ever
saw her in her business suit, but they were all too busy laughing
and drinking to notice. At least, they had the good sense not to be
seen looking, he thought.

“
You’re so beautiful.” He nudged
her chin upwards with his finger until her lips met his in a soft
kiss. A grin crept across his lips. “I’m so glad you walked into my
life, Paige.”

“
Good, because I don’t plan on
walking out anytime soon.”

“
Damn Ty. So all you had to do was
drop your drawers and give her a mix-tape?” Matt teased and flashed
them a grin.

“
Yeah Matt, that’s all he had to
do.” Paige rolled her eyes.

“
Matt, go pick on Kris or
something,” Lindsey, Matt’s girlfriend, said. “Leave Ty alone for
at least one day.”

Matt winked at them. “I’m glad you guys came. I’ll go
grab you a beer.”

“
Hey Ty!” Patrick called from a
nearby lounge chair. He looked over there. Gia was sitting with
Pat, wearing a tiny black bikini. Just seeing her, Ty expected that
maybe he’d feel something, however small. But no, there was
nothing. No anger or disappointment, no hurt, and definitely no
desire to be close to her.

He gazed back at Paige, his heart filling with love.
Gia didn’t even come close to his gorgeous, stunning Paige. And
Paige, so sweet and caring, and with her cute, ballsy attitude, was
the complete package. He could imagine a time in the perhaps not
too distant future, that he’d be trying his damnedest to convince
her to be his wife. Good thing he loved a challenge.

Patrick stood to greet him, holding his hand out to
shake. “Glad you made it, Ty. Paige, it’s so nice to see you.”
Patrick flashed her a grin and pulled her into a small hug. “Paige,
this is my wife, Gia.”

Gia stood up and smiled nervously at Paige, shaking
her hand.

“
Very nice to meet you,
Gia.”

Gia’s attention didn’t stay on her long; she kept
glancing at Tyler. Was she nervous, thinking maybe he’d lose it?
Paige had greeted Gia but hadn’t said another word, and the tension
rolled off her as well. He would just have to show both of them
that everything was fine.

“
Gia, nice to see you.” He broke
the awkwardness. Paige looked up at him, probably expecting to see
anger or anxiety in his eyes, but he knew there wouldn’t be any. He
felt completely composed and calm. “Pat sure has been an asset to
the team this season, especially after they pulled him up to my
line. I think we’ll have to see more of that next season. What do
you think, Pat?”

“
Yeah, I’d love that. I’m sure we
can come up with some great plays together.”

“
We’ll have to make sure we work on
that this summer. Gia, I haven’t seen you at any games? Maybe next
year you’ll start to come again? Paige might even put down her
papers for a few hours and watch me play.” He snickered.

Paige smiled at him. “If I don’t have things to take
care of you know I’ll be watching. I can always sneak into the
owner’s suite. As long as you and your teammates stay on your best
behavior, I won’t have so much work to do!”

“
Yeah, well,”—he pulled her into a
hug—“you won’t have to worry about me. There’s this amazing girl I
love who’d kick my ass if I misbehaved.” Paige’s eyes widened at
his words, but he’d wanted her to know how he felt, and he wanted
to make sure Gia knew he’d moved on, too. “Now Dom, he might be a
different story.” He joked.

“
I know, that kid is starting to
shine, and damn, it’s scary!” said Pat.

“
Please, the boy is harmless.
You’re all just jealous of his youth.” Gia chimed in.

“
Hey Pat!” Matt called.
“Ready?”

“
Excuse me guys.” Patrick gave Gia
a quick kiss on the cheek before calling back, “Hell
yeah!”

“
CANNONBALL!” They both yelled as
they jumped into the pool. Lindsey got caught in all of the
splashing and complained.

“
So, Ty. You still going away to
train this summer?” Gia asked.

“
Actually I am. A journalist is
going to do a story on it, so that’ll be fun. But this year I was
going to see if Paige would want to come with me.”

This was the first she was hearing his idea but he
hoped to hell she’d jump at the chance. Being away from her for any
period of time was not something he was interested in just yet, and
maybe not ever.

“
Um, wow. Yeah, I’d really like
that.” She smiled up at him. “Yes, I’d love to go with
you.”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her gorgeous
lips. “Thank you.”

Gia grinned and nodded her head in approval. “Good
move, Ty.”

“
Everyone good over here?” Kris
asked.

Tyler nodded. “Yep.”

“
Kris, we’re all just fine.” Gia’s
face was a little brighter now. “Finally.”

“
Here’re your beers, guys.” Matt
said, still dripping wet from his cannonball.

Patrick grabbed his beer and lifted it up in the air.
“To the Renegades! We’ll get ‘em next season!”

“
To the Renegades!”

THE END