Bear No Loss Read Free Page A

little pun about their names and how he thought Memphis in April was a fine place to be.
    That bastard, she thought with a grin and a shake of her head, but some of the amusement dissipated as she looked up into the brown, intense eyes of Nicky Volley, a woman not exactly known for her sense of decorum.
    “Yeah, I guess I sort of… forgot to tell you about the fact that I met him,” April said, cringing as she reached for another shot on the tray they’d bought after the first round of beers.
    One thing was for sure, she was going to feel this in the morning.
    “You forgot to tell me that you met Memphis Corley ?! Only my number one, most favorite hockey player of all time?! Oh, I know when this was,” Nicky said, leaning back in her seat with her mouth gaping. “It was that night, wasn’t it! When I thought I smelled Calvin Klein and SEX in the apartment! Did you make him climb down the fire escape? You did, didn’t you?”
    April was nodding before she could even attempt to stop herself, and then throwing back another shot just to make herself stop giving Nicky more ammunition. The “but you don’t even watch hockey” died on her lips along with any denial she might have been formerly ready to rattle out.
    “I can’t believe you,” Nicky said with a shake of her head, her expression tight but her smile wide. “You should have at least introduced us!”
    “I was embarrassed, honestly. I mean, we met at a bar and we ended up hitting it off and one thing led to another and then he was in the cab and in the apartment and… God, I’m such an idiot,” April said, letting her head fall on her arms with a thunk, the loud music in the bar one block down from the office drowning it out well enough.
    “Why? I mean, I’m not mad,” Nicky said, making April glance up.
    Nicky’s eyes seemed a little cold and distant, but her smile was genuine enough now. Nicky reached out her hand and put it on April’s, rousing her from the fit of self-pity she’d been trying to disappear into all night.
    “Honestly?” April asked.
    “Cross my heart and hope to d… well, not die, but at least meet the rest of the Bluehawks if I can’t get my claws into Memphis,” Nicky said with a giggle. “I swear, I won’t touch him. I don’t steal from friends!”
    That last part was said a bit too lightly and with maybe a tiny bit of undertone that April was quick to dismiss as Nicky clinked the shot glasses together with her and they both swallowed another bitter mouthful.
    “That’s good to hear. I’m really sorry Nicky. I just don’t really follow hockey that much and even when he said his name, it sounded familiar but I didn’t put two and two together and—”
    “Say no more, I get it! But tell me, what are you going to do now? Is he hitting you up a lot on SassyDate? Have you seen him again?”
    April shook her head, fighting the desire to pick up the phone and scroll through their old messages again like she’d been doing far too often lately. He was sweet and a bit raunchy just like he was in person, but she never felt uncomfortable chatting with him. Quite the contrary. Putting the phone down every night was hard as hell because she just wanted to keep going!
    “I haven’t,” April admitted. “He’s in Idaho for practice games. Though I understand their rink is about to go up so they’re going to start playing in an official capacity again.”
    “Ooh! Do they have a name yet?” Nicky asked, obviously more up to date on the whole world of NSHL and hockey in general than April was.
    “I think they’re calling themselves the Shovelers or something. Not sure.”
    “Ew. Okay. Has he maybe invited you to a game or something…” Nicky asked, trailing off, obviously fishing for information.
    “He has,” April admitted, feeling the corners of her mouth tug up a little. “He has a training camp and a practice game next week that’s supposed to be low-pressure and he and the team would have time to hang out.