“Think what you want of me. Just leave me alone. This is the last time I’m going to ask you.”

“You’re a heartlesh bastard.”

I shrugged, not caring what she thought of me. “You didn’t tell me you were married to a teammate, no less.”

“Would it have made a differensh?”

“Fuck yes. I don’t mess with married women. That’s on you. I should’ve been smarter, realized the warning signs were there.” Why was I even trying to reason with this drunk woman?

She tried a different tactic. Her pretty mouth pulled down into an ugly, pouty face. “But I need your help to save my marrish.”

“Only you can save your marriage.” If it’s salvageable, I thought, but didn’t speak out loud.

She leaned toward me, showing me ample cleavage, her voice lowered to a seductive purr. “If you just tell him we didn’t do anything, I’ll make it worth your while.”

“This behavior is exactly why I’m not getting involved. I’m not convinced you deserve him.”

Her face shifted back to pissed and bent on revenge.

“Bria, let me make this perfectly clear. I don’t want to see you again, now or ever. I want you to go away and never come back. If you don’t, I’ll get a protection order and have you arrested.”

Her blue eyes narrowed to menacing slits, and she held out one manicured finger and pointed it unsteadily at me. “You will regret thish. I promish you that. All of you will regret how you’ve treated me.” She spun on her heel, stumbled, and weaved off into the darkness. I watched for a short time until she disappeared down the exit ramp. Her heels echoed against the concrete walls long afterward like an ominous warning.

Shaking off the dark cloud of confusion and concern shitting all over my already crappy day, I entered the elevator and hurried to the relative safety of the condo.

Kaden and Steele were sitting on the couch watching hockey highlights when I entered. I went straight to the fridge and grabbed a cold one. Popping off the top, I slumped onto the cushion next to Steele. He shot me a sideways glance and did a double take.

“You look like a guy who’s seen better days,” Steele noted. “Was dinner that harsh?”

“No, it was manageable. It was afterward.”

“Afterward?” Kaden asked, not taking his eyes off the large flat-screen dominating one wall of the room. The clip of an incredible goal played over and over, as the analysts droned on and on about the impossible shot. I wasn’t impressed. I’d seen tons of impossible shots in my life. As soon as you deemed a shot impossible, some player proved you wrong.

“Yeah, Bria was in the parking garage waiting for me when I got home.”

“Of this building?” Steele was incredulous.

“Yeah, she was wasted. Wants me to help her get back with Jock.”

“Really?” I had Kaden’s full attention now.

I told them about our conversation, grateful for their sympathy rather than censure. They already knew I felt like shit about this and wished it’d never happened.