9. Hayden

CHAPTER 9

HAYDEN

"So, if I want to show a guy I'm interested, how do I start?" Darcy asks that evening in the Yaletown bar I chose so we could do this without the risk of my teammates seeing.

And that's why you're going to teach her how to fuck other guys? Miller's words from after practice send a fresh round of tension through me.

"Hayden?"

"Yeah." I clear my throat, focusing on Darcy. "Okay. Flirting. Uh, it's easy. You're going to find someone you're interested in, then make eye contact."

She hums, absorbing this. She looks pretty tonight, with her hair loose and a little wavy around her shoulders. She always looks pretty, though, with her small, sloped nose, high cheekbones, and heart-shaped mouth.

My eyes drop to her lap. She's wringing her hands, and protectiveness surges through me.

"Hey." My voice goes soft as I tilt my chin at her hands. "What's the deal?"

She makes an uncertain face, shrugging.

"Nervous?"

"A little. I've never done this before. "

I resist the instinct to put my arm around her. "This is going to be a walk in the park for you, I promise. Give any guy attention, and he's going to have his tongue on the floor. You're gorgeous."

Her eyebrows go up and her smile turns teasing. "I'm gorgeous ?"

I didn't mean to say that. I shrug like I say that to women every day. "You knew that."

"I mean," she makes a face, "not necessarily. You've never told me that."

Because I've always kept a tight leash on thoughts like that. I put on a wry grin. "Don't get a big head over it. That's my thing."

She chuckles. "Sorry, I won't threaten your ego. So I stare deep into a guy's eyes from across the bar. Got it." She makes her eyes go as wide as possible, unblinking gaze boring into me, irises sparkling with suppressed laughter. "Am I seducing you, Hayden?" she whispers in a creepy voice.

"No." I stare back, wearing my own weird, creepy expression, holding back a laugh. "You forgot to smile."

She puts on a blank, soulless smile, still not blinking, and we both start laughing.

I let out an exaggerated sigh. "This is going to be more work than I thought."

"I promise to behave and not act like a possessed doll from a horror movie until at least the third date." She sips her drink and licks the salt off the rim, and I have to pull my gaze away. "Okay, eye contact with a guy for a couple seconds, small smile. Then what?"

"Then, if he's smart, he'll show up like a dog looking for a treat."

"What if he doesn't, though? What if he's shy or something? "

"If a guy's interested, he'll let you know." The words come out with more force than I mean. "Don't settle for anything less than a guy who worships the ground you walk on."

Like me , the voice in my head says, but I ignore it.

She makes a thoughtful humming noise, nodding to herself, digesting this.

"Wasn't that on your player list? Be confident and chill? You're a catch, so act like it."

She smiles, and every shade of green in her eyes sparkles. "You're a catch, too."

Our gazes rest on each other, and it's one of those perfect moments where it's just the two of us and I think, maybe . Maybe if things were different. If I'd gotten my shit together that first week and asked her out before Kit swooped in.

Even if we did get together, it would only be a matter of time until Darcy sees what everyone else does, and then it'd all fall apart.

"Alright." She takes a deep breath. "Let's do this."

The bad feeling I've been carrying all day gets bigger and louder, but we're doing this so she can feel confident, so she can be in control while dating, and so she can make up for lost time. We're friends, and she needs my help.

"First, find someone you like."

Darcy's gaze moves around the bar. Her eyes linger on a person behind me before she jerks her gaze back to mine.

"See someone?" My voice is tight and I grip my glass harder.

A tiny nod. "He looked at me."

"Good."

Not good. I hate this. Every protective, possessive instinct in my body pounds like a drum. It's taking all of my control to not turn around to look at the guy.

"Next time he looks, do the smile. Not the creepy one. "

She snorts, shifts and crosses her legs, glances behind me, and a moment later, her mouth curves up into the cutest shy smile I've ever seen.

It's a knife to my gut.

"Like that?" she whispers, looking back at me.

I swallow. "Exactly like that."

"Now we wait?" She sips her drink again, searching my eyes.

"If you were with one of your female friends, I'd say yes, but because you're with me," I gesture at myself, "he's not going to approach. On account of me being so big and strong." I flex a bicep and she laughs into her drink. A smile stretches across my face, and some of the tightness in my chest eases.

"You can be very intimidating. What do you suggest?" Her smile falls, and her features flood with worry. "Please don't leave."

Damn if my heart doesn't do whirly loops through my chest at that. "I'm not going anywhere."

An idea occurs to me, and I glance over my shoulder at the group of guys. It'll probably work—one of them is wearing a Storm hat.

"Which one?" I murmur to Darcy.

"Green plaid," she says quietly.

The man in the green plaid shirt leans in while his friend talks. His eyes move to Darcy and then back to his friend. I scan over the group of them, scrutinizing for any red flags, but they look like a regular group of guys.

Darcy's target glances at her again and smiles, pretending to listen to his friend while clocking Darcy's every move.

I catch the bartender's attention, and she comes over. I can't believe I'm about to do this.

"Can we get a round of drinks for that group at the end of the bar, please?" Darcy watches with curiosity, and I give her a flat smile. "Just watch."

"Owens." Storm Hat nods at me with interest. "Who do you like playing with the best?"

Not sixty seconds after we sent the drinks over, the guys dropped by to thank us and tell me what huge fans they were. I'm a great wingman, so I introduced Darcy as my roommate and invited them to have a drink with us at the bar.

"Volkov, no question." I'm only half listening, straining to hear Darcy and Green Plaid's conversation.

My knee bounces with restless energy. Watching Darcy talk to another man while he stares at her with stars in his eyes feels so fucking wrong. Every muscle in my body is tense, and my chest is tight with a weird, protective urge to grab her hand and pull her out of here.

Confidence-wise, she seems to be doing okay. She's biting her lip a lot the way she does when she's nervous, but I don't get the stranger danger vibe from her.

"…don't know if you have plans for the rest of the night," Green Plaid says to Darcy, wearing a hopeful expression, "but we were going back to my place?—"

"We can't," I blurt out, standing. "We have to go."

Darcy gives me a strange smile, and I scramble for an explanation so I don't look like her overbearing bodyguard. If I were wing-manning anyone else, Volkov or one of the other guys on the team, I'd be happy to tag along and keep the party going.

I don't like the idea of Darcy in this guy's apartment, though. Anything that gets us closer to his bedroom, which is what he's trying to do—because anyone with eyes would want Darcy in their bed—makes me pissed off and nauseous.

"We've got that thing tomorrow morning." I lift my brows at her before catching the bartender's eye for the bill. "With Streicher and Pippa and Daisy. So we should get going."

I'm bullshitting through my teeth. Sometimes, Pippa and Hazel organize hikes on the North Shore of Vancouver with Pippa and Streicher's dog, and I tag along, but there's nothing going on tomorrow, and Darcy knows that.

"Right." She smiles, and the mischievous sparkle in her eye feels private, just for us. Our little secret. "The hike."

"Streicher?" Green Plaid asks. "Like Jamie Streicher?"

Darcy smiles and nods at him. "Yep."

He's making moon eyes at her. "I love hikes."

I fight an eye roll in response to him shamelessly trying to get an invite. "That's great."

The bartender swings by with our bill, and I pay, gently pushing Darcy's hand aside when she tries to hand over her card. Sparks zing up my arm and I pull my hand back.

"Lots of great hikes in Vancouver," I add.

I step between them to help Darcy into her coat while the guy backs up to give us space. I'm being a territorial asshole, and the exact opposite of a wingman, but I can't seem to stop myself.

My expression is tight but friendly as I put a hand to Darcy's lower back, forgetting my rule about not touching her. "Nice chatting with you, guys. Have a great night."

"Wait." Green Plaid's eyes flare with surprise at Darcy. "Can I, uh—" He laughs lightly, pulling his phone out. "Can I get your number?"

She looks at me, her gaze full of uncertainty.

"She lost her phone," I lie, hauling her out of there without looking back. "Maybe next time."

A moment later, we're outside in the cold night air, and I can breathe again.