Dirty Pucker (Denver Bashers #2)

9. Del

Chapter 9

Del

I walk into the entrance of Spanky’s and see Ingrid waving at me from the bar. I wave at her, but then I see who else is sitting at the table.

Xander, Theo, and Blomdahl. They’re all laughing and chatting.

Shit.

My instinct is to turn around and walk out of the bar. I wouldn’t have come if I knew they’d be here too. They’re not gonna want me around for their post-game drinks.

As I stand there and hesitate, Ingrid pops up and rushes over to me.

She smiles. “Hey. Are you going to stand there the whole night glaring at our table or come over and have a drink with us?”

“I didn’t know some of the guys from the team would be here too.”

“Yeah, this place is their unofficial hangout after home games and practices. I come here with them too sometimes. I thought it would be fun. Maya, Theo’s wife, usually comes too, but she’s hanging out with her sisters-in-law tonight.”

“I appreciate the invitation, but I don’t think the guys want me here.”

“Come on. You can be here, Del. You’re part of the team too.”

When I tell her I don’t think it’s a good idea, she frowns. “Why wouldn’t it be? You played really well tonight. And you fought that Devils player who went after Theo. You’ve earned your spot at the table, at least tonight.”

“It’s not that simple. It was one fight. One game. That doesn’t erase the years of bad blood between your cousin and me.”

She tilts her head to the side and flashes that sweet smile. The one that makes me weak in the knees.

“You know what would help that? Buying a round of drinks,” she says.

Fuck, she’s adorable. And persistent.

She grabs my hand and pulls me to the bar, where I order another pitcher of the beer that Ingrid said the guys are drinking along with an order of fries. The bartender drops off a pitcher and tells me the fries will be ready in a few minutes. We walk over to the table and I hold up the beer.

“Beer is on me the rest of the night,” I say.

Xander, Blomdahl, and Theo all stare at me. Clearly, I’ve ruined the vibe.

A second later, Xander nods. “Sure. Thanks,” he says. The other two tell me thanks.

I sit down, slide the pitcher over to them, and let them refill their glasses before I fill my glass. For a few seconds, we all sit in silence.

I’ve been the new guy on a team a handful of times in my career. It’s normal to feel nervous and awkward at first as you get to know your new teammates. But it’s been a while since I’ve been the new guy. I played for Nashville for three years, and even though I wasn’t best friends with any of the guys on that team, I knew them well and got along with most of them. But this is the first time I’ve joined a team where all my teammates can’t fucking stand me.

Tension knots my shoulders as the silence stretches between us. We all sip our beers. God, this is awkward.

“Good game tonight,” Xander says after taking a sip.

“It was,” I say before gulping my beer. I glance at Theo. “Your knee okay?”

He looks surprised that I asked him. “Yeah, it is.”

“You owe him a hug now, you know,” Blomdahl says to Theo.

Theo laughs. “Oh yeah, I guess I do.”

I frown. “Um, what?”

“A hug.” Theo grins at me. “It’s kind of an unwritten team rule. Every time your teammate defends you during a game, you owe him a ten-second-long hug.”

What the fuck?

I’ve played for a handful of teams in my career so far. I’ve seen guys do all sorts of strange shit, but hugging him for that long? That’s weird as hell.

“Uh…” I look at all the guys.

“He’s joking,” Xander says.

“Oh.”

Theo squints at me. “Damn, dude. Is that a smile?”

I roll my eyes.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen such a wholesome smile out of you,” Blomdahl jokes.

“Yeah. The most I’ve ever seen out of you is a smirk when you’re taunting someone on the ice,” Xander says.

I shake my head. It feels kind of weird laughing and joking with my new teammates…but it’s also nice. I feel a little less on edge now.

We all laugh. The server drops the basket of fries at the table, and I slide them to Ingrid. She grabs the nearby bottle of ketchup and douses her fries, then chows down.

She swallows and elbows me gently. “Look at you getting along with your new teammates. And all it took was a pitcher of beer and you flashing that handsome smile.”

I glance at her. “Handsome, huh?”

Her cheeks flush as she bites back a smile.

I shouldn’t be teasing Ingrid like this, but I can’t help it. I like her a lot. And even though things between us need to stay friendly, I can’t resist the opportunity to tease and flirt with her a little.

I grab my beer glass and notice Theo looking between Ingrid and me. His expression turns hard as he stares at me.

I get his silent message loud and clear.

Quit flirting with my cousin, asshole.

I clear my throat and frown at my beer glass. Theo and I are starting to get along, but I’m certain that won’t last if I keep up this banter with her.

“Hey, you.”

I look up and see Sophie, the team doctor, walk up to Xander. He beams, then stands up and kisses her before pulling out the chair next to him for her to sit. He flags down the server and orders a non-alcoholic drink for Sophie. She smiles at him and he rests his arm along the back of her chair.

She smiles at me. “Hey, Del. Well done on your first game.”

“Thanks.”

“How’s your shoulder?”

I roll my left shoulder. “A little sore, but good.” After the game, my shoulder was still kind of sore from that check against the boards I took early in the game, so Sophie examined me.

“Thanks again for checking me out,” I say.

She smiles. “Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”

Xander leans over and kisses her temple. She closes her eyes and lets out a soft, satisfied hum.

“Aww, you two. So cute,” Ingrid coos.

Xander and Sophie smile at her.

Theo gently shoves Xander’s shoulder. “Still can’t believe you convinced her to go out with you, man.” He looks at Sophie. “You do realize this guy’s an idiot, right? If you have kids, they’ll probably only have an average level of intelligence. I know you’re a genius, but Xander’s gonna bring them down a few dozen IQ points.”

Xander shoves Theo back, but he’s laughing. Sophie chuckles and shakes her head.

Sophie is my sister Dakota’s best friend, and I remember just how smart she was from a young age. I was busy with hockey most of my life so I didn’t spend a ton of time around her, but I remember Sophie was always attending advanced tutor sessions and finishing every grade in school before everyone else.

“Xander is brilliant.” Sophie gazes up at him. He smiles at her, the look in his eyes adoring as he swipes a chunk of her strawberry blonde hair away from her cheek.

“It’s okay, gorgeous. I’m fully aware that you’re the beauty and the brains in this relationship.”

Everyone laughs. Just then Dakota walks in. When she walks up to the table, everyone greets her. When she sees me, she looks surprised.

“Del. Hey.” She blinks at me. “I didn’t know you’d be here.” She sits down next to me.

“Ingrid invited me.”

Xander pours her a glass of beer before pulling everyone into a conversation. Dakota takes a sip of her drink and then looks at me. “Never in a million years did I think you’d be sharing post-game drinks with Xander and Theo,” she says in a low voice so only I can hear her.

I shrug. “Me either. But here I am.”

I gear up to ask her something I know is going to piss her off. But I have to know—I have to make sure she’s okay.

I clear my throat. “So, um, you haven’t heard from Dad, have you?” I make sure to keep my voice low so no one else hears.

Her eyebrows crash together as she looks at me. She looks confused. Good. That means he hasn’t bothered to try and reach out to her.

But then I see that familiar look in her big, brown eyes. That flash of fear I saw so many times when we were kids, when I was too weak and too young to protect her or my mom…

I swallow back the sick feeling that creeps up my chest.

“No. He hasn’t tried to talk to me in years. Why? Is he trying to contact you or Mom?” she asks.

I shake my head, guilt gnawing at me because I’m lying to my sister. But I made a promise to our mom. I promised her I wouldn’t tell Dakota what happened, even though it kills me to lie to my sister…

But it’s for Dakota’s own good. The less she knows, the better. I don’t want her stressed out or scared. She endured enough of that when we were kids.

“I just wanted to make sure things were still good,” I tell her. “But even if you feel like something’s a little bit off, you can tell me. You know that, right?”

“I know, Del. You’ve told me that a million times.” She pauses to sip her drink. “I know that protective big brother act is ingrained in you, but I’m twenty-four. I can take care of myself.”

I nod and tell her that I know…even though deep down, I hate the thought of leaving my little sister to fight her own battles. I know she’s independent. I know she can take care of herself. I just don’t want her to have to go at it alone.

I change the subject. “How are things going at work?”

She smiles. “It’s been a blast. Exhausting though. Yesterday the other kindergarten teacher and I took both of our classes on a field trip. Corralling forty little kids at the children’s museum would break the toughest person in the world.”

“Tougher than an NHL hockey practice?” I deadpan, even though I’m teasing her.

She tilts her head at me and gives me her signature don’t-even-go-there stare. “Yes. Way tougher than hockey practice.”

I bump her shoulder with mine and she rolls her eyes and laughs.

She looks over at Ingrid, who’s nearly done with her mountain of fries. “Wow. Nice work. You’ve got the appetite of a Viking,” Dakota says.

Ingrid laughs as she dabs at her mouth with a napkin. She looks at me. “Are you prepared to lose another bet?”

I half-smile. “Bring it on.”

I don’t miss that flash of amusement in her blue eyes. She pulls out her phone from her coat pocket and holds it up. “Picture time!”

All the guys at the table groan, while Sophie and Dakota smile.

“It’s for social media,” Ingrid says. “Posting consistently is important if you want to keep your fans happy.”

They all grumble, “Fine,” as Ingrid, who’s sitting at the end of the table, tells everyone to crowd around each other. She takes a quick photo of us, and everyone goes back to chatting and laughing and drinking.

I watch as she quickly taps away on her phone, uploading the photo to the Bashers Instagram account.

Then she turns to me. “I just sent you the photo. Post it on your Instagram.”

I pull out my phone. “Why?”

“So you can show your followers that you’re a fun guy who enjoys hanging out with his teammates instead of a grump who just gets into hockey fights all the time.”

I pull up my Instagram account. “What should I write in the caption?”

“Something short. And catchy. And don’t use too many hashtags.”

I hand her my phone. “I’ve got nothing. You’d better do it.”

Ingrid chuckles as she takes my phone. Ten seconds later, she hands it back to me. “All done.”

I skim the caption.

Hockey fam #bashers #denver #cheers

Short and sweet. And better than anything I could ever come up with.

I smile at Ingrid. “You’re really good at this social media stuff.”

A shy grin pulls at her lips. She shrugs. “I’ve been doing it forever. It just takes practice.”

I shake my head. “You have a real knack for this. That’s better than anything I could come up with. And look.”

I point at the number of likes and comments I’ve gotten already in just the past couple of minutes of that photo being posted to my Instagram.

Look at Dirty Del with his Basher bros!

Ummm is that Xander Williams, Theo Thompson, and Del Richards smiling in a photo together? These guys have kicked the shit out of each other. Multiple times. Has hell frozen over?

Holy shit is Dirty Del smiling? I’ve seen that grumpy fucker smirk plenty of times while playing. But a genuine smile?

How much you wanna bet a brawl broke out after they posed for this photo lol

The Bashers dream team! Hell yeah!

“Thanks to you, my Instagram account is back from the dead,” I say. “You’re a social media genius.”

A pink flush paints Ingrid’s porcelain skin. “You think so?”

I nod. A second later, Ingrid’s smile turns teasing. “How about this for our next bet: if that Instagram post gets ten thousand likes by tomorrow night, I get to film a TikTok of you doing something silly.”

I scoff. “I don’t even have ten thousand followers.”

She raises an eyebrow. “You sound pretty confident it won’t happen. Why not bet on it?”

There’s a flicker in my chest at her confidence and playfulness.

“Fine. If my pic on Instagram gets that many likes, I’ll do it. But if I win, you have to put on my hockey gear, and I’ll film you skating around the arena and post it on the team TikTok account.”

She bites her lip like she’s nervous, but the determination in her blue eyes doesn’t fade one bit.

“Deal.” She sticks out her hand and we shake on it.

Sophie pulls Ingrid into a conversation. I sip my beer and nod along with Xander as he goes off on a questionable call from one of the refs during tonight’s game.

I catch my sister glancing at me.

I turn to look at her. “What?”

My little sister’s big, brown eyes are curious as she looks at me. “Are you into Ingrid?”

My eyebrows crash together. Damn. She picked up on that quickly.

“What makes you say that?” I mutter as I flick my beer glass.

“Just the fact that you smiled more in two minutes of talking to her than I’ve seen you smile in a month.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

My sister chuckles. “You like her. It’s so obvious.”

“Of course I like her,” I say. “She’s nice and funny and cool.”

“And drop-dead gorgeous,” Dakota adds.

“Yeah. That too.”

“And you’re totally into her,” she teases.

“We’re just friends,” I grumble. “She’s the team social media manager, so she offered to help me with my Instagram. It’s strictly professional.”

Dakota grins. “Uh-huh. Sure.”

Just then, Ingrid turns to show me her phone screen. I see that my Instagram post already has two thousand likes. That post has been live for not even ten minutes. No question it’s going to hit ten thousand likes by tomorrow night.

“What the…” I trail off when she shows me that she’s shared my post on her Instagram account, which has more than a million followers.

I look at her. “You cheater.”

She giggles. “You owe me a silly TikTok dance.”

A smile tugs at my mouth. I roll my eyes even though excitement flickers in my chest. I can’t wait to look like an ass on TikTok because it means I get to spend more time with Ingrid.