Back Check Part 2

"Apricot," Hughie corrected him with a slap on the back. "Get it right, man."

"Christ."

Apparently the entire wedding was being coordinated around some orange roses Duper had once given Lovey.

"Captain Romantic," Army smirked.

"I had a moment," Duper said. "I thought the roses matched her hair. I'm still afraid we're going to look like we're dressed up for Halloween, though." He grimaced. "All black and orange."

Tanner threw a doubtful glance at Katelyn. A f.u.c.king wedding planner. How the h.e.l.l had this come about? "Well, Katelyn has great taste," he said. "I doubt she'd allow that."

Four pairs of eyes focused on him with masculine interest. "Oh yeah...you know her?" Hughie asked in a low voice. "She is smokin' hot."

Tanner cleared his throat. "Yes. Yes, she is."

"How do you know her? Or should I say, how well do you know her?" Hughie grinned.

"Like she said, we went to college together." He resisted an urge to run a hand under the collar of his s.h.i.+rt, where heat was gathering. He wasn't sure why he was holding back. It just seemed...personal.

"We need beers." Duper headed to the fridge. He handed them out and Tanner accepted the cold one gratefully, popping the top and guzzling it down.

He watched Katelyn talking to Lovey, Amber, and Jillian, her smile now relaxed and genuine and so G.o.dd.a.m.n beautiful it made his chest hurt. He rubbed there without thinking, then turned to the guys, who all regarded him with raised eyebrows.

"So back to the hot wedding planner," Hughie said, leaning his elbows on the island. "Did you bash the beaver?"

Tanner stared at his teammate.

"Shake the sheets?" Hughie continued. "Do the horizontal hula?"

"Jesus," Rupper muttered.

Army cuffed Hughie on the back of the head. "Show some respect for the lady."

Hughie's eyes widened. "I'm respectful! Very respectful! I already said she's hot. I really respect her hotness. Okay, never mind. What I want to know is, is there any history there that would stop me from tapping that?"

Tanner took another long pull from his beer. Was there?

Sure, there was history. But that was eight f.u.c.king years ago. He'd been married since then. And divorced. Maybe she had too. So he said, "No."

Hughie's face brightened and Tanner resisted the urge to punch him. But it was no business of his if Hughie wanted to tap the s.e.xy wedding planner's a.s.s. A very fine a.s.s, as he well knew.

"Yeah, I don't know," Duper said. "You might want to wait until the wedding's over. We don't want things to get awkward when you screw up."

"What makes you think I'll screw up?" Hughie demanded.

All four women glanced over at his raised voice.

"I'm a good guy," Hughie whispered, frowning. "Chicks dig me."

"Sure," Duper said, grinning. "Sure they do."

"Seriously, I think I'm in love with her," Hughie said, gazing across the room. "You don't want to stand in the way of true love."

Army snorted. "Or true hornitude."

Tanner ground his teeth together. "You're way too young for her, kid. That's what's standing in the way."

The girls were now huddled around a laptop computer, exclaiming over pictures or something. Katelyn pointed at the screen and said something that made Lovey pump her fists in the air and cry, "I love that!"

"They appear to be making progress," Duper said. "Dieu merci."

"French cussing. You must be stressed about this," Army commented.

Duper rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm trying not to be. It's Lovey's thing. But when our wedding planner disappeared, she was freaking out, and when she's stressed, I'm stressed." He gulped his beer. "I just want to have a big party and get drunk."

Tanner lifted his beer toward his buddy in a toast. "That's what a wedding should be." They clinked bottles.

"Should have known Lovey would be a bridezilla," Army said.

"She's not." Duper frowned. "She's really not. She wants to have a big party and get drunk too. She just wants to make sure we all look nice doing it."

Tanner grinned. "I can do that. Not sure about the rest of you."

Duper laughed, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him. "a.s.shole."

"Everyone looks good until one of the bridesmaids drinks too much and ends up puking into a flower arrangement," Hughie said. "Or the groomsmen start doing the worm on the dance floor."

They all laughed.

"Be right back." Duper set his empty bottle on the granite counter. "Gotta siphon the python."

"Python." Rupper snorted. "We've all seen your d.i.c.k, dude. More like an earthworm."

Duper shot him a finger behind his back as he walked down the hall to the bathroom.

"Okay, Armdog." Tanner leaned forward, keeping his voice low. "What about the bachelor party?"

Army blanched. "What about it?"

"You have to plan it."

"f.u.c.k."

"And it has to be good."

Army licked his lips. "Like, what? Strippers? Hookers?"

"f.u.c.k no! I mean, okay, maybe strippers. Not hookers! It's your future brother-in-law, man-are you trying to sabotage the marriage before it even gets started?"

"No, no." Army's eyes darted around. "Then what?"

"A trip to Vegas is pretty standard. Although it's maybe getting a bit cliched. Where else could we go?"

"The bigger question is, when can we go," Rupper said. "We have no idea how far into the playoffs we'll get."

"Or if we'll get into the playoffs."

"We will." Army spoke confidently. "We've been building on last year and we will."

Tanner nodded. Things had been going a h.e.l.l of a lot better this year than last year at this time. "Okay, leave it with me," he told Army. "I'll do some checking and see what our schedule allows."

"Thanks, man." Army grabbed him and hugged him.

Tanner shoved him away, laughing, and as he turned he caught Katelyn watching them.

The women were standing, their wedding business apparently concluded for tonight.

"We need wine," Lovey announced. "Katelyn, will you stay and have a gla.s.s of wine with us?"

Katelyn hesitated, her gaze flicking to him and then back to Lovey. "Well. Okay. Thanks."

Tanner knew she was twenty-eight, the same age as he was, along with Duper and Army. Amber, Jillian, and Lovey were a few years younger. But all the women were a similar age, all of them pretty in their own way, and Katelyn seemed to fit right in. She trailed behind Lovey as Lovey swept across the living room toward the guys, all standing around the kitchen island.

Lovey paused. "Where's Marc?"

"Draining his dragon," Hughie said.

She laughed. "Oh. Well, one of you other big, strong hockey guys can open this wine for me."

Army made a choking noise.

She threw her brother a dirty look and handed the bottle to Rupper, then a corkscrew. While he opened it, she pulled four humongous winegla.s.ses out of a cupboard. When Rupper had expertly removed the cork, he poured the wine and Lovey handed each woman a gla.s.s.

Rupper held up the empty bottle with a mildly incredulous shake of his head.

Duper returned. "Who wants another beer?" As he reached into the fridge, a cellphone started ringing.

Everyone looked around. It was coming from Rupper. He froze.

"That's the ringtone," he said, his face going pale.

"What ringtone?" Lovey asked.

"The ringtone that means Sidney's in labor. I got her a special phone."

"Aaaah!" Lovey clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Answer it, dumba.s.s!" Army slapped his back.

Rupper fumbled the phone out of his pocket and answered the call. "Seriously?" he barked. "Okay. On my way. You okay, baby? Good. Okay, do your breathing, I'm only a few minutes away." He lowered the phone. "Gotta bounce, guys."

"Yes! Get out of here!" Everyone started shoving him toward the door and he bolted out.

"Oh my G.o.d, I can't believe it!" Lovey laughed with delight as they all returned to the kitchen. "Their due date was yesterday," she informed Katelyn. "We've been waiting for this to happen."

"That's awesome." Katelyn smiled with genuine warmth. She sipped her wine. Her gaze drifted to Tanner, then quickly away.

"We have a pool going on whether it's a boy or girl," Amber said. "They don't even know. This is so exciting."

"We have a game tomorrow night," Army said. "Guess Rupper might not make it."

"Sure he will." Hughie waved a hand. "They're having the baby now."

"Sometimes it takes a while," Lovey said. A worried crease appeared between her eyebrows. "I hope it all goes well for them." She lifted her gla.s.s in a toast. "To baby Rupp!"

They all toasted. Then Lovey said to Katelyn, "Maybe there will be another wedding for you to plan. Jared and Sidney said they were going to get married after the baby was born."

Katelyn smiled. "That would be great."

"So, Katelyn." Hughie moved up beside her and leaned in. "Are you as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside?"

Katelyn's laugh was like warm honey.

Tanner's fingers gripped his beer bottle and he narrowed his eyes at his teammate.

Chapter 3.

Katelyn smiled at the big man beside her. He was cute, with his square jaw and short-cropped light brown hair. He reminded her of Moose in the Archie comics. She shook her head at him.

Marc gave him a light cuff on the head. "Leave her alone."

"I'm just being friendly." He turned back to her. "So you're a wedding planner. Did you plan your own wedding?"

"Smooth," Tanner muttered.

Katelyn grinned, although it was a crooked grin, trying not to look at Tanner. "I'm not married."

"Ah. Good to know." Hughie tipped his bottle to his mouth.

"I better get going." Jillian set her empty winegla.s.s on the counter with a clink.