Heated Rivalry (Game Changers #2)(40)

“Oh shit—I mean, shoot—looks like Ruby is trying to steal a starfish.” Hayden nudged the stroller handles toward Shane. “Here, you watch Arthur for a second, okay?”

He was darting toward the touch tank and the twins before Shane could reply.

Shane knelt in front of the stroller and smiled at the sleepy-eyed little boy. “Hey, buddy,” he said. “You having a good time?”

Arthur reached out and grabbed the front of Shane’s ball cap.

“Let’s go see some penguins!” Hayden said. He had returned carrying one twin under each arm.

“Penguins!” both girls squealed at once.

“Penguins!” Shane said, clapping his hands and trying to mimic the girls’ excitement.

Hayden rolled his eyes. “All right, children. Follow your big brother Shane.”

He set the girls down, and they each took one of Shane’s hands. Shane’s heart clenched. Their hands were so tiny.

In the Antarctic room, Hayden and Shane were able to sit on a bench with the stroller parked next to them while the twins ran up to the glass to look at the penguins.

“So Jackie has this friend...” Hayden said.

Oh, Jesus. Here we go again.

“No,” Shane said.

“I know, but listen. She’s gorgeous, and she’s cool. She’s a yoga instructor. You like yoga, right?”

“I’m sure she’s great, but I’m really not interested in dating anyone right now.”

“Why the f—I mean, why on earth not? You’re young, you’re rich, you’re famous, you...look like you.”

Shane gave him a flirty look. “Hayden, do you find me attractive?”

“Look, pal. If I was a woman, I’d be all over you.”

Shane laughed. In truth, he could think of worse scenarios than having Hayden Pike all over him. But he wasn’t going to tell him that. Besides, Hayden was his best friend. He’d never had anything but platonic feelings for him, blond hair, green eyes, and cleft chin aside.

“So this friend,” Hayden tried again. “Samantha is her name. I think you would really like her.”

Shane buried his face in his hands, almost knocking his own ball cap off. “Please stop trying to set me up on dates, Hayd.”

“I just want to see you happy! And I want you to have a hundred kids so you can know my pain!”

Shane scrubbed his hands over his face and looked up to see Jade and Ruby shoving each other in front of the glass.

“Fuck it. I gotta break this up,” Hayden grumbled, already walking toward them.

Shane sighed. “Tell your dad to lay off my love life, all right, Arthur?”

But Arthur had fallen asleep.

Shane imagined telling Hayden that he was into men. He knew Hayden wouldn’t shun him or anything. He maybe wasn’t the most worldly guy, but he wasn’t a bigot either. At worst it would probably make things awkward between them. Maybe it wouldn’t, but Shane didn’t want to risk finding out. There really wasn’t any reason to, anyway. Shane probably would meet a nice girl someday and settle down and then his occasional attraction to men would be moot.

His imagination continued to wander, conjuring a scenario where he told Hayden that he’d been hooking up with Ilya Rozanov since their rookie season. The hypothetical look on Hayden’s face made Shane snort out loud. He quickly covered his mouth and turned to look at Arthur, as if to suggest that the sleeping toddler had made the weird noise.

“Excuse me, are you Shane Hollander?”

Shane looked up and saw two teen girls gawking at him.

“Erm...” he said smoothly.

“Oh my god! You are! Can I get a selfie with you?”

“It’s pretty, um, dark in here,” Shane said. He tried to catch Hayden’s eye. If he started taking selfies with fans here, it would never end.

“Please?” The girls were both pouting now.

Shane kept himself from sighing. It wasn’t like he was doing anything else at the moment. “Sure. What’s your name?”

The girls lit up. “Oh my god, thank you! I love you so much! I’m Emma.”

“I’m Jessica.”

“Nice to meet you, Emma and Jessica.”

They arranged themselves so they would all fit in the frame of Emma’s iPhone screen. As she was snapping pictures, Hayden returned. “Uh-oh,” he said.

It only took a second for Shane to realize that Hayden was referring to the dozens of heads that were now turned in the direction of his little photo shoot.

Sure enough, as soon as the girls thanked him and walked away, a man and his son approached Shane. He ended up being stuck in the Antarctic room for twenty minutes taking photos with fans and signing whatever objects they happened to have on them. When Shane made his apologetic excuse to leave, he found Hayden by the exit.

“Those assholes,” Hayden grumbled.

“They’re fans, Hayden.”

“They didn’t even recognize me!”

Shane laughed and slapped him on the back. “I’ll take a selfie with you, if you want.”

“I never should have become friends with you.”

Shane smiled and held the door for him so he could push the stroller through.

“Seriously!” Hayden continued. “My ego can’t take it, man! It’s like being friends with the damn sun or something. Wait—do I have all of the kids? How many kids are here?”