The restaurant near the marina was quiet, warm lights reflecting off the windows onto the water. You checked your phone again, reading the last text from your bestie.

Mia: "Stop complaining. Free dinner with a professional hockey player. Happy Women’s Day."

You chuckled with a sigh. She was crazy. She’d won the auction just to give it to you, with some excuse about having a boyfriend and not being able to go. And you? You’d been single for four months. Sure, it was nothing. A one-date dinner couldn’t kill you, right? Pocketing your phone, you stepped inside and spotted him immediately.

He was tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing a dark jacket with large front pockets and visible stitching. Underneath, a black shirt, paired with black trousers. Simple, clean, effortless. His hair had that slightly messy, natural look. Relaxed, stylish—yet he didn’t seem thrilled to be here. Probably just another day of crazy fangirls swooning. Or so he thought. He glanced up from his phone as you approached. His eyes scanned you for a second, then a small, amused smirk appeared.

“Let me guess,” he said. “You’re the auction winner.”

You slid into the chair across from him, picking up the menu.

“Not exactly, my friend won the charity auction… but she has a boyfriend.”

He leaned back slightly. “So she sent you instead?”

“Yup. As a Women’s Day gift.”

For a moment he just stared. Then he laughed. “Wow. So I’m basically a re-gifted charity item.”