Axel didn’t miss that either, letting out a low chuckle. “Yeah. No vibe at all.”
Slater shot him a glare.
His buddy simply grinned into his coffee. “You’re in trouble,” he added lightly.
Slater watched Evie tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, still smiling as she turned and walked away.
His chest felt tight. “Shut up,” he muttered.
Axel just laughed.
And Slater didn’t deny it again.
Instead, he sat back down behind his desk, huffing out a long breath. Axel pulled up a chair, and the two of them sat there quietly for a minute. He knew it would be easy to talk about business and what was going on at the resort, and he definitely didn’t want to talk about what was going on with Evie, but something else came to mind.
“I got an email from my dad the other day,” he began slowly. “They’re retiring his jersey and having a Cal Slater Day at the stadium.” He rolled his eyes.
“And he expects you to be there?”
“Yup.”
“Damn. That’s ballsy.”
“I know.”
“Are you thinking about it?”
Leaning back in his chair, his feet went back up onto the desk. “I want to say no, but…is that just a knee-jerk reaction? Like…am I too old to be holding onto this anger toward him?”
“Slater, come on. I don’t think you’re ever too old if someone hurt you, and clearly your father did. You don’t owe him forgiveness. Especially if he never apologized.”
“Yeah, but…shouldn’t I be the bigger person? Wouldn’t forgiving him—whether he asked for it or not—be good for me?”
Where the hell did that thought come from?
Clearly Axel must have been thinking the same thing because his brows went up. “Wow. Someone’s maturing.”
“I know, right?” The mirthless laugh was out before he knew it. “I’m not saying I’m going to forgive him and then we’ll be best friends or anything, but maybe I just need to let this shit go.”
“That’s totally up to you. I know I can say that I forgave my mom, but that was years after she died. I don’t know if I could have done it if she were still alive,” Axel solemnly admitted.
“I’m not even sure I can do it. Like…in my head, I’m like…sure. Yeah. But I have a feeling I’ll take one look at him or he’ll say something to praise his fabulous parenting skills and I’ll want to punch him in the throat.”
Chuckling, Axel shook his head. “Yeah, you might not be ready to forgive him yet. But maybe you need to actually sit down and have a conversation with him. But not until after the ceremony. Right now he’s going to be in PR mode and I have a feeling that will frustrate the hell out of you.”
“Probably. Then again, everything is frustrating right now,” he murmured.
“And we’re back to Evie,” Axel said with a sly grin. “Are we going to talk about that?”
“No.”
“Oh, come on! You’ll feel better if you do.”
“Somehow I doubt that. Plus, you’re all a bunch of gossips around here. I’ll tell you, you’ll tell Maisie, Maisie will tell Nora…”
“And so on, and so on,” Axel said, clearly amused. “You gossiped about all of us. Seems only fair that we get to do it to you.”
“If it were just me, I’d be fine with it, but it’s not fair to Evie. I don’t want her to be embarrassed. She’s kind of shy and doesn’t enjoy being in the spotlight.” He leaned back further in his chair, his hands clasped behind his head. “Sometimes…it’s almost like she apologizes whenever any attention is focused on her, and that’s just wrong, right? I mean…she’s this amazing person. She’s smart and funny and naturally beautiful, and she doesn’t even realize it. And I don’t know what’s up with the guys in Seattle, but they all look at her only as a friend. This last guy—total asshole, by the way—was only hanging out with her to get to her best friend, but he was making out with her and giving her mixed signals! And somehow, she was the one who felt bad!”
