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6
Gigi
“Ican’t believe he’s training you off the clock,” Jillian said, as she rolled up the last of my hair into one of the oddest-looking curlers I’d ever seen.
“Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Jillybean,” I said, touching some of the curlers on my head. They felt quite warm. “Are these supposed to be this hot?” I asked, worried I was going to end up burnt. You never knew what crap Jillian was going to try on you. Some of her wares weren’t exactly tested properly.
She flicked my hand away. “Stop, you’re going to ruin them. The directions say to leave them in for an hour.”
Unless these stupid things cooled off significantly, I had my doubts I was going to be able to keep them in for that long. Not that I informed her of that.
“Does he know you have a crush on him?” she asked me, catching my eyes in the big mirror in front of us. We were in her bathroom, so we had the added benefit of avoiding the camera in the living room.
I felt a small blush rise to my cheeks. “Had, Jilly. Had.”
“Mm hmm,” she said, shaking her head at me. “You don’t just give up on a crush you’ve had for over a decade. That’s not how it works.”
“I see him as a person now. Before, he was this—entity. A superhero. Now he’s just—Beau. I think once you see behind the mask, it can change how you feel pretty darn quickly.”
“Yeah, it can make you crush even harder,” she whispered, ignoring me while she cleaned up her workspace.
“I’m not crushing on him,” I said, kicking her leg as she walked around me.
“Whatever you say, G. I’ve seen the pictures on social media.”
My jaw dropped. “You know those were taken out of context.”
Jillian’s eyebrows raised. “I’ve known you for years. You can’t fake that come-hither look you were giving him.”
I gasped, not believing what my best friend was saying to me. “Are you kidding me? I was not giving him a come-hither look.”
“Looks. Come-hither looks. Two pictures. I have eyes. I know how you look at guys. You were giving Beau Moreau fuck me eyes. I don’t know why you won’t admit it.”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her. “I was not.”
She stopped and stared at me in the mirror again. “But for real—how was it skating with him?” she asked, her face and voice full of anticipation and genuine curiousity.
That’s when I broke. “So damn incredible,” I said as I exhaled a big breath, a huge smile emerging across my face. “He’s so smart and fast. Watching him close up was insane—like he’s at one with the ice.” And it was true. Seeing Beau in his natural habitat had been an awe-inspiring experience.
Every pore in my body soaked up each bit of knowledge and advice he’d shared. That man had inspired me from afar my whole life. Having the chance to run drills with him had been a dream come true.
“You’re one lucky girl, G. I’d kill for an opportunity like that. Tell me what you guys worked on,” she asked, and I gave her the low down on what his critiques were on my game. We talked back and forth for a bit before someone knocked on the door.
After the flirting I’d witnessed at the catered party on the first night we’d moved in, I knew we all needed to have a chat. I’d messaged for everyone to gather at Jillian’s place.
Jillian and I walked into the living room just as the door opened. “Yo, ladies,” Gianna said as she and Niki entered. “Wow, G, that suit looks fantastic on you.”
Just today, Jillian had finished the final fitting on a bikini she’d insisted on making me. It was so darn cute—a bright pink material with a larger white daisy print. The matching sarong was made of the same material and it all fit like a dream.
“Right? Jillybean really outdid herself on this one,” I said as I poked Jillian in the ribs.
She giggled and swatted my hand away. “Gigi, I added as much support for you as possible, but I still don’t recommend you make any sudden moves.”
We all laughed because they knew what extremes I had to go to in order to play hockey comfortably. “The only moves I intend on making are getting into the hot tub.”
“Oh, with Beau?” Gianna teased me as more of the team filtered into Jillian’s living room. They’d been teasing me about him whenever they could—which was to be expected after seeing those pictures on social media.
“That’s one of the things we need to talk about,” I said to them while I touched an especially hot curler that was by my ear. If Jillian fried my hair off, I was going to hurt her.
