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I shrug. “Well, I was right about the J at least.”
“If Reid asks, I did not tell you his name or that he’s single, all right?”
I laugh at the seriousness on his face. “Jeez. Have you always been this dramatic? He probably won’t even notice.”
Josh sighs. “Yeah, he will.” Then he walks off, in the opposite direction from Joe. Elliot is nowhere to be seen. He must still be inside.
I waver for a minute. This is stupid. Despite what Josh just said, I’m not confident Elliot will care if I talk to his teammate. I talk to Josh, Luke, and Oliver all the time.
The hops coating my tongue make the decision for me. The alcohol is slowly leaching away my inhibitions. This is a party. I’m single. I don’t need Elliot’s permission to doanything.
Joe doesn’t notice my approach, which isn’t fantastic for my ego. I compensate for the initial lack of interest by sitting closer to him than I was initially planning on.
“Hey. It’s Joe, right?” Belatedly, it occurs to me that Josh might have been screwing with me. I should’ve waited for him to introduce himself.
But he confirms it. “Yeah.”
“I’m Auden.”
He smiles, amused. “Yeah. I know.”
That’s all he says. I scramble to fill the silence. “Are you having fun?”Seriously, Auden?That’sthe best you could come up with?I sound like a middle-aged party planner.
“I was.”
“Oh?”Does he mean me?
Joe slips his phone in his pocket, glances behind me, and then stares right at me. “Look, you seem nice, and you’re super hot. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but are you fucking insane? I really don’t want to end up with a black eye.”
“I—what?”
“I don’t know what you and Reid—”
“Elliot and I are just friends,” I interrupt. “Now,” I tack on. If you ask all of Canmore, we used to be more than that. I’ve never wished a rumor was true more.
He snorts, loud and obnoxious. “Sure.Well, if you’re looking for a rebound, you’ve come to the wrong town.”
“Excuse me?”
“Like I said, you’re hot.” He glances at my legs, barely covered by the cotton dress that’s ridden up. “You’ve been coming here for…what? A few summers now, right? Has any guy in this town—hell, this wholeprovinceever so much as flirted with you?”
“I mean…”No.
He nods, hearing my silent answer. “Reid made it clear you’re off limits.”
“He didwhat?” Anger mixes with confusion and embarrassment.
Joe keeps talking like I said nothing. “Andmyfriends don’t look that jealous when I talk to a girl.” He nods behind me; I don’t need to look to know at who.
I give him a tight-lipped smile. “Greattalking to you.” I stand and spin, eyes narrowing in on Elliot.
He’s casually leaning against one of the Adirondack chairs that line the campfire by the house, talking to Josh, Oliver, and some other guys on the hockey team. Annabel, Cassie, and a few members of their posse are seated in the chairs, occasionally jumping into the conversation.
Elliot’s eyes flick toward me and away a couple of times as I approach, eventually landing on my face and staying there. His expression remains impassive, but his knuckles tighten on the bottle of beer he’s holding as I near.
Josh smirks at me; I glare back. I’m guessing he knew exactly how Joe would react when he sent me over there allDon’t tell Elliot anything.
I look away from Josh and back to Elliot as I reach their huddle. “Can I talk to you?” I snap.
