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“How was your date? Did Jayden confess his undying love to you?”
The previously refreshing water turned sour in my stomach. I had purposely ignored her call last night, needing time to get my thoughts together. Reflecting now, I felt nothing but relief. Jayden was over. I’d hardly thought of him since leaving the restaurant. No, the only person I thought about was the standoffish hockey player who had walked me home.
Shana’s foot tapped on the floor, and I rolled my eyes. “No, but I did meet his girlfriend.”
Her brows pinched together, and her mouth twisted to the side as she said, “Okay, I’m not following here. Are you saying he asked you to be his girlfriend? Because honestly, I thought that was already solidified, and it makes him sound like an idiot.”
I barked out a laugh as my discomfort turned to amusement over how this was going to go. “Oh, he’s an idiot. And by the way hisbeautiful brunette girlfriendlooked at him, I’m pretty sure I was the other woman.”
“What?” Shana screeched loud enough that everyone turned toward us.
“Shh.” My skin flushed impossibly hot. It was one thing for her to know. It was an entirely different thing for the whole team to find out just how badly Jayden had screwed me over.
Her mouth proceeded to open and close as she gathered her thoughts and spoke quietly. “What the hell! You’re just telling me now?”
“I called you. It’s not my fault you didn’t answer,” I said defensively. “Plus, Lucas walked me home.”
“Did he now?” She gave me a knowing look.
“Drop it,” I pleaded.
“Fine.” A spark lit up her gaze, but she wasn’t ready to let this go yet. “Please tell me you punched Jayden?”
I rocked back on my heels, enjoying the fierce look of protectiveness in my much shorter friend’s eyes. I’m pretty sure she would fight Jayden right on the spot if I asked her to. “Not quite, but I did pour my wine over his head.”
She made a whoop sound, and I shushed her again. She gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry, got excited.”
I took another long sip of my water, glad that it was back to being refreshing. I could use a long swim in my pool. Shana laughed, and if mischief had a face, it would be hers right now.
She looked over my shoulder and smiled. “Well, well. What brings you here?”
The warmth from his gaze tickled up my spine, and I turned. Lucas leaned against the gym door, looking casual with his hands buried in his pockets. He had thrown on a white shirt and a pair of board shorts. His clothes fit him a bit too snugly, not able to stretch any further after his latest growth spurt. His gaze traveled over my tanned legs all the way to my small black exercise shorts where the thin fabric of my shirt clung to my stomach and paused where my shirt hung lower than my sports bra, leaving the top of my cleavage uncovered, then finally made its way up to meet mine. I sucked in a breath at the look of pure heat only half hidden under his lowered lids and stood mesmerized as he slowly dragged his thumb over his bottom lip. An entirely new kind of heat was taking over my body and pooling between my thighs.
Lucas straightened and cleared his throat. “Here to grab Killer before heading to the cliffs.”
Jax popped his head out from around him and called to me. “What are you waiting for?”
Shana leaned into my shoulder, keeping her voice tinged with amusement, low enough so only I could hear. “Oh, now your boy’s picking you up from practice?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, you don’t know what I’m talking about? You mean you aren’t excited to see the guy you’ve been practically drooling over since you were kids? Please. You’re a horrible liar.”
“I wouldn’t say drooled.”
“Would you prefer me to call you out for being madly in love with a guy that doesn’t look twice at you?” She tilted her head and scanned Lucas. “Although, not going to lie, he looks interested right now.”
My gaze snapped to him, but he stared down at his phone, as indifferent as ever. I pushed down my annoyance. It wasn’t his fault that I had a crush on him.
“Let’s go!” Lucas called, his tone impatient.
I cleared my throat and shouted, “I’m not going, remember?”Why wasn’t I going again?Oh, right, because they were all on a mission to get laid, including Lucas, and I didn’t think I could survive seeing that.
Jax ran up to me, steepling his fingers. “Please, Pips. We already know you’re going anyway.” He looked around, catching the attention of several of my teammates with a wide smirk on his face.
“What makes you think that?”
“’Cause you love us.” The smile he gave me was genuine and easy, and I couldn’t help but give in.
