Chapter 45
NASH
“Maybe we need to lose a couple games, actually,” Vaughn says gruffly, annoyance thickening his voice when he approaches our table. “I got mobbed for autographs just walking the block from my parking spot.”
“I’m sure we can think of better solutions to that problem than tanking our season,” Cooper says.
“Like not going out on Friday nights,” Vaugh grumbles, sitting down.
“You could get a fake mustache,” Hayden proposes.
“And fake bushy eyebrows,” Noah joins in.
“Giant plastic nose,” Adriano adds.
“What you three could do is—” Whatever Vaughn was about to finish that sentence with was probably none too pleasant. But his voice stops on a dime when Piper and Hallie come back from the bar with their drinks, and the grumpy goalie’s gaze lands on my wife’s younger sister.
A small, strangled noise creaks from Vaughn’s throat. Color seeps into his cheeks, and he brings his fist to his mouth to clear his throat with a cough. “I’m getting a drink,” he says, then hurries to the bar.
I look around the table, but I think I’m the only one who caught that display. I don’t dwell on it for long, though. Piper and her sister take their seats and we start talking again.
Despite how I’ve tried to talk myself out of feeling this way, meeting Hallie feels like a big deal. I want to make a good impression.
It’s weird. I never cared all that much about how Bridgett’s family felt about me, even though she was supposed to be my real wife. But when it comes to my fake wife, I want the people who are important to her to like me. To approve of me.
“I still remember the first time Piper mentioned you to me,” Hallie says after taking a sip of her drink.
A grin hooks on my mouth. “Oh, really?”
“She ranted about how much of a jerk you were when she tried to welcome you and introduce herself.”
“I did not rant,” Piper says. “I mentioned how much of a jerk he was when I tried to introduce myself.”
I tilt my head thoughtfully. “Hm. Sounds like something you’d rant about.”
“She definitely ranted,” Hallie chimes in.
Piper presses her lips straight, though I can see her trying not to let them twitch. “It feels like your jerkiness should be the point of consideration here, not my method of expressing myself.”
I chuckle, even though I still feel a pang of regret at how I acted back then. “Fair enough. At least I got my favorite mug out of it.”
“The interesting question is, when did it become your favorite mug?” Hallie asks with an instigating glimmer in her eyes.
It feels like I shouldn’t answer truthfully.
Piper and I might be sleeping together now, and as a result of that, we might have let our guard down a lot when it comes to accepting that we enjoy spending time together, but I shouldn’t give away the fact that I’ve been attracted to her from the moment we met, despite my asshole-ish behavior back then.
But lately, I’ve lost the will to even be careful around Piper anymore. I just let it all out.
“Probably a couple minutes later, when I drank out of it for the first time, and she was next door ranting to you about how much of a jerk I just was.”
I slide my gaze to Piper and find her returning my grin, an affectionate look in her eyes.
Something a lot too close to hope tugs in my chest. Hope that maybe she’s finding her feelings running away from her just like mine are.
Hope that, when she gets her inheritance in a couple months, it doesn’t have to be the end of us.
Hope that maybe, one day, I’ll get down on one knee in front of her for real?
Fuck, how much have I had to drink already? Awareness jolts through me of just how irresponsibly I’ve let my thoughts stray.
Luckily, Noah pulls my focus out of my own head.
“Oh!” he exclaims excitedly, looking at his phone. “Mollie just got here. I’m gonna find her at the entrance and show her to the table.”
Noah’s childhood best friend is visiting Austin for the first time since he moved here, and he’s been excited about it since he told us. There have been more than a couple teasing remarks about just what kind of friends they are, but he’s been adamant that they’re totally platonic.
A song I don’t even recognize comes on that makes Piper and Hallie chirp with excitement. Apparently they have some kind of thing where whenever it plays, they have to dance to it. I watch them disappear into the crowded dance floor, feeling glad that they’re having a good time.
Vaughn returns with his drink. His neck is oddly stiff, and he seems to be making a concentrated effort not to look in the direction of the two girls I can’t take my eyes off of.
Noah comes back to the table, a smile brimming on his face, his arm slung around a cute girl who glances up at him with stars in her eyes. If I were the meddling type, I might question just how platonic they are.
But I’m only the meddling type when it comes to making sure drop-dead gorgeous bakers who I’ve suppressed crushes on for way too many years don’t go through with marrying cheating assholes. So I sip my drink and keep my commentary to myself.
But judging by the look Hayden and Adriano are sharing as Noah introduces us all to Mollie, they don’t share my position.
“Where are you visiting from, Mollie?” Adriano asks.
“Seattle,” Mollie answers, not making a move to sit down and get out from under the weight of Noah’s arm draped on her shoulders. Almost like that’s the one place in the world she wants to be.
None of my business, I remind myself.
“She’s the lead software engineer for this massive startup company up there,” Noah explains, brimming with pride.
Mollie blushes, waving away Noah’s boast. “I’m happy to be away from my job for a couple days. Let’s not make that the topic of conversation,” she laughs.
“How long have you two known each other?” Hayden asks.
It’s rude, but I kind of tune out their conversation when Piper and Hallie dancing come into my line of sight.
Piper inviting her sister out to meet me like this has to mean something, right? At least it could mean something—right?
I’m overanalyzing every little thing that might be a hint to Piper’s real feelings and intentions like I’m a damn middle schooler with my first crush.
Choosin’ Texas by Ella Langley comes on, drawing a rush of even more people onto the dance floor.
“Oh, I love this song,” Mollie says.
A devious look sparks on Adriano’s face. He stands, drawing himself up to his full height. He holds his hand out toward Mollie. “Do you like dancing to it, too?”
Mollie’s expression softens as she looks up at Adriano. Noah’s hardens.
“I never have before,” Mollie replies, bashfully.
Adriano smirks. “First time for everything.”
A smile slides onto Mollie’s face. A deep frown carves onto Noah’s.
Mollie slides her hand into Adriano’s. He leads her off to the dance floor, spinning her before planting his hand on her waist and swaying her to the music.
He keeps a respectful distance between their bodies, but that doesn’t stop Noah’s gaze from boring into them the whole time, or his knuckles from turning white as he grips his pint glass concerningly tight.
Piper and Hallie get back to our table. They must have snuck an extra drink or two in the meantime, because they’re both looking flushed and acting less inhibited. Hallie especially.
They’re hunched together, whispering and giggling. And what really piques my interest is how they keep stealing glances at Vaughn.
“Piper, don’t,” I hear Hallie whisper sharply to her sister, right before Piper signals to the goalie.
“Vaughn, guess what?” Piper’s shit-stirring grin splits her face.
“What?” Vaughn asks, guardedly.
“Piper!” Hallie admonishes in another sharp whisper, which her sister pays no heed to.
“Hallie wrote a book about you.”
Now that catches the attention of everyone at the table. Even Noah stops glaring at Mollie and Adriano.
Vaughn fixes a blank look at my wife, his eyes blinking slowly and heavily. “Excuse me?”
Hallie buries her face in Piper’s shoulder. “It wasn’t a book. It was a Wattpad story.”
“It was like sixty chapters,” Piper says. “It was a book.”
“What pad?” Vaughn asks, bewildered.
“Wattpad,” Hallie explains, still smothering herself in Piper’s shoulder like she’s too embarrassed to face all the eyes on her. “It’s a website where you can upload fanfiction and original stories.”
“And … why did you write a book about me?”
Hallie’s face is scarlet with embarrassment as she finally brings herself to face Vaughn’s bewildered glare.
“Do you remember Callum Steiner?” she asks.
Vaughn’s expression darkens. “Yes.”
Steiner was a player who Vaughn had an infamous on-ice rivalry with early in his career. They’d talk trash and mean-mug each other all game long when their teams met. Steiner and Vaughn even threw punches during a game once, which is practically unheard-of for a goalie.
There’s a stretch of silence as Piper and Hallie continue to giggle and titter with each other, until Piper finally says, “Hallie wrote a story about you two.”
Vaughn’s brow drops. “Us two? Me and Steiner?”
“Right,” Piper answers, choking back a laugh. Hallie’s hiding her face again, but I can see its color has moved on to something even deeper than scarlet.
“Why?” Vaughn asks, like he can’t even imagine a possible answer but is afraid to hear whatever it is.
“I had a hockey romance obsession at the time,” Hallie explains.
Vaughn quirks an eyebrow, like that was hardly an explanation. “But why would you …”
“It was an MM romance story,” Piper says. Hallie covers her face with her hands.
“Em-em …?” Vaughn questions.
“Male-male,” Piper says.
“I wrote a gay romance story about you and Callum Steiner,” Hallie explains, her eyes pressed shut like she can’t bear to face anyone while admitting it.
Vaughn’s jaw drops.
Hallie stands up. She’s a little wobbly. “Alright, that’s probably my cue to head home. Thanks for the most embarrassing moment of my life, Piper.” Even as she says that, she and her sister are still laughing together.
“I’ll walk you home,” Piper says. “Nash, just pick me up from Hallie’s place when you’re ready to go home.”
Vaughn still looks borderline shell-shocked while the girls walk away.
I’m ordering a rideshare to drive Piper and me back to our place, so I stay out a bit longer and have a couple more drinks with my teammates.
I walk to Hallie’s place after, and Piper and I order our ride from there. We drive out of the city on the same road where I pulled over and told her to get into my truck all those months ago.
That was the first time I had her in my passenger seat. And more than ever before, I realize I don’t want there to be a last time.