Chapter 18 #2
The two girls were hot or cold with me, likely because I’d been the same. But if there was something juicy to gossip about, they were smack in the middle of the discussion. Which was why when they headed in my direction, I not only braced myself but began doing a few stretching exercises.
“Is your hot boyfriend in the audience?” Tori asked the question as if she was really interested.
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I was trying to be polite.
“That’s right. He’s your fiancé,” Sienna added. Because the competition was stiff, more so with the thought of a talent scout in the audience, on this night they’d decided to drag out their claws.
Only they didn’t have the excuse of being wolves.
“Not my fiancé either.” I had no emotion in my tone, just stating facts.
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry. He realized you were beneath him?” There it was. Tori could sling it with the best of them. Maybe she was just pissed at me because I pushed her away from my brother.
“That’s where she wishes she could be. He’s too hot for her.” With Sienna laughing, they’d made their point in hopes of rattling me.
Their ridiculous behavior did just the opposite. I planned on knocking them dead just like I’d wished for Cole. He’d taken my advice. It was time I took my own.
* * *
Cole
“Woo-hoo, fellas! Time to break out the champagne.” Dan the Dominator’s enthusiasm was getting old. We’d been on the bus for almost eleven hours since very early in the morning and he’d been partying in his seat for five of them.
Even my earbuds couldn’t drown out his deep, scratchy voice. Plus, he was sitting only two seats ahead. I ripped them from my ears, shoving them into my jacket pocket along with my phone. Maybe I’d try again later.
I was at the point of jumping out and walking back, although if there was any chance of getting to Seattle at a decent time, I’d take it.
Even if it meant putting up with his crap for another couple of hours.
At least the coach had suggested heading out earlier than normal. It would seem he had a family life and wanted to get back to it. Fine by me. I hadn’t gotten wasted the night before.
“Calm down, gentlemen,” Coach Reynolds chimed in, obviously as exhausted as half of us felt.
Once the adrenaline rush wore off, it was time to crash. I’d gotten a few hours of sleep but not nearly enough. Not because I was overjoyed by our back-to-back wins, but because since I’d unloaded on Jagger, I hadn’t been able to get my mind off Chelsea.
Hell, I still thought of her as Clementine. The name suited her.
“A-hem,” Roxanne snarked. “There is a lady present.”
“Says who?” Hudson tossed out.
“Ooohhh…” a few others tossed out. I lifted my head, curious as to what Roxanne would do. Hell, the girl was tough as nails. I wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley.
“Bubba,” she said casually. “You couldn’t handle me. And I couldn’t find your dick with three flashlights in my hand.”
Since the head coach was her dad, I used to think he’d chastise her, but I could see the evil glint in his eye. He liked when she put one of us in our place.
A few of the guys clapped.
“What’s the word on the yank-me pages?” Anthony asked. His term for the half dozen social media pages she controlled for the team.
“Good stuff,” she offered while flicking her finger across the screen of her phone. “The Dynamic Duo. Nice, Jag Man and Rebel Boy.”
“Hey, what about the rest of us?” Hudson almost acted as if he was incensed.
Her shrug was meant to annoy him. “A couple nice comments. Not about you, Hudson. Maybe I should call you Boy Toy.”
“Brutal,” Finn tossed out. “And we like it.”
“What about the shit with Cole?” Hearing Jagger ask the question brought another series of images into my mind.
Damn it. I hated the way everything had been left with her.
Roxanne slanted her eyes in my direction. “A few things, mostly from chicks, but no longer trending.”
I could only imagine if she’d come to the game. Damn it. I wished she’d come to the game.
While everyone on the bus was now wide awake and rowdy, the noise almost drowned out my phone. I glanced at the screen. Samantha.
A cold chill drilled through my clothes to my spine and I sat up straight. “What’s wrong with Clementine?”
“Well. Well. I already knew it.”
“What?” I was trying to keep my voice down, leaning over so prying ears wouldn’t bother me.
“You can’t stop thinking about her. Were you showing off all your most fabulous moves on the ice in hopes she was watching?”
How was I supposed to answer that?
“You were.” My sister was practically giddy. There were days I wanted to disown her, this being one of them.
“Stop being a matchmaker.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Did something happen? Is she still dancing?”
Samantha giggled just like when were younger and she’d caught one or more of her brothers doing something against the rules. “Yes, goofball. I’m here at the auditorium. The big shindig is about to start. Where are you?”
“Um, coming back from Reno?” As if she didn’t know.
“Yeah, but how close?”
“A little over an hour. Why?”
“Then you can make it.” Her insistence was noted.
I closed my eyes. “She doesn’t want me there.” And I wasn’t about to admit I was thinking about being the cowardly lion.
“Uh, yeah, she does. She was hoping to see you in the audience.”
“She said that?”
“She didn’t need to. She fell asleep the other night in the middle of watching the first game. So you tell me?”
“You little snoop!” I gritted out, trying not to laugh.
“How else do I find all the juiciest gossip?”
I’d give her that. “I want to be there, but I don’t have much control. It’ll likely be over by the time I arrive.”
“According to the program, she’s close to last. My suggestion is that you do everything you can to try and make the performance. This is one of those make it or break it moments. If you want to be with her, then you’ll hunt down Superman and hitch a ride on his back. You get my point?”
“Yeah,” I said, half laughing. “I get your point. I’ll see what I can do.”
“You damn well better or I’ll never talk to you again.”
“Hmmm…”
“Fuck you, big brother. She needs you. Be here.”
As usual, the conversation ended when she determined it should, the line going dead.
My sister the matchmaker. One thing I couldn’t lie about. She was damn good at it.
I took a couple of deep breaths and decided to search for the event on my phone. Less than five minutes later, I found what I was looking for.
Suddenly, a presence was over my shoulder. Jagger, who’d decided to sit directly behind me.
“What is it, Jagger?”
“You going?”
To say I was shocked at his question at this point didn’t complete the gist of it. “Maybe.”
“Hey, John,” he called to our bus driver. “How long till we hit Seattle?”
“About an hour with no traffic,” John answered.
I could see John’s eyes in the rearview.
Damn it. Was I really considering doing this? Fuck, yes.
“Maybe you can step on it,” I told him, catching his almost instant grin.
“Happy to.”
Jagger said nothing else, which surprised the hell out of me. Honestly? It wouldn’t matter what he said at this point. I would find a way to make it to the theater. Maybe I’d do a search and see if Superman was available.
As I sat back, Hudson leaned over from across the aisle. “Get her, tiger.”
“Shut the fuck up and mind your business.” I slowly turned my head toward him, but had a grin on my face.