Chapter 29 Emmett #2
"He was pining after this woman for months after London. It was pathetic," Sully adds.
"Hey, it's sweet." Cassidy throws a cushion at her brother. "This is like a movie!"
"Tell them what happened next." Sully chuckles. I groan. "Months later, there's this party. I walk in, and there she is. Standing with Pierre and Felix. Their little sister. The new team physio. The girl from London."
"No," Ember breathes.
"Yes."
"What did you do?"
"What could I do? I pretended I didn't know her. She pretended she didn't know me. We've been pretending ever since."
"Except you haven't really been pretending," Sully cuts in. "You've been sneaking around, texting, doing God knows what."
"We haven't slept together again."
"Really?" Sully seems surprised.
"Yes, but ..."
"You've kissed her again?" Ember asks.
"Yes."
"And you want to keep kissing her?"
"Yes."
The room falls silent as the girls take in this bit of information.
"He's forgetting the best bit." Sully laughs. "She literally lives at the end of the hall."
"What?" My sister gasps.
"Like right down there?" Cassidy points.
I nod.
"No." Ember stares at me.
"It's bad."
"She lives with her sister, Collette. She works for the team, too, in social media."
"Please tell me you're not sleeping with her," Cassidy asks her brother.
"Hell no. I'm not stupid."
Fuck him.
"So, the woman you're obsessed with lives approximately thirty seconds from your front door, and you expect us to believe nothing's happening?" my sister states.
"We haven't crossed any major lines."
"Yet," all three of them say in unison.
"I hate all of you."
Cassidy is already pulling out her phone. "What's her last name again? St. Pierre?"
"What are you doing?"
"Research." She's typing furiously. "If my best friend's brother is going to throw his life away for a woman, I need to know what she looks like."
"Cass ..."
"Oh. Oh wow." Her eyes go wide. "She's gorgeous."
Ember practically launches herself across the couch to look at the screen. "Holy shit. She really is."
"Let me see." Sully crowds in. "Yeah, that's her. That's the one who's got our captain losing his mind." They're all scrolling through what I assume is her socials, making appreciative noises while I contemplate whether it's too late to find new friends.
"She seems laid back. Not like all those puck bunnies," Cassidy observes.
"Oh, she worked with rugby players. They are hot," my sister adds.
"Look at her in that black dress," Cassidy adds. It must be a photo from the gala. "I'd risk it all, too, honestly."
"Can we please stop cyberstalking her?"
"We're not cyberstalking. We're gathering intelligence." Cassidy keeps scrolling. "Oh, look, here she is with her brothers. Damn, they're hot too."
"The St. Pierre brothers are very attractive," Ember agrees, tilting her head at the screen. "Like, unfairly attractive."
"Ember!" I yell at my sister.
"Hey, I can look."
"They're gorgeous." Cassidy zooms in on something. "Didn't one of them have some drama with an ex? I feel like I read something ..."
"Both of them, actually," Sully says, warming to the gossip. "Pierre was engaged to an influencer. He left her the day before his wedding in Italy because he found her screwing the owner of his hockey team. Some old billionaire."
"That's right." Cassidy gasps. "The old guy was not cute at all."
"He's gotten back with his high school sweetheart, who apparently was his first love."
"Aw, that's cute," Ember adds.
"She owns a sports management agency. Her dad was a legend before he passed. She's also fricken hot."
"Sully hooked up with one of her sisters."
"Man, come on." Sully moans. See, it's not fun when the tables are turned. "We hooked up a couple of times. It was a bit of fun. She didn't want anything more, and neither did I. It's all cool."
"One of these girls?" Cassidy asks. Turning the phone around, showing Sully Issy's sisters.
"Yeah."
"They are stunning. I can see why. Which one?"
"Violetta," Sully grumbles.
Cassidy nods. "She is cute. Looks like she would eat you alive." She laughs.
"She did."
"Ew." Cassidy glares at her brother.
"Didn't the same thing happen to Felix as well?" Ember asks.
"His best friend and teammate was screwing his girl. But now he's happily with an older woman who is a billionaire. Her family owns the Rose Hotels, and her dad is like the major sponsor of our team."
"Damn." Cassidy shakes her head. "These hockey boys move in some serious circles."
"And our Emmett wants to add their baby sister to the mix," Sully says, raising an eyebrow at me.
"It's not like that. Are you calling me a gold digger?"
"Then what is it like?" my sister asks, pulling my attention from Sully.
I stare at my wine glass, trying to find the words. "I don't know. She's just ... different. When I'm with her, everything else fades away. The pressure. The expectations. All of it. She sees me. Not the captain. Not the hockey player. Just ... me."
The room goes quiet. When I look up, all three of them are staring at me with soft expressions. Shit. Did I say too much?
"Oh, Em," Ember says quietly. "You've got it bad." I can see the worry on her face.
"I know."
"Like, really bad," Sully adds.
"I'm aware."
Cassidy puts down her phone. "So, what are you going to do about it?"
"I have no idea." I drain the rest of my wine. "Every time we try to stay away from each other, we end up right back where we started. It's like there's this gravitational pull I can't fight."
"Then maybe you should stop fighting it," Ember suggests.
"And risk everything? My friendship with Pierre and Felix? Her job? My position as captain?"
"If she's worth it, yes," my sister states.
I don't know how to respond to that.
Sully reaches for the wine bottle. "On that note, I think we need refills."
"Agreed," Cassidy says. "This is too heavy for an empty glass."
As Sully pours another round, Ember moves to sit on the arm of my chair, leaning her head against mine like she used to when we were kids.
"For what it's worth," she says softly, "I've never seen you like this over anyone. That has to mean something."
"It means I'm an idiot."
"Maybe." She kisses my temple. "But you're my idiot. And whoever this Joelle is, she's lucky to have someone like you crazy about her."
I wrap an arm around my sister, grateful she's here. Even if she and our friends have spent the last hour roasting me.
That's what family is for.
The wine keeps flowing. The conversation drifts to other things. Hockey. Memories from home. Plans for tomorrow. But my mind keeps wandering down the hall. Thirty seconds away.
She's only thirty seconds away. But it might as well be a million miles.