Chapter 1
Arianna
“I think you should wear this one,” Vivian yells from my closet. I finish the pass of mascara over my lashes and lean over to look out my bathroom door.
My best friend’s arm is all I can see, one of my many Bobcats hockey shirts hanging from her fingers.
Considering there’s a whole four-foot section in my closet dedicated to the hockey team, the one she picked surprises me.
Years of my brother playing on the team means he gets clothes all the time and I happily raid through his picks.
Same goes for Dean. They both willingly sit back and let me have first choice to whatever they get.
Add in the fact that I have a little bit of a shopping problem…
I’m well stocked on wardrobe options for the games.
The one Vivian chose isn’t from my brother, but surprisingly, it’s also not one of Dean’s.
The shirt she picked is the team’s dark red shirt, with a picture of a Bobcat appearing to jump out across the midsection.
There’s a deep V-cut in the neckline that goes down lower than any of my others and the drawstrings that zigzag across the chest only drag more attention to my boobs.
“That one makes me feel like I’m wearing a neon sign that tells people to look at my boobs,” I tell Viv, straightening back out to finish applying my mascara.
“Well, great tits come with great responsibility.” She steps into the bathroom with the shirt. “If I remember correctly, the last time you wore this, a certain goalie had one of his best games.”
I roll my eyes, dropping the mascara tube into the clear bin that holds my very small makeup collection.
“Dean’s performance has nothing to do with me.”
“From what you’ve said about that man’s performance, I doubt that.” She holds the shirt out for me, her voice teasing as she continues, “We could always put it to the test and see how the game goes today.”
Snatching the shirt from her, I grumble about how my tits being on display have no correlation to the team’s performance and start rattling off team stats to further prove my point that the Bobcats win because they’re simply that good.
But even as I back myself up with numbers and data, I still change into the shirt.
Vivian throws her hands up in the air when I finally pause. “Fine, you’re right. Cover up your tits. They’re not magical and have no correlation to the team winning or not.”
“I mean, I’m already in the shirt, so…”
Her grin is victorious as she spins on her heel and heads back into my bedroom. As she talks about the guy she’s been dating, I tackle my curls into a French braid. Just as I’m tying it off with a golden hairband, Viv’s words actually sink in.
“Wait, what?” I shove away from the counter and march into my bedroom. “Say that again?”
She sits on the edge of my bed across the room, legs crossed, and a sheepish smile spread across her face.
“Dylan got a job offer in South Carolina.”
I cross my arms, ignoring the way she smirks as her gaze darts to my chest. “Yeah, I caught that part. Repeat what you said after that.”
Vivian grimaces, dropping my stare and picking at the nonexistent lint from her pants.
“He asked me to go with him.”
“And you said…” I prompt, biting back the urge to tell her there’s no way in hell that she is going. She’s been dating Dylan for a few months now and he doesn’t seem like a horrible guy, but I’ve only hung out with him a handful of times.
“That I’d let him know by tomorrow.”
I watch her for a moment, noting the way my best friend chews her lips and the way her eyes dart everywhere but to me. Dropping my hands to my sides, I cross the room and sit beside her.
“You’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?”
She nods, finally looking at me with nervous excitement shining in her eyes.
“I really like him, Ari. He’s funny and smart.
He’s so thoughtful and he cares about me so much.
I don’t want to lose him. If I stay back just ’cause we’ve only been dating for three and a half months, I’ll always wonder if it could have worked out. ”
Swallowing thickly, I wrap an arm around her shoulders and tug her into my side.
“I’m gonna ask two mother-hen questions and then I’ll be supportive.”
“Damn, only two? You must be holding yourself back,” she teases but pulls away to face me fully.
“Only because we’re on limited time before we need to go. There will be follow-up questions later,” I tell her, grabbing my phone to check the time. “All right, first, are you getting your own place?”
Viv bites the corner of her lip and shakes her head.
“Dylan found a really cute house to rent. They do month-by-month leases, so he said we could start with that while we get a feel for living together and being up there. He’s gonna have a bit of a commute to the city, but there’s a small town only ten minutes away that’ll keep me busy. ”
I nod but raise a brow. “And what are you gonna do for work?”
“I can find something anywhere. There’s always a restaurant or store that needs cashiers.” She shrugs, causing my anxiety to spike.
I hate that we don’t have time to dig further into this.
It’s not that I want to talk her out of anything.
I just don’t want her to get hurt or end up in a situation she can’t get out of.
Vivian has always been the kind of person who will figure it out as she goes, and that’s worked out for her so far.
But the idea of her relying completely on a man she barely knows makes me worry.
At the same time, she’s an adult who needs to make her own choices. I want to support her, but I also worry because I care.
“I hope you know we’re having a girls’ night this weekend so you can show me the house and tell me all about this town.”
This time when she smiles, it seems lighter. “I already have Saturday cleared just for you. Now, are we going or did you not want to see a certain goalie before the game?”
I shove her away playfully, making her fall back onto the bed in a fit of giggles.
“We’re going to support my brother and his friend.”
I push to my feet, ignoring the sarcastic snort Vivian lets out, and head out of my room. She’s hot on my heels and won’t let it go that easy, though.
“Come on, Ari. It’s just us. Dean is not just your brother’s best friend.”
Frowning, I make my way downstairs and try to find the words.
She’s right. Dean isn’t just Landon’s friend. The moment he brought him to a family dinner night, my mom latched onto Dean like he had always been there. We had always gotten along, and before, I would have said we were friends too.
Then we hooked up and everything changed. I told myself it was a one-time thing. But when it happened again, it was impossible to ignore how he made me feel. And not just in the bedroom…or closet…or car.
Dean is all-consuming and hard to push away.
Even now, after six months of barely seeing him outside of family dinner night, let alone finding any time to sneak off together, my body still lights up at the memory of his touch.
For as much as I told him we needed to make each hookup our last, I never believed my words. I never would have thought that our last time would actually be the one we ended on.
Although was it actually over? Outside of my parents’ summer barbeque they throw every year, I haven’t seen him.
He was busy with a training camp, while I’ve been picking up clients faster than ever.
After my partnership with SweetHeart Assistance at the beginning of the year, my inquiry form has gotten more action than me.
I love the work. Bringing people’s visions to life, whether that be as character art, a few social media graphics, or a whole cover package, I’m one of those people who truly loves the work I do. It’s just kept me extremely busy lately.
Sighing, I grab my shoes and finally respond to Viv as I put them on.
“You’re right. Dean is my friend too.” From the corner of my eye, I can see her about to protest and cut her off. “We haven’t had sex in months, which is probably for the best. I don’t like sneaking around behind my brother’s back.”
“Look, I get the guilt. But ever since you started sleeping with Dean, something changed. Not majorly, but, girl, it’s me. I can see the way that man makes you feel, even if you don’t want to.”
“Viv. He needs to be just a friend. It would crush Landon if—”
“Sorry, but is your brother not a grown-ass man? He knows you both better than anyone, so wouldn’t he want two of the best people he knows to be together if they make each other happy?”
I shake my head. “It’s not that he wouldn’t want us to be happy. He would just…feel like he has to choose if things went wrong. Then he’d lose one of us.”
Vivian grabs her purse from my entryway table and levels me with a glare.
“Again, is he not a grown-ass man? Those are his emotions to regulate. You should only be focusing on what makes you happy.”
I shrug, grabbing my keys, and head out the door. “What makes me happy is not hurting my brother or my friend. If that means keeping busy with work and not being left alone with Dean, then so be it.”
Because let’s face it, when it comes to Dean Hayes, I have very little self-control. So while this six-month sneaking around break wasn’t necessarily intentional, maybe it was for the best.