Chapter 33
brIELLE
“How many times have you been here?” Aubrey whisper yells into my ear.
I pull my head away and adjust the strap of my bag on my shoulder. “Only a couple of times.”
Still wearing her work attire, my best friend reaches down to hike up her pencil skirt and starts up the driveway.
The tight fabric still cups her curved thighs, but when she sighs, I can tell it’s a bit less so now.
She’s been slowly shedding her lawyer skin since she picked me up after work, and it’s only a matter of minutes before it’s tucked away for tomorrow.
Honestly, I’m a bit surprised she hasn’t ripped the side of her skirt already.
“To see Evie,” she says, yet there’s a question there that I refuse to poke on the off chance it explodes in my face.
“Yes.”
“And nobody else?”
“No interrogations tonight. This is supposed to be fun.”
“Interrogations are fun for me,” she argues, almost teasing but still too firm.
“Well, I apologize in advance for lady boner blocking you, then.”
“Okay, stop.” Her steps come to a halt, and I follow suit, reluctantly looking at her.
I regret it the moment she digs those all-too-knowing eyes into me.
“As much as I like Evie, this is weird. We don’t hang out at Roman Shore’s house, Brielle.
I don’t care if this is where she lives or not; it’s not something we’ve ever done before.
Not even Finn comes here. So what gives? ”
“Why are you asking me this now and not while we were driving here?” I evade as best I can, fully aware that we’re having this conversation on the driveway, only a few feet from the front door. If Evie overheard us, it would be a giant clusterfuck.
“Because I was hoping you’d just come out with it already! You know I’m not against a girls’ night, and including Evie is totally fine with me. I’m just not buying that this is just a casual location swap.”
I don’t reply right away. Instead, I hold her investigative gaze while praying that she’ll let her suspicions go. Aubrey is stubborn as fuck, but surely, she won’t force me to word vomit right here. Not when I got so close to being home free.
Who am I kidding? Yes, yes she would.
Grabbing her arm, I steal a look at the front door to make sure it’s still closed. “I hate you right now.”
She doesn’t fight against my grip as I rush toward the garage and hide us partially out of view. If Evie catches us now, we’ll look terribly guilty, but at least we aren’t risking her hearing us.
“No, you don’t. But go ahead,” Aubrey says.
The moment I release her, my lips start moving. “I’ve been sleeping with him.”
“Roman?” she shrieks before slapping a hand to her mouth. Her eyes are wide enough I start to worry they’ll pop right out. “You’re sleeping with Roman? Roman Shore?”
“Jesus, Aubrey. Are you trying to get him to pop out like the goddamn Candyman?”
She shoves my arm, narrowing her eyes to slits. “How long?”
“That’s really the least important thing here.”
“Oh, I disagree. I need to know how long you’ve been sleeping with your brother’s boss so I can come up with a story when I’m asked—which I will be once everyone finds out!”
“Shh!” I lunge forward, frantically looking to the door. “You’re overreacting, Aubrey.”
“This is not me overreacting! This is me thinking about everyone else,” she hisses back.
“Usually, I would love you for being so caring, but this is about me right now. Me! Focus on me and the fact I’m telling you it isn’t a big deal.”
“This is a huge deal, Elle.” Some of the disbelief has faded, making way for the brutally obvious disappointment. “Please don’t tell me this has been going on since the Noah Hutton concert. I fucking knew something was off with you two that night.”
Every inch of skin on my body burns. “Don’t make me lie.”
“Brielle,” she groans, pulling on her long black braid.
“Look, if I wanted to talk about this tonight, I would have brought it up myself. We’re supposed to be here to get Evie to try on some clothes and get wine drunk.”
My best friend is a force of nature. She’s ruthless and lionhearted, but even more than that, she’s protective as hell of those she cares about.
I know that’s where this is coming from, but it still burns to have her looking at me like this right now.
Like she doesn’t recognize me and won’t try to understand my feelings, regardless of how much I beg.
“You should have told me weeks ago,” she states bluntly.
“I’m just having fun. You don’t need to be worrying so much, Aubs. I can see your brain running circles in your head right now. You’re not my lawyer, and I haven’t committed a crime.”
“Are you sure about that? Because I think we both know that when Wes finds out you’ve been sleeping with a man who holds way too much power over his career, he might disagree. Especially once you tell him that you’re in love with the guy.”
Shock turns my knees weak, forcing me to lean against the garage door. The laugh that bursts free of me sounds equally as terrified as I feel.
“Who the hell said anything about love?”
She blinks, face completely unmoving. “Don’t insult our friendship by pretending in front of me. I should have noticed this from the beginning. Toronto makes so much more sense now. You snuck off to go have sex with Roman Shore.”
“I’m not pretending. Maybe I like him a little, but I don’t love him,” I push, shaking my head. “I was horny, and he was there.”
This time, she’s the one laughing. A deep belly laugh that cracks through the night air with the punch of a gunshot. “You’ve always been a terrible liar. A man like him isn’t the type you go to when you need a quick fuck, Brielle. You know that just as well as I do.”
I shove hot fingers through my hair and swallow the confessions that want to be spoken out loud.
The agreement that while she may be off a bit, I do feel things for him.
Too many things, considering his lack of opening up to me these last few weeks.
There’s . . . there’s only so much I can deny to her.
“Okay, fine. I’m in too deep. That doesn’t mean I’m in love with him. I don’t even know him well enough for that,” I explain with a frustrated wave of my hands.
Aubrey takes a step toward me and grabs my shoulders firmly. Her eyes hold mine in place, ensuring I can’t look away. “How deep are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Shit.”
“We’re talking about this like I’ve gotten caught in the mob or something,” I mutter, my throat tight.
She releases a slow, calm breath and tugs me closer. “We’ll figure it out.”
“This isn’t a mess I need you to clean up for me, Aubrey.”
“I know that. You’re not a child. I’m just really concerned here. This won’t just affect Wes. Think about the rest of the guys, too. What if you two have a messy break and he takes his frustration out on Wes? Or Finn?”
Something hot and angry explodes through me at the insinuation. “He’s not an immature boy with a habit of mixing his personal life with his professional one.”
“And you know that for a fact? Without a sliver of a doubt?”
“Do you know without a sliver of a doubt that if you and Finn broke up, it wouldn’t affect the well-being of the group? Of the team? Because I don’t remember talking about what to do if that very scenario did occur when I was encouraging you to take the risk,” I snap back.
She reels back. “Woah.”
“Well? You’re not being fair.”
“You’re right,” she admits, loosening her grip on my shoulders bit by bit until her hands fall. They smooth the front of her blouse. “I haven’t been fair. I’m sorry.”
I relax a bit. “Our being here tonight is because of Evie. Not Roman.”
“I know that much.” She pauses, rolling her glossy lips together. “I’d rather be here than home alone, missing Finn like a total sucker.”
“Do you . . . always miss him this much when he’s on the road?”
Aubrey’s entire demeanour changes. One moment, she’s still watching me a bit gingerly, and the next, there’s almost appreciation gleaming in her eyes. She nods and lets go of a trapped exhale.
“Yes. All the time. Even before we got together. I hated that he was gone so often.”
“It doesn’t get easier, then. That’s what you’re saying.”
Her bottom lip tugs up as she swats a piece of hair over my shoulder. “You miss Roman?”
“Are you going to give me a lecture if I say yes?”
“No. I’m going to bring you inside and do my best to distract the both of us so we don’t get depressed over two men. Does yours at least know how to choose a good bottle of rosé?”
I snort. “I haven’t figured that out yet.”
She slips her arm around mine and grabs my hand before tugging me toward the front of the house. I go without argument, feeling a bit lighter.
“Let’s go learn, then. Just do me a favour and maybe don’t get drunk enough to blurt out how into Evie’s uncle you are in front of me. Not tonight, at least.”
Evie pops the second bottle of wine and makes a show of waving the cork in the air.
“Success!”
Aubrey leans against my shoulder and gives her a thumbs-up. “You’re officially a corking pro.”
“We should put that on a shirt. Brielle! You have to put it on a shirt for me,” Evie demands, a slight slur to her words.
It’s adorable, honestly. She hasn’t stopped grinning all night, even when I was struggling not to slip away into Roman’s bedroom just to sniff his cologne like a fucking creeper and ignored her initial greeting.
It’s only been a few days since I’ve seen him, but I’m like an addict with my nose in the air, desperate for a hit of him.
“You got it.” I finish off my wine and set the empty glass on a wooden coaster.
“Are either of you hungry? I could grab some more snacks.”
“Just sit with us, Evie,” Aubrey encourages, patting the spot beside her. “You’re stressing me out with all this running around like your battery is overcharged.”
Evie’s cheeks go red-hot as she quickly refills her glass and takes the offered seat. Sheepishly, she shakes her leg. “Sorry. I just really want you to have a good time.”
“Even if we didn’t—which we are—we’d still hang out with you again. You don’t need to worry about that,” Aubrey explains gently.
“That’s nice, but I know how these things go. Especially with girls like you two.”
“Girls like us?” I lean forward and stare across Aubrey’s lap, focused on Evie’s drawn expression. It looks incredibly out of place.
She avoids my eyes, worrying me further. “You’re both obviously beautiful and popular. The entire Havoc baseball team loves you.”
“You’d be surprised how unpopular I actually am,” Aubrey snickers. “Half of my office is too scared to so much as look at me when I walk the halls, and the other half used to pass around an old photo of me with my eyes scratched out.”
I reach across her lap and grab Evie’s hands this time, forcing her to look at me.
“And I used to be four times the size I am now, with acne that scarred me up so badly I’m still too scared to leave the house without at least concealer on.
Plus, who cares about the team? I speak from experience when I say that professional athletes are not always all they’re cracked up to be.
The last thing you should do is use their interest as a basis for anything. ”
“You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better,” she says, attempting to smile. It doesn’t reach her eyes, and that just won’t do.
“We’re not, and I won’t let you think that. I wanted to come tonight because I actually really like spending time with you.”
Aubrey nods in agreement. “You can consider yourself an official member of our Wine and Unwind girl group now, Evie.”
“Now, that is a T-shirt-worthy name,” I tease, releasing Evie’s hand.
Her small smile stretches wide. “I’d wear that proudly.”
“Good, because I’m actually going to do it. We can wear them to our next meeting.”
Aubrey rolls her eyes at me before taking a sip of her wine. “We’ll need to compare calendars.”
“As long as we stick to the nights my uncle is away, we could host them here. The pool is really nice, and nobody ever uses it,” Evie offers.
My eyes drift to the back door and stay there as I remember the day I stood on the opposite side of it with Roman’s hand around my throat. There’s a sudden dampness between my legs that grows more noticeable the longer I think about it. I’m more than ready for a repeat performance.
One more day, I remind myself. By tomorrow night, I’ll have found a way to see him again, even if just to calm the restlessness that’s been clinging to me since I tracked his flight as it left Vancouver.
One. More. Day.