Chapter 36
Thirty-Six
River
Sunlight seeps through the crack of the closed curtains. The beaming rays shine directly into my face, waking me up. My eyes flutter open, and I squint against the brightness. Groaning, I cover my head with my pillow and roll over to reach for Carter only to find his side of the bed cold and empty.
Sitting up, I sling my heavy limbs over the side of the bed, stretch, then trod down the stairs to the kitchen where I find Aspen standing at the counter, pouring a cup of coffee.
She passes the mug to me with a smile as she says, “Morning, sleepy head. Sorry. It’s decaf. Cal’s not even here and I can practically hear the blades a twirling . . .”
I lift a brow in question, and she elaborates, “He’s being one of those helicopter husbands.”
She pours a cup of coffee for herself, then blows on the steaming liquid before bringing the mug to her lips.
“Oh, I have one of those too,” I say, thinking back to the day we found out I was pregnant. “Carter took a thermometer to my bath water.”
Lowering the mug, she says, “I was mid-bite into a turkey sandwich the other day, and Cal snatched it out of my hands and said deli meat was bad for the baby. Doesn’t he know not to take food out of a pregnant woman’s hands?”
“He’s a brave, brave man.” I giggle and head to the fridge. “Speaking of . . . where are our husbands?”
“They just left to pick up Tucker from Mom’s.”
She sets her mug down on the counter, then pulls a loaf of bread out of the bread box as I grab the vanilla creamer out of the fridge.
When we went back into the ballroom last night, I told Carter I didn’t want to bring my problems to my sister’s doorstep, but he was adamant that she deserved to know.
Worrying Aspen about the shitshow that is my life right now was the last thing I wanted to do.
She’s done too much for me already. But after putting up a good fight, I finally caved and let Carter tell Cal and Aspen what’s been going on.
Ruining their good time was where I drew the line though.
I made him wait until the end of the night to say anything.
Aspen and Cal were insistent that we stay with them, arguing that with the level of security here in the estate, I would be safer.
So, here we are, with me standing in a pair of my sister’s pj’s and watching her as she pops four slices of bread into the toaster.
I pull out the stool on the other side of the bar and plop down on the seat. Aspen bends at the waist over the counter, and clasps her hands together, as she stares at me. Uh-oh. I know that look.
“What?”
“You know what,” she says with a little attitude, lifting a single brow.
The toast pops up out of the toaster, making me damn near fall off the stool. I fucking hate toasters for that very reason. They should come with a little, five-second countdown warning bell, so the damn thing doesn’t startle someone and give them a heart attack.
Aspen plates our toast, slides my plate across the bar to me, then moves back to her spot across from me, resuming her previous position.
She takes a bite of her toast and chews, her eyes never leaving mine.
Well, shit. I’m getting the ol’ Aspen Miles stare down.
I’m not caving. Nope. She can stare me down all she wants. I’m not saying shit until she—
“I don’t know why I thought handing the seating arrangements over to you was a wise idea.”
And there it is. I grin, then take a bite of my dry toast, giving my brain a few more seconds to compose my response while I chew.
“You remember that night at the Sapphire Lounge a year ago?”
“Yes?” she drags out.
I bet she’s wondering where I’m going with this. I’ll get there.
“And what happened that night?” I ask, shoving another bite into my mouth.
She dusts the crumbs off of her fingers onto the plate.
“Cal got into a fist fight,” she points out.
“I mean, that happened too, but the big picture here is that Cal hated the way it felt seeing another man dancing with you. Seeing another man touching you. He was extremely jealous, and I think that night may have eventually led to him confronting his feelings for you.”
She sighs. “I’m sure your meddling ass is going to tell me that Sean was jealous after seeing Hannah and Spencer together.”
“Would Sean have tossed Hannah over his shoulder, spanked her ass, then carried her out the door if he wasn’t jealous?” I raise my brows.
“What?!” she screeches in surprise. “He did that?”
“Yep, he sure the hell did. And he acted like he didn’t give a fuck who saw it too.”
She releases a groan. “I love Hannah—”
“I do too,” I shoot back quickly.
Hannah is one of the sweetest souls on the planet. I know where Aspen’s going with this, but I see the way Sean looks at Hannah when he’s standing across the room from her. The longing in his eyes. It’s painful to watch, even though he has been an ass the past couple of months.
“I don’t want to see her get hurt,” she argues between bites. “Things are heating up between my mom and Luke, and I already view her as another sister. It’s very possible that she may become that soon.”
“Oooh. We’re making this entire organization a real family business, aren’t we? You really think your mom and Luke are gonna take the vows?”
“I do.” She nods, and I snort a laugh.
“Nice pun.”
“Oh, my lord, River,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Anyway, they haven’t said anything; it’s just a feeling I have.
Mom put her life on hold, waiting on my dad who never came back around for her, even after I was an adult.
I’ll never understand what was going through that man’s head.
The entire situation with him seems absolutely ridiculous, if you ask me.
But, for some reason, she couldn’t let him go until he was gone.
And Luke . . . well, he lost his wife to cancer when Hannah was a little girl.
That man spent his life taking care of his daughter.
It’s time for them to find their happily ever after.
Look at how in love they are, River. It won’t be long.
I’ll bet in six months tops, he’ll pop the question. ”
We move over to the couch, and I prop up my feet, then grab a throw blanket off the back and drag it over my legs as she continues.
“Anyway, my point is . . . Hannah’s basically family now, and I don’t want to have any part in her getting her heart broken.
I know you don’t want that either, so could you maybe stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong? ”
“Ugh. Fine,” I acquiesce, because I don’t want to be the cause of that.
Picking at the threads on the throw blanket I add, “I’ll try my best to stay out of it from now on.
It’s just that . . . I want her to have what we have, and I see the potential between her and Sean.
Besides, I know someone else who stuck their nose where it didn’t belong, and look where that got me.
Just think, if you hadn’t paired me up with Carter at your Single Sayanora, I wouldn’t have fallen in love.
I would’ve become an old, bitter hag with cobwebs and like, twelve cats. ”
Tossing her head back, she laughs a husky laugh.
“I see your point, but Carter is different. He has a way with people. I think you would’ve fallen in love with him eventually anyway.
You just needed a little shove in the right direction.
But Sean . . . he’s always had a reputation.
Playboy athlete with a different puck bunny in his bed after just about every game.
Cal and Carter both defend him, saying it’s a persona, that the media has spun him into something he’s not.
True, the media spins stuff. We saw that when Cal and I weren’t even friends yet and they put out that article last year claiming he and I had a thing.
But the way Sean has jerked Hannah around makes me wonder if Cal and Carter aren’t a little bit biased because he’s their friend. And Aiden—”
“Aiden?” I cut her off, my head rearing back as I wonder how Aiden plays into any of this. He and Hannah are best friends and have been for a long time.
“For someone who spends a lot of time meddling in other people’s love lives, trying to form love connections between their friends, I’m surprised you missed it. You wanna know what I think?”
Chuckling, because I know how opinionated Aspen is, I say, “I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”
“I sure the hell am. I think Aiden has a thing for Hannah, but because they’re such close friends, maybe she doesn’t see it.”
Noooo. No way. That does not track with me. I honestly can’t see it. Hannah and Aiden have been best friends for a long time, and not once has he ever given me the vibe that he wanted more from her. Maybe I’m missing something though.
“But he openly talks about his sexcapades in front of her. He flirted with Cammie over the phone, while Hannah sat there and listened. Don’t you think if he wanted Hannah, he wouldn’t do that?”
She raises a brow as if I should already know the answer to that question. “This is Aiden we’re talking about. Bless his heart,” she finally says, setting her empty mug on the coffee table.
“True. But, even for all his idiocy, Aiden’s a really good guy. Not to mention, funny as hell. There’s never a dull moment when he’s around. Maybe he’ll be the next one to be subjected to my matchmaking skills.”
I wiggle my eyebrows as she groans, “God. Please don’t.”
A giggle bubbles up out of me, and I gesture between us. “I’ve missed this, you know? Spending time together just the two of us outside of work.”
“I’ve missed this too. Speaking of work. How’s the recruiting going for The Heat? That is what you’re calling them right?”
Scooting up, I turn around in my seat and place my empty mug on the end table, then turn back to face her.
“Yeah. It plays into the Blaze name with the whole fire thing. I’ll admit, your father must’ve had a sense of humor to come up with such an antiphrasis.
You don’t think the name I chose is stupid, do you? ”
“Not at all. I agree with you. You’re actually brilliant, River. I knew you would step into your role and do a fantastic job.”
I offer her a beaming smile, my chest swelling with pride at her praise.
“Thank you. I’ve been looking for not only talented women who can perform, but those with ambition to do community outreach too.
I don’t want performers who only want to show up to dance and then clock out at the end of the night.
I want women who want to make a difference in our city and bring pride to the Blaze organization. ”
“See what I mean? You doubt yourself so much, but I promise you; I didn’t hire you into this role based on nepotism. You deserved the promotion, and you deserve all the credit for this idea. Any guesses as to who you want to coach them?”
“Not a clue. I suppose we can bring in a choreographer for now, and I can help with the other stuff until we find the right fit.”
Aspen pushes off the couch to stand, her tank top riding up enough for me to now notice the small changes in her body. Her once flat stomach has a little bit of a pooch, and I can’t help but hope that I look as cute as she does when my belly begins to grow.
“Well, I think since public relations belongs to Teagan, we should let her handle the outreach part of it. You just focus on finding a good coach and handling the marketing side of things.” She stretches her arms above her head and lets out a groan, then says, “I’m going to head up and take a shower.
The boys should be home pretty soon. I’ll go find you some clothes for the game tonight. ”
I nod as she saunters off to her room. Collecting our plates and mugs, I take them to the kitchen and put them into the dishwasher, then fold myself back onto the couch and turn on the TV.
Flipping through the channels, I settle on a local station featuring a Saturday morning travel show about the blue hole in Belize.
I sit up a little straighter in my seat in interest as a thought hits me.
Maybe that’s what Carter and I need—a nice, long getaway once the season is over.
I think I’ll use my powers of persuasion in his favorite way to get him to agree.