Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
“Thanks for coming.” I swipe my palms along my thighs as I sit forward.
“Of course. What’s going on?” Ruby asks, voice gentle as she studies me.
I look from her to Hannah.
“I need a wingman,” I say, then look back to Ruby. “And some tips on grand gestures.”
The two of them sit on the couch in my living room. Their husbands are in the kitchen with D-Low.
“Did something happen with Whitney?” Ruby asks.
Hannah leans over toward Ruby as she says, “Victor found out they were together, and they had a big blowup.”
Ruby inhales sharply. “When?”
“Before the guys left for their last road trip.”
“How am I just now hearing about this?” she asks. She shoots a glare toward the kitchen. “Galaxy, what the hell?”
Her husband looks over with a wide-eyed expression. “What’d I do?”
Ruby waves her hand dramatically toward me.
“Right,” he says, and clears his throat. “Sorry, Red. He and Whitney had a fight. I was going to tell you but then we, well . . . you know . . .”
Ruby blushes as her husband trails off.
“Busy afternoon reconnecting after the long travel week?” Hannah asks, fighting a smile.
“Yes, but I cannot believe he didn’t find a second or two to fill me in.”
They stop talking and give me their attention.
“As Hannah said, Victor found out that I’m seeing Whitney and we got into it. He said some things, and I didn’t react very well.”
“It sounds like the guy is a real jerk,” Hannah says with a soft smile.
“The dude is a total asshole, babe. The worst,” Trav shouts out from the kitchen.
“What did you say?” Ruby asks me.
“I don’t remember my exact words, but I said everyone hates him and thinks he’s a joke and that even his dad, who I know is a sore spot for him, thinks he’s pathetic.”
“Yikes.” Ruby makes a face that adequately displays the guilt I feel.
“Yeah. Not great,” I admit. “But he started it. He’s always putting down her job and her life here in Moonshot like it’s not as important as his. I couldn’t take it.”
“Asshole,” Trav yells again. “Not you, Shep. Aven.”
I nod my acknowledgment. I don’t know why the guys are pretending to let me talk to the girls privately when they’re only going to eavesdrop. I wave them over. Galaxy takes a seat on the other side of Ruby and Travis sits next to Hannah. D-Low stands in front of the TV.
“And what did Whitney say?” Hannah asks, giving me a small, sympathetic smile.
I run a hand through my hair and think back. “She said that he was hurting and that she needed to know I wasn’t going to stoop to his level every time he picked a fight with me. Then she went to find her brother. She was really worried about him.”
He doesn’t deserve her kindness. She’s always looking out for him and how does he repay her? Making her feel like shit. Which is exactly what I did—made her feel bad by attacking her brother. Fuck, maybe I don’t deserve her either.
“And that’s how you left things?” Ruby asks.
“Yeah. We’ve texted a few times, but she hasn’t said much. We’re supposed to talk now that I’m back.” And I might be procrastinating. I can’t go to her until I have a plan to fix this.
I look from Hannah to Ruby for help. “Is it really bad? Did I fuck everything up?”
“No,” Ruby says quickly. “We can figure this out. That girl is head over heels for you.”
Hannah is suspiciously quiet, so I glance at her for confirmation. Her expression is pained. My stomach drops.
“You don’t agree?” I already know the answer, but I need to hear it anyway.
“I don’t know.” Her voice is quiet and unsure.
“Babe,” Trav says like he can’t believe what she’s saying. “You said they were made for each other like me and you.”
My heart flutters with hope. Hannah raises a hand to caress Trav’s cheek for a moment. All the while my pulse is racing for her to get back to me and my giant mess.
But when she does, I’m suddenly not sure I’m ready to have my heart stomped on. I trust Hannah. I know she wouldn’t say something hurtful if she didn’t think it was true.
“I like Whitney a lot and I do think that you two are perfect together. But . . .” She pauses for a moment. “If someone said those things to my sister, I would have a very strong reaction.”
“Yeah, but Wren is great. Victor is an asshole,” Travis says.
“I’m not sure if how I feel would change much even if she was awful.” Hannah smiles in a way that I know is solely for my benefit.
“What do I do? How do I fix it?” I ask. Because I have to fix it.
“I love you, sweetheart, but I don’t know if you’re reading this sitch right.” Trav shakes his head.
“Sitch?” Galaxy smirks. “Really?”
“What the hell is sitch?” D-Low asks.
“Situation,” Ruby says. “One of Aidan’s new favorite words.”
“As I was saying,” Trav continues. “Victor has done some really terrible things over the years. Whitney knows that. She knew Shep hated him this whole time.”
“Yeah, but knowing something and then seeing it go down in front of you are two different things,” Hannah says. “I mean, she kept your relationship a secret for a reason.”
Hannah’s right. Whitney didn’t tell him, which means she expected this.
And if that’s true, then maybe she doesn’t want to figure out how to make it work.
I dismiss it as quickly as I think it. It can’t be true.
I refuse to accept that. I love her. She loves me.
Or she did. She may not have said it, but I felt it.
No one has ever made me feel more seen and loved than her.
“I don’t hate him. Not anymore. But I hate the way he treats people. Especially Whitney.” The memory of him dismissing her coaching JV kids like it was worthless fills me with rage all over again.
“You love her,” Galaxy says. “And you want to keep her from hurting. I get that. I’d do the same for you, Red.”
Ruby looks at him adoringly.
We all know how Nick stood up for Ruby to her douchebag ex who stole her manuscript and published it to wild success. Nick has destroyed every copy of that book he’s come across.
“I hate to keep being the one to bring it up—” Hannah starts.
“But he’s her brother,” I finish for her.
She nods.
They’re close. I’ve always known that, even if I didn’t understand it. I do now though. Their mom left and their dad is a prick. All they’ve had is each other.
“He’s a part of her life and I accept that.
I’ll even do my best to get along with the guy if that’s what it takes.
” Even as I say the words though, I can hear Victor baiting me, trying to get under my skin.
I let out a sigh. “But I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to stand by and keep my mouth shut while he tears her down. ”
The room is quiet. I look around to each of my friends. “What do I do?”
“I think you start by telling her everything you told us,” Hannah suggests.
The rest murmur their agreements.
“You know what I think,” D-Low says with a grin.
“I can’t fix everything with a proposal set to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.”
His smile stretches across his face. “Why not? She loves that movie.”
“Wait. Did you say proposal?” Ruby’s eyes are wide. “Oh my god, Conrad!”
She smacks me kind of hard on the arm.
“Ouch. What was that for?”
She smacks me again.
“Violent little thing when she’s pissed.” Galaxy winks at me.
“You’re going to ask her to marry you?” Ruby asks.
I lean back in case she’s considering hitting me depending on my answer.
“Eventually, yeah, but I don’t want to show up with a ring when we’re in a bad place. I want to ask her when she’s as sure about me as I am about her.”
Ruby’s face softens, and she looks past me to Hannah. I whip my head around and Hannah’s staring back at Ruby with the same expression. I’m about to ask them what the hell that look is about when they sigh dramatically in unison.
“Aww,” Hannah says. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s the best excuse not to propose to someone I’ve ever heard,” Ruby agrees.
“Not as sweet as how I proposed though, right?” Galaxy asks her.
“Second to that,” Ruby clarifies for me.
“I’ll take it.” I fill my lungs with air and let it out slowly. “I should go. She’s probably wondering why I haven’t stopped by yet.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” D-Low asks. “I can have the music cued up just in case.”
“Do you already have a ring?” Ruby asks, back to looking at me all shocked and angry.
I feel another smack coming, so I stand. “Not yet.”
She gives me a pleading look.
“Do you want to come with me when I pick it out?”
“Yes!” All five of them say at once.
My hands are shaking as I knock on the door at Whitney’s house. It’s quiet inside, but I already drove by the school and didn’t see her car there so I’m guessing practice is over.
Movement inside has my heart racing. I steel myself for the worst-case scenario, in which she isn’t happy to see me and sends me away, but when the door opens and it’s Victor on the other side, I realize I didn’t consider this.
“What are you doing here?” Victor crosses his arms over his chest and widens his stance. I know he’s trying to intimidate me, probably bait me into another fight, but it won’t work. Whitney wants to know I can keep my cool with him and that’s what I’m going to do.
“I need to talk to Whitney.” I glance around him inside the house, but his big head blocks too much.
“She isn’t here.”
“Where is she?”
He arches a brow defiantly.
Fuck. I can’t believe this guy stands between me and the woman I love. Fate has a real interesting sense of humor.
“I don’t want to fight with you. I need to talk to Whitney.”
“And I’m telling you, that isn’t going to happen right now.”
I grind down on my molars. “Can you not be a dick for, like, five minutes?”
His arms fall to his sides, but his expression only intensifies.
I run my hands through my hair, pulling at the ends.
“I am in love with your sister. And if I haven’t already epically fucked things up, then I’m going to do everything I can to be in her life.”
“So what? You want to be best buds?” He shakes his head. “Pass.”
“I want her to be happy. And I know you do too, or you would have already slammed the door in my face. Now, are you going to let me in or not? Because I’m getting in that house one way or another.”
“Conrad?”
I whirl around to find Whitney standing next to her car.
My heart leaps out of my chest at the sight of her.
Fuck, I missed her. She looks from me to Victor and back like she’s carefully taking in the scene.
My pulse races as I stare at her. I rehearsed a dozen different ways to apologize and win her back, but it’s occurring to me now that she may not give me that chance. Maybe she’s already decided.
Victor leans closer and speaks so only I can hear him. “I would have punched you first, then slammed the door in your face.”