Chapter 22
brYCE
I ’m in the box that Ronnie Michaels reserved for all the Kingsmen family members to watch the Kingsmen play the Grizzlies in Chicago.
I can’t wait to see everyone. I’m enjoying Chicago, but I miss everyone from San Francisco too.
After the game, we’re all going back to Peeper’s Alley, then we’ll hang at one of the guys’ places. I refuse to call it The Den.
I pop a shrimp in my mouth, standing by the window, admiring the players stretching and getting ready for the coin toss when a screech sounds from behind me.
“Bryce!”
I turn to find Twyla, arms outstretched. She walks in an overexaggerated waddle on her way over to me.
“You’re not nearly big enough to waddle,” I say, and she laughs, putting her hand over her modest baby bump.
“I’m so excited to see you! Shayna and Violet are on their way. Theo wanted a Grizzlies jersey. Can’t wait until Brady sees him in it.” She laughs and eyes the veggies and dip. “Oh, I’ve been craving carrots like crazy.”
“Only you would get a craving for a vegetable,” I say. “I’ll probably want ice cream or some fattening food nonstop. ”
She sits on a stool at the high counter. “Bryce Burns, are you actually talking about when you get pregnant?” She touches my forehead.
I swat away her hand. “Stop it.”
She examines me for a moment. “Is there someone new?”
I stare into Twyla’s eyes, which match her brother’s. I hate lying to her. Miles and I agreed last night that we weren’t going to tell our friends, but we weren’t going to put on a facade that we hate one another either.
“No one new,” I answer as honestly as I can. In actuality, Miles isn’t someone new. I slept with him two years ago, so technically it’s not a full-on lie, right?
“I’m still holding on to the hope that you and my brother may become a thing, but I know… you hate him.” She picks up a carrot and drenches it in dip. I’m not sure if her craving is for the carrot or the dip at this point.
“Maybe pigs will fly one day.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “He’s such a sweet guy, and I know he wants someone to share his life with.”
I smile, unsure of what to say. I know he’s sweet, and I like Miles, but the rest of my life? I’m not so sure about that.
I hear noises coming down the hall, and I’m relieved to see Shayna, Violet, and Theo in the doorway.
We all share a smile and I step over to hug Violet, whispering my congratulations in her ear.
She told me last week that she had just found out they were expecting, but so far, she’s only told Brady and us girls.
She wants to reach the end of her first trimester before they tell Theo he’s going to be a big brother or announce it publicly.
I ruffle Theo’s hair and hug Shayna tightly.
I so badly want to tell her about Miles and get her advice.
It’s not that I’m closer to Shayna, but she was my first friend out of the three of them.
I could probably tell Violet too, but Twyla would likely run off, call her mom, and have our wedding planned in a week if I told her .
“You okay?” Shayna asks, drawing back but holding me by my upper arms.
“I just miss you.”
She pulls me into her again for an even tighter hug. “We miss you too. So much.”
“Did I miss it?” Elle shows up wearing her scrubs, bent over at the doorframe, and heaving for breath.
I laugh as my friends all turn toward her with varying degrees of concern on their faces.
I’d asked Twyla if it was okay if she joined us in the box since I usually watch the games with her down in the stands. The idea of leaving her down there on her own while I was up here didn’t sit right.
“Ellery!” Twyla exclaims, similar to the way she screamed my name, and slides off the stool to hug her.
“Hey…” Elle says, and I mouth Twyla to her. “Twyla.”
Elle meets so many people that if you don’t have a chart in front of you or a name tag on, she’ll never remember your name.
A hazard of the job, she says, but she’s always been that way.
I blame it on the fact that her mind is always going a mile a minute and doesn’t ever stop to take everything in.
Case in point, she has no idea Cooper Rice, heartthrob of the pro football league, wants her.
“I’ll introduce you to the gang.” Twyla takes her hand and leads her over to the rest of the girls.
After all introductions are over, we open up some bottles of wine and nibble on some food. Elle and Violet are busy talking in the seats outside the booth while Twyla and Theo have yet to leave the food area.
“Kind of weird, Lee playing against Cooper as quarterback,” I say.
Shayna laughs. “I’m just happy I got off for this game. I had to do a lot of convincing, and if they need me, they said I better be prepared to go down to the sidelines.”
Shayna is a trainer for the team, so the fact that she can join us up here instead of being down on the field is awesome.
“Oh, and Lee said if they lose, he’s blaming it on the fact that I’m not down there with him. So be prepared.” She playfully rolls her eyes.
We sit in the seats inside, mostly watching the game on the television. “I appreciate you being up here. More time without the boys,” I say.
“Hey, I’m a boy,” Theo says.
“That you are, but I meant the big boys.” I give Theo a smile.
He jumps off the stool. “I am a big boy.” He puts up both his arms and flexes. “Mommy told me that I’m almost as strong as Dad.”
Twyla takes Theo over to check out the dessert tray the staff just brought in.
“How is Hannah?” I ask Violet, who’s glancing over her shoulder to make sure Theo’s behaving himself.
“She’s really good. I think she might be in a R-E-L-A-T-I-O-N-S-H-I-P, but she’s keeping it hush-hush.
” She spells out the word relationship so Theo won’t understand, I assume, and then returns to watching the game, which gives me the opportunity to confide in Shayna and get her thoughts if I so choose.
But I don’t know. I look around to see if anyone is paying us any attention.
Shayna elbows me. “So, what am I missing?”
“What? Nothing.”
“Then why are you looking around everywhere like someone might hear us?”
I blow out a breath and look at the screen.
Lee has the ball. Miles is at safety. My man’s job is to stop the ball, and Shayna’s man’s job is to get it to Brady.
He releases the ball and Miles follows the wide receiver’s hips just like he should and gets in front of it to deflect the ball.
The cornerback catches it in the air and runs, gaining Chicago fifteen yards in our direction.
“Shit, I’m going to have to make it up to him tonight,” Shayna says.
I want to cheer on my man, but I remain quiet.
“He’s had a great year, hasn’t he?” she says about Miles.
“He has.”
“And you have no criticism? You’re just agreeing that he’s a great player?” Her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline, and I blow out a breath. Then she stills. “Oh. My. God.”
I cover her mouth with my hand, checking that everyone else is distracted.
She moves her head away. “We’re going to get a souvenir. Be right back.” Shayna stands and grabs my hand, yanking me out of the suite.
“I want—” Twyla stops talking because we’re already out the door.
Once we’re a good distance away, in a corner of the hallway where no one is, Shayna whips me around. “Spill it.”
I shake my head. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“You had sex with him?”
“Um…”
“Holy crap. You and Miles. Do you like him? He’s not a guy who just wants a girl to fuck around with. He wants a girlfriend. A wife.”
I rub my temples from her hammering all this information my way that I’m already aware of. “I know. It hasn’t been that long, but as much as I hate to admit it, I like him. A lot.”
She lets loose an excited scream, and her feet pop up and down one at a time as she claps. You’d think I was her child who just took their first step she’s so excited.
I cover her mouth again. “Do not scream.” She bites me, and I retract my hand. “That hurt.”
“It was supposed to.” Her hands land on my shoulders, and she yanks me into her again for another hug. “I’m so happy for you. And he’s already one of us. Such an easy adjustment.”
“Stop pushing me down the aisle.”
She studies me for a second and laughs. “Oh, you’ve fallen. I can see it.”
“What’s with all the secrecy?”
I jump back and spin around, happy to see Elle. I bring my hand to cover my racing heart. “I was worried you were Twyla.”
“Because you’re fucking her brother?” She crosses her arms.
My mouth drops open. “How do you know?”
“I’m not stupid. Suddenly you’re busy every night and have no time for Coop or me.
Classic boyfriend behavior. And since Shayna here is as excited as if you said you were dating Chris Hemsworth, I put two and two together.
When were you going to tell me?” There’s an edge of hurt in her voice that makes me feel guilty.
I sigh. “I didn’t want anyone to know, but Shayna guessed, just like you. Apparently, I suck at keeping this quiet. And if my boss or Ronnie Michaels find out, I’m fired.”
Elle sets her gaze on me. “Is that the only reason for it being a secret?”
“Why else would it be?”
“I just want to make sure. Sometimes?—”
“It is. I promise.”
“Good, so when Shelly returns and you’re back to the Tundra, we can all celebrate publicly that you’re in a relationship.” Elle is testing me, and Shayna watches to see my reaction just the same.
I smack on a smile. “Of course.”
They don’t need to know that Shelly might never come back and I might be the permanent person for the Grizzlies. Which means deciding between my career and a man. I never thought it would be this hard .
“Perfect.” Elle slaps on a smile but still looks as though maybe she doesn’t believe me.
The three of us go back to the suite, and Twyla looks at my empty hands.
“They were closed, so weird,” I say.
She shrugs. “Good thing Theo got his early then.”
We watch the rest of the game, and the Grizzlies end up beating the Kingsmen by one. It was crazy and intense, and Miles played phenomenally. He’s on his way to more endorsements and interview spots if he keeps this up. If they make it to the Bowl and he plays like this, he’ll get the MVP for sure.
After the game, we tell the boys we’ll meet them at Peeper’s Alley.
When we get to the bar, Ruby has saved the back room for us, but her bar top is packed full of the usual men with beer guts and mugs of beer that might be superglued to their dominant hands.
I’m not sure the mugs are ever placed on the bar unless it’s to tell Ruby they need a refill.
“Seltzer,” Shayna orders.
I can’t get over there fast enough before Ruby says, “Order a real drink, sweetie. We don’t do girly seltzers here.”
Shayna looks at me and Elle.
“Seriously, Rubes, you have to get them,” I say.
“This is my bar, and I don’t have to do anything.”
My phone vibrates in my back pocket, so I miss the rest of the conversation as I pull it out and read the text.
MC: Meet me at my place. Top floor. We’re pulling up now. Make an excuse.
How the hell does he think I can make an excuse to leave?
Then an idea comes to mind, and I look at the group. “I have to take a call from my boss about tonight’s game. I’ll be right back.”
Elle rolls her eyes as if she knows I’m full of shit, but everyone else says okay. Shayna went outside to meet Lee because she fears he’s upset because she didn’t work the game and they lost.
I take my opportunity to sneak up the back way to the third floor. Damon is so loud when they get out of the Uber that I can hear him coming, so I double-time up the stairs. He might be going to his floor first, and I can’t chance him catching me.
I’m heading to the second set of stairs when a voice sounds behind me. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?”
I turn around to see Miles. His smile is contagious, and he picks me up in a firefighter’s hold, carrying me up the next two floors to his apartment.
“Why am I here?” I ask when he sets me down. “Our friends, your sister is downstairs.”
“I needed a few minutes alone with you.”
His lips meet mine as he inserts his key into the lock. He opens the door and I fall in as the door gives way. He catches me and lifts me, so I wrap my legs around him.
“I played one of the best games of my life and now I want to have the best sex of my life.”
“We can’t, we’re due downstairs.” I strip my lips from him, purposely dodging any more advances.
He lowers my feet to the floor. “I bet I can get you to. I’m surprisingly persuasive.”
I shake my head. “Of that, I have no doubt.”
“And as you know, I’m surprisingly good in bed. I’m surprisingly good with my tongue, my mouth, and my dick. Even my fingers.” He scatters kisses across my neck and up my jawline until he reaches my ear. “Put me in, Coach.”
I close my eyes for a moment, urging myself to have some willpower, but who am I kidding ?
“When,” I say.
He hauls me over his shoulder again, taking me to his bedroom.
I’m in so much trouble. I can’t even deny him for just a few hours before everyone disperses and we could sneak out.