16. Hendrix
HENDRIX
Women don’t want the life of the party.
They want the guy who makes sure they get home safe from the party.
Remember that, boys.
—Declan Sinclair’s advice to his sons
“Ican see your shadow, Serena. I know you’re in there.”
“Dude, that’s called stalking,” my brother laughs as he opens his door next to mine, a cup of coffee in hand. “Friends don’t like stalkers.”
Friends.
Of course Nixon still thinks we’re friends. He doesn’t know better.
I never told him otherwise.
“Go away, Hendrix,” she calls back without opening the door.
But that’s not gonna work for me. “Come on, princess,” I say lower this time. “People are listening.”
That gets her attention, and the beautiful blonde cracks the door open. “That sounds like a you problem.”
Her words are clipped, but her tone is soft.
“Not sure it is,” I point out as I slide a hand around the door. “Just give me five minutes. Please.”
I’m not a man used to begging for anything. But for this woman . . . if it helps her understand . . . if it helps earn her forgiveness . . . There are few things I wouldn’t do for Serena Kingston. And our conversation at Ryker’s wedding was only the starting point.
“I meant what I said, Serena. This isn’t over.”
Those turquoise eyes, the color of the ocean at the Jersey shore, harden, but she pushes the door open and steps aside. “Five minutes, Hendrix.” She touches the smart watch on her wrist and lifts a perfectly arched brow. “Time’s ticking, Sinclair.”
Fucking hell.
A Revolution hoodie engulfs her frame, hitting mid-thigh. Mid-bare-thigh to be exact.
“Any chance you can put on pants?” I croak, fully aware I sound like a dying frog.
“What the hell?” she snaps and pulls up the hem of the hoodie. “I have on shorts, asshole. Four minutes.”
My brain short-circuits as I focus on the small pink incision around her knee and the much longer one where they probably took a graft for her ACL surgery. “I’m going to need more time, Serena.”
“You’ve had three years, Hendrix.” She crosses her arms over her chest, and the motion pulls that damn hoodie up.
Fuck me. I decide I liked it better when it looked like she didn’t have on pants because the shitty excuse for shorts look more like glorified underwear, and that has my brain misfiring for a whole other reason.
“Why now? Why is it suddenly so important that we talk? Because it’s convenient for you now? Because you’re home now? Because you finally got your wish and are playing for my father now? Tell me why it matters—why I suddenly matter, and I’ll give you all the time you want.”
Bracing myself for the blowback, I step into her space, needing her to hear this.
To hear me.
What I’m saying, and what I’m not.
“She knew she was dying, Serena.” The words taste like ash in my mouth, everything about those weeks blending together.
“Britt found out she was pregnant, and two months later when she went for her first appointment, they found the cancer. She didn’t know who Bodhi’s dad was.
It really was a drunken one-night stand after a playoff game. It just wasn’t with me.”
It couldn’t have been because the only person I wanted to celebrate with that night was the woman in front of me now, but she was on a soccer field in Seattle.
“She didn’t have insurance. She didn’t come from a family like either of ours. Her mom means well, but she couldn’t help. She had nothing . . .” I’ll never forget the fear in her eyes when she told me. “She needed my help. She needed a dad for Bodhi.”
Serena drops her arms to her sides, some of the fight disappearing.
“Try to remember where we were, princess.” I drop my voice and close the distance between us but don’t touch her.
Not yet. “You begged me to walk away. You said no. And before you say it, I’m not fighting with you about that.
I asked you to marry me, and you said no.
She needed me. She needed someone to be Bodhi’s father.
She was my best friend, and she was pregnant and knew she was dying.
With treatment, they said she had three, maybe five years. ”
Tears pool in her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall.
Damn, but this woman has always been stronger than she’s given herself credit for.
“But to get five years, she needed to terminate the pregnancy and start treatment immediately, and she didn’t want to do that.
” I smile, picturing her holding Bodhi in the delivery room.
“Britt wanted Bodhi so badly. He was her chance at a family. She said a year with him would be worth eighty without him.”
But she never made it a year.
“So you married her,” she whispers, refusing to meet my eyes.
I slide a hand to her beautiful face, my fingers skimming her soft skin, and lift her eyes to mine.
“I married her because you didn’t want me.
And if I couldn’t have you, marrying my best friend so I could give her insurance and take care of her son .
. . so I could be there for her when she died and I could be there for him forever .
. . it was a no-brainer. The only thing that’s ever been harder was walking away from you. ”
She drags her thumbs under my eyes, and I wrap my fingers around her wrists, holding her there. It’s the first time Serena Kingston has touched me in over three years, and I’m not ready for her to stop. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
The words are pained but not venomous.
“Because I promised Britt I wouldn’t tell anyone,” I admit.
“Hendrix,” she gasps, horror dawning on her face as the truth of it all sets in. “Your family doesn’t know? How is that possible? You’re all so close.”
“Because they’re not you. You’re the only person that gets this truth.
” I turn her hand and press her palm against my face.
This woman was once everything to me. I lived for the feel of her body against mine.
For the feel of her in my arms. “You want to know why this all matters now?” I push, my eyes locked on hers.
“Because I’m at a place in my life where I can let it matter.
I’ve spent the past few years holding my life together with duct tape and string.
My entire focus has been on Bodhi. On making sure he was okay.
Making sure he knew he was safe and loved.
I’ve been putting one foot in front of the other for so fucking long, I haven’t thought about what I wanted.
” I press my mouth to her open palm, and a shiver rolls down her body.
“Or what I needed . . . Until the trade. Until I knew I was ready to come home. Until I knew I was ready to fight for you.”
Serena pulls back and tips her face up, the foot height difference between us forcing her to back up. “What changed?”
“Everything.” That one word holds so much truth. “I let you walk away from me once, Serena. I accepted it when you said no.”
“I—”
I dig my hands into the front of her hoodie and pull her closer. “I’m done accepting it, princess.”
“So what are you saying? You want a do-over?”
“No.” I grin, a soundless laugh shaking my chest. “We’re not erasing our past.”
“Maybe we should . . .” She closes her eyes and drops her head to my chest. “There’s so much between us though. I’m not sure we can—”
“We can,” I stop her. “And we will—because it wasn’t all bad. Tell me you remember the good. Tell me you don’t hate me,” I press, needing to hear the words.
She lifts her head, a storm brewing in her gorgeous turquoise eyes. “I never hated you. I wanted to. I wished I could. It would have been so much easier. But you hurt me.”
“I know I did. And I wish I hadn’t. But I can’t go back and do it differently.”
“Would you . . . ?” Her pink lips tremble, begging for the truth. “If you could go back, would you do it differently?”
My answer is immediate, I’ve thought about it so many damn times. “I’d tell you the truth instead of letting you believe the lie. But I’d still claim Bodhi as mine. I can’t regret that, Serena. I’ll never regret him.”
“I wouldn’t want you to,” she whispers so quietly, I barely hear it before she looks away, her chest rising with a deep inhale before she looks at me again. “Time’s up, Hendrix.”
“Serena . . .”
“I need some space, Hen. I need to process all of this. And you have a game tomorrow.” Without giving me a second glance, she walks over to the door and takes the knob in her hand.
“Take the space you need, princess, but know this.” I bend my knees, bringing us face-to-face and smiling as Serena’s lashes flutter and cheeks flush. “I made the mistake of letting you go once. I’m not doing it again.”
She opens the door and inches back, careful to leave space between us. “We’ll see about that.”
Yeah, sweetheart. We will.
“You be good for Aunt Gracie. Okay, buddy?”
Bodhi’s sleepy face scrunches up as he nods. My kid loves his naptime. “Love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, buddy. I’ll be home late tonight” My heart sinks as Gracie takes the phone.
“He’s an angel, Henny.” My sweet sister smiles and runs her hand over Bodhi’s hair.
“Is he an angel or are your kids just feral, good twin?”
Leo’s head pops up from his bed as he laughs. “Truth.”
“Hey.” Gracie tries to act pissed.
It doesn’t work. Good twin sucks at being mad.
“Love you, Grace. Thank you for this. I promise I’ll get the nanny thing figured out soon.”
She nods and ends the call in time for Leo to throw a fucking pillow across the room. “I thought you had the nanny shit figured out. Isn’t Melissa moving in?”
“She’s going to stay with me until she finds a place.
Not moving in. But that’s still a few weeks away.
” I fix my tie and look for my watch. Chicago stopped making us wear suits to and from games, and it was a hell of a lot easier than this.
Some guys like the suits. I’m not one of them. Give me sweats and tees any day.
“Hate to break it to you, brother, but that’s moving in. Do you think you’re going to be okay with her there?” Leo grabs his tie from his bag and shakes out the wrinkles. “Melissa’s nice, but she’s . . . a lot.”
“She’s what’s best for Bodhi. And it won’t be permanent,” I tell him as much for him as it is for me needing to hear it. Leo’s not wrong. Mel is a lot. “We’ll make it work, and I’ll make sure she finds a place.”
“Okay.” He walks over to the mirror and straightens his tie. “You gonna tell me what the hell is going on with you and Serena Kingston?”
“Nope.” I grab my coat and room key. “Are you going to focus on the game?”
“It’s preseason, man. I doubt we’ll get more than five minutes ice time. Now stop changing the subject.” He walks into the hall and stares at Serena’s door. “Is she okay?”
My body goes on alert. “What do you mean?”
“Chill, brother. You look like you’re about to kill somebody.
I just mean she’s been off since the whole ACL thing.
I’ve been working with her nonprofit for a few years in her offseason.
And the woman I see now . . . I don’t know.
She just seems like she lost her spark. I figured you, being you, could maybe help her.
You guys used to be inseparable.” He tips his chin my way as we head for the elevators.
“I always figured you’d end up together before Britt. ”
“Yeah,” I admit to him for the first time. “I did too.”
“It’s not too late, you know. I’m pretty sure she’s not seeing anyone. I don’t think that Rafe Langley thing is serious.”
Why do brothers know exactly what to say to piss you the fuck off.
I clench my teeth, trying to mask my irrational need to pound the asshole’s fucking face in just because he touched her. “It’s not. They’re just friends.”
“Friends like you two?” he asks as Kaleigh rounds the corner, a devilish gleam in her eyes. I’ve only met this woman a handful of times. She’s good friends with my cousins and Ryker and Jamie’s wives. But I’ve been around her enough to know that gleam never seems to leave her.
“Oooh, Hendrix. Who are you just friends with?”
“No one,” I groan and punch my brother.
“Aww. I could be your friend.” She winks. “Purely platonic though. I’m done with athletes.”
“I’m sure the athletes are devastated,” I grumble and wait for her to walk in front of us as the elevator opens.
“Oh, he’s got jokes,” she teases, and I can’t help but smile.
The doors close slowly as a soft voice calls, “Hold the elevator.”
A delicate hand with soft pink nails slips between the door before Serena slides inside. Her eyes dart around the interior, from Leo to me to Kaleigh before she moves as far away from me as possible.
“Perfect timing, Serena. We were just trying to come up with some new friends for Hendrix.” Kaleigh grins like the fucking cartoon cat who always tries to eat Tweety Bird.
This girl is new to Kroydon Hills. She wasn’t here when I was in high school or college and doesn’t know our history. Which means she has no clue the shit storm she just stepped into.
Serena’s teeth press down into her pouty bottom lip as her eyes flash my way. “And why does Hendrix need new friends?”
“I’m not sure. But according to Leo, he doesn’t have any,” Kaleigh happily announces like that’s even close to what was said.
But when Serena’s lips slide into a beautiful smile, I don’t give a single shit what Kaleigh said. “I mean,” she giggles—actually giggles. “He wasn’t the worst friend.”
The doors ding and open into the lobby where the team is filing out onto the buses.
Kaleigh looks between Serena and me and shrugs. “I guess it’s a start.”
Yeah . . . I think it is.