Chapter 33
THE GODDESS
Dev
Does he have a camera in the room? My pulse spikes faster than before a fight on the ice.
Then my brain takes over. Of course there aren’t any fucking cameras in the room. That’d be illegal. Maybe the elevator though? That’s possible, and if so, damn, Garrett moves fast.
But I’m a sloth as I grab the phone from my pocket in slow motion then angle the screen away from my face, like it’s an X-ray and Garrett can see inside my soul and read my filthy mind as he rings and rings.
Aubrey eyes the screen.
“What do I do?” I ask, flabbergasted. I mean, I’ve answered calls before. I should know how to do this.
“Um, answer it?” Aubrey suggests, but the look in her eyes says she’s freaking out too.
I swing my gaze to Ledger. He’s not the wise old veteran now. He’s got his hands up in the air, as flummoxed as I am. But then he snaps his fingers. “Maybe we need to…talk about this first. What to say to him. Hit ignore.”
“Yes! That’s brilliant. Talking. That’s what we’ll do. Communication. Right, right.” I send my agent to voicemail then rub my palms together. “What do we tell him?” I shift my focus to Aubrey. “Last night you said he’s not the kind of guy who would say don’t touch my sister, but—”
My phone cuts me off when it buzzes with a text. I scan it so fast. Hey, remember that time you saved a kid?
I blink. “What the…?”
Then the rest—give me a call.
I’m too intrigued not to call back, but I also don’t have to since he’s ringing again. I answer it with a casual, “Hey, G-man.”
At least I hope I sound casual—not like I was just caught stealing. I head to the couch, Ledger and Aubrey right behind me.
“The Dev Save is going viral, and I think we need to get in front of this right now,” Garrett says, businesslike.
“The Dev Save?” I ask as I sink down onto the cushions, but I’ve got a hunch I know what that must be.
“Or was that some other goalie on McDoodle Island who looks like you and is on a vacation with my client and my sister?” His tone is playful, and that’s such a relief.
I breathe easily, my pulse steadying. I stab the speaker button right as Aubrey whips out her phone. Ledger’s fast at the draw too, grabbing his mobile like he’s a gunslinger in the old west. They’re likely searching The Dev Save.
“The mom called me a nice man. She didn’t ask for my autograph or anything,” I point out. “How does she know it was me?”
Garrett chuckles. “It’s seriously hilarious that you think hockey players aren’t recognizable.
They’re not recognizable to non-hockey fans.
But, guess what? Travis’s other mom is a hockey fan.
She was in the store when it all went down, and when she came out and saw the video another family had taken, evidently, she lost her mind over the goalie saving her kid.
Life imitating art. The art of hockey. Damn, I love it. ”
Aubrey’s shoulders relax. “She posted the video then? One of Travis’s moms?”
“And it went viral in no time. Everyone’s calling it The Dev Save. You’re a fucking hero meme,” Garrett says, and I can picture him with his feet up on his desk. “Also, I need to apologize.”
We all look at each other like what’s Garrett talking about now?
“Why?” Ledger asks carefully.
“I should have had you three do this sooner, what I’m about to ask you,” Garrett says apologetically. “But now’s as good a time as any. Remember when I said if any fans spotted you on this trip it’d be a good thing that the three of you are friends?”
I wince a little from the reminder. He said that during golf. We were friends with Aubrey then. Now we’re a little more.
“Right,” I say tentatively, letting Garrett steer this convo.
“So, what do you want us to do?” Ledger asks, and I can hear the hesitation in his voice too.
“I’m calling it The Garrett Save,” our agent says. Then he gives us an assignment.
* * *
An hour later, we’re standing in front of the Deception Pass Bridge in the ultimate tourist photo, the three of us smiling for the camera in a selfie ordered up by our agent.
On the surface, we look happy. But everything feels off. When I’m done playing shutterbug, I show Aubrey the pic, trying to shove aside the weird feelings.
“We look…friendly,” she says, her tone a little worried. But I’m not able to deal with it since I’ve got to get this shot to G-man so he can get in front of any potential double-honeymoon stories.
“Should I send it?” she asks.
“Yes,” I grit out.
After she hits send, we trudge to the car.
As I reach the rental, Garrett pings me with a text, showing that he’s already posted it on his social feed, along with the caption—One guy broke my sister’s heart, so I sent my two buffest players to make sure no one gets that close to her again.
It feels like a lie.
Because we did lie to Garrett. I can’t shake the gloom descending on me.
I get back into the car, shutting the door a little harder than I should. We’re all a little quiet on the drive. I feel like I just sobered up. Too bad I was really enjoying being tipsy in the room.
After a few minutes, Aubrey points out the window at a mountain peak we’re passing. “That’s pretty.”
“Yeah,” I mutter.
She’s quiet again, and I have nothing to say. What would I say anyway? I’m a big, stinking liar?
“Hey! Do you guys like kayaking?”
That’s random. “I don’t know if it’s forbidden in our contracts,” I answer. Like you’re technically forbidden.
The gloom grows thicker, tries to dig roots in my chest.
“If you can, that might be fun,” she says, cheery and bright, like she is, and I wish I knew what to do with her. “Ledger, have you ever gone?” she asks.
He doesn’t answer. When I peer in the rearview, he’s staring out the window. A moody motherfucker too.
But why should I have to be the only one to try to keep up the uncomfortable convo? I don’t want to say that felt too close for comfort. “Ledger?” I prompt.
A few seconds pass before he says, “What?”
“She asked you a question. Have you kayaked?” I ask, annoyed with him too.
“Oh. Yeah. I have,” he says, flatly, letting the topic die.
Aubrey sighs, then fidgets with her cuticles. “I just wonder if…”
But she doesn’t finish the thought either.
When we reach the main traffic light on McDoodle Island, the red light feels like a metaphor.
The sun is setting. Maybe we should just get some chow. “Want to get food? Something from your restaurant list.”
Aubrey lifts her face, then like a goddess calling upon her powers, she turns to me. “Earlier today, you made me admit I didn’t like grape stomping. I need something from you two now. Is this over? Was it a one-night thing? If it was, that’s fine. But I want to know. And I deserve to know.”
Holy shit. That’s hot, the way she’s just laying down the law.
But that’s the problem. Am I allowed to keep acting on all these wild wishes? Plus, this isn’t my decision alone to make. I peer again in the rearview.
Ledger drags a hand down his face. “I’m just thinking about Garrett,” he says heavily.
“I gathered that.” Aubrey stands her ground.
“But if we’re done with…this thing, don’t I deserve to know?
If that’s the choice you’re making just tell me.
I can go back to being friends. What I don’t want to do is drive around in silence that I try to fill when you won’t tell me why you’re moody.
” She looks at the time on the dash. “In fact, you can take me back to the hotel. I’m going to do some yoga with my friend Briar and give you some time and space to sort out whatever is going on with you two. ”
The light changes and I head to the hotel on her orders. Once there, she marches into the suite, leaving us behind.