Chapter 27
Olivia
Olivia sat in a plush armchair in a cafe close to the practice rink. She took a big sip of her white chocolate Americano, debating what to say.
Jake beat her to the punch. He never let her get away with anything and read her like an open book. “You’re in love with Hazy again, then?”
Olivia set her drink on the side table and buried her face in her hands. She groaned.
“Not again. Still. I’m sorry for how he acted earlier. I don’t know what crawled up his asshole and died today.”
“It’s fine. I’ve met him a few times before; he seemed a little off. I see what you see in him, though. Gorgeous, funny, really fucking good at hockey.”
“Ah, yes. The big three.” Olivia laughed.
“Are you certain he doesn’t love you back? He seemed weirdly protective.”
Olivia loved Jake’s directness. They’d become fast friends when she’d gotten a job at a sleazy little pub and he’d debriefed her on every regular and all the other employees.
He’d trained her, called her out on her bullshit, and made sure she never put her stupid-ass minimum-wage job ahead of her education, even when she decided to quit the nursing program.
They’d bonded over a hatred for customer service work, overloaded schedules, and the weight of their own expectations for themselves.
Jake arrived in her life exactly when she needed him, and it seemed history was destined to repeat itself.
She hadn’t kept close tabs on him in the years since graduation, but she’d known he had signed an entry-level contract with an NHL team and played in the AHL since then.
She had no doubt he would fit right back into her life as if he’d never left.
He was also gorgeous, with deep olive skin, curly dark hair, and the standard physique of an NHL player.
When they first met, Olivia hit on him. He shut her down without hesitation, and they never spoke of it again.
Great for her because they never would have worked as a couple, but she got a dear friend out of the deal.
The problem with his question was that for the first time ever, Olivia wasn’t certain. Hazy acted freaking weird toward Jake. She shifted in her seat, crossing and uncrossing her legs.
“Valentine seems to think Connor loves me back, but he’s given me no reason to think so. Beyond the usual lovey-touchy-feely stuff. But that’s just Connor.”
“Girl, I’m pretty sure he was point two seconds away from ripping my head clean off my body if I didn’t stop touching you.”
“Nah, he’s super touchy with his friends. Casual touching doesn’t mean anything to him.”
“Touching means a lot to most people. I wouldn’t be sure it means nothing.”
Jake studied her with raised eyebrows over the rim of his cup as he took a swig of coffee.
Olivia bit a piece of skin off her lip.
“You have got to stop doing that; you’re going to have split lips again if you keep it up.”
She rolled her eyes, but tried to stop. “Can I tell you a secret?”
Jake leaned forward in his seat. “Ooo, tea! Tell me all your secrets. What have I missed?”
She took a deep breath and blew it out to calm her nerves before she spoke. He would either love her plan or think she was fucking stupid. No in-between. “Valentine has this secret plan to get Connor to admit he has feelings for me. We’re fake dating to provoke him.”
Jake covered his grin with his hand but failed to hide his amusement.
“That’s the worst idea you’ve ever had. Hazy and Lover are besties.
People don’t speak one name without speaking the other.
There are hundreds of thousands of fans who ship their bromance.
What if it all goes wrong? You might lose them both.
Their relationship is part of their career.
And Hazy would never steal Lover’s girl.
Lover doesn’t date. It’s like a well-known locker-room fact. ”
“That’s what I said!” She chuckled at the stupidity of it. “Valentine assured me we’ll end things amicably if it doesn’t work. I want it to work. But if it doesn’t, I’m moving on. For good. I swear.”
“Whatever happened to the guy you were dating? Luke? Lane?”
“Lance. Yeah. My life is a giant fucking mess.” Olivia filled Jake in on all the juicy details of her craptastic relationship with Lance from the moment they met to Valentine punching him in the face.
When she finished, he said, “Yikes.”
She filled her voice with disdain and sarcasm. “It’s honestly just... the best.”
“That might be the worst thing I’ve ever heard. How sure are you that he won’t try to come after you again? If he stole your money and demanded you go back to live with him, who knows what else he would do.”
“It’s not great. But Lance isn’t stupid. I have a restraining order. I don’t think he would risk jail time. It would ruin his image.”
Jake wrinkled his nose. “What’s the plan moving forward? You quit your job. You’re single and ready to mingle. The world is your oyster.”
She shrugged. “I’m kind of winging life right now. A complete rebuild.”
“And you’re doing that while you live with Hazy?”
Olivia popped the ‘p’ when she said, “Yup.”
“You have no backup plan.”
She shook her head. “Homelessness,” she deadpanned.
The answer startled Jake, and he let out a honk before slapping a hand over his mouth. “I won’t let you be homeless. You can stay with me anytime. The team has me in a fancy, soulless apartment. You’d hate it.”
“Thanks, but I won’t need it. I’m not at any risk of actual homelessness. I technically work for Connor for the next couple of months, and he’s paying me a stupid amount of money.”
“Good. Get that bag.” He relaxed in his chair, spread his knees to a ridiculous angle, and rubbed the stubble on his chin.
“Your Plan A could work,” he finally said after several seconds of shared thoughtfulness. “I like Lover’s plan. But I bet I can make him way more jealous than Lover.”
“I don’t see how two fake breakups is better than one when this fails. I’ve been trying to get this man to notice me for fifteen years. A month won’t change anything.”
“Ew, no. I’m not fake-dating you. That’s gross.”
The words didn’t hurt coming from him like they had from Connor. Still, she gave a performative frown.
“Gee, thanks.”
Jake snickered. “That’s not what I meant. Lover can take care of the love life stuff. I’ve been told he is an excellent meddler. I’m going to use the power of friendship.”
“The... power of friendship.”
He nodded enthusiastically. “It’s going to work. He’s never seen you around someone who knows you as well as he does.”
“You don’t know me as well as he does,” she pointed out.
“So? For all he knows you’ve told me all your deepest, darkest secrets.”
“I basically have.”
“And that’s good enough. I’m going to steal you away from him, and it’s going to drive him fucking crazy. This is going to be fucking fun.”
Olivia rolled her eyes and gulped her coffee. She slapped her hands on her thighs and stood.
“Well, why the fuck not? If we’re going all in, we’re going all in. We can start with movie night. I’ll tell Connor.”
The smell of peppers and onions filled the air at Connor’s house. A Chappell Roan song played over the surround sound system. Olivia hung her purse on the hook and piled her shoes by the door, motioning for Jake to do the same.
In the kitchen they found Connor and Valentine belting out raunchy lyrics into wooden spoon microphones while moving their hips in a way that made Olivia regret introducing them to Dirty Dancing. She slid onto a barstool at the kitchen island and tapped the one next to it, inviting Jake to sit.
Valentine rounded the island, leaving Connor to watch the stove.
He pushed his way between Olivia and Jake, taking turns leaning into each of them to serenade them with vulgar lyrics.
To Olivia’s surprise, Jake joined the singing and dancing, going so far as to hop off his stool and grind on Valentine.
In that moment Olivia realized these silly, playful, ridiculous men were her absolute favorite people on the planet.
She’d never experienced as much joy and comfort with Lance, and whatever happened, she needed to keep them all close.
Any romantic partner she might consider had to compete with her love for them.
She could have cried from the rush of emotion, but she chose to channel it into singing and dancing with her boys.
They worked their way through the entire album while Connor finished cooking dinner, and when they shut the music off Olivia asked Jake, “What happened to disliking Chappell?”
Jake grinned, accepting a plate of food from Connor.
“People change.”
She raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn’t elaborate. They all piled onto Connor’s massive sofa and watched an action movie Olivia had no real interest in, but Connor and Valentine had been waiting on for weeks.
When they finished eating, they paused the movie to clean the kitchen, a sense of camaraderie washing over them as they worked.
“I haven’t had an evening like this in such a long time,” Jake said, breaking the comfortable silence.
“What do you mean?” Valentine asked.
“Like. Hanging out, eating dinner, watching a movie.”
“Do you think making dinner and watching movies with friends counts as a hobby?” she asked.
“For sure,” Valentine said.
“I would count it as a hobby,” Jake agreed.
Connor smiled and winked at her. He asked Jake, “You don’t have friends in the minors?”
Jake wiped the kitchen counter. “I do. It’s just different. They’re all either old as shit with wives and kids, or teenagers. I’m in this awkward in-between age, and everyone thinks I’m weird.”
“You’re a goalie. It’s a requirement for you to be a certified weirdo,” Lover said.
Olivia smacked his arm and handed him a pan to put away.
Jake laughed. “For sure. I don’t know. I have nothing in common with the guys in California, apart from hockey.”
“Fair enough,” Connor said. “You aren’t seeing anyone?”
Jake shrugged and tossed the dirty paper towel in his hand into the trash. He redirected the question.
“What about you guys? Anyone serious? You’re geriatric as far as unmarried hockey players go.”
Valentine looped his arms around Olivia’s waist and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “Bro, you’re the same age as me, careful talking shit. Besides, I’m dating Olivia. Funny you didn’t mention that during your little catch-up, babe.”
Olivia wiggled out of his arms, laughing.
Jake smirked and said, “She did mention something. I’m surprised. You’ve never given anyone else a chance from what I hear. Interesting.” He raised a pointed eyebrow at Connor and asked, “Hazy, what about you?”
Connor frowned and popped a dishwasher tab into the dishwasher before closing it.
“Kinda hard to get laid when you can’t fucking move, ain’t it?”
Olivia rolled her lips between her teeth to avoid laughing. Jake showed no such restraint. Connor’s delivery had him rolling, clutching at his sides. It lasted so long that it became contagious.
Wiping tears from his eyes, Jake said, “Oh God. Sorry. The way you jumped straight to getting laid when I asked about your love life really tickled my funny bone.”
Connor, still chuckling, said, “Ew. Keep your funny bone to yourself. Everyone knows I don’t do relationships.”
The comment had Olivia’s laughter dying in her chest. She cleared her throat and tried to think of an excuse to change the subject. But before she could, Jake went for the jugular.
“Why?” he asked.
The ease of their dynamic changed to something tense in an instant, and where Olivia would have normally jumped to Connor’s aid with a subject change, she held her tongue.
Connor searched both Olivia’s and Valentine’s faces, hoping for help. Neither of them provided it. Valentine gathered Olivia in his arms again, and this time Olivia let herself sink into the embrace, soaking in comfort as she waited for her best friend’s answer.
He shuffled from one foot to the other, cracking under the scrutiny. “Not my thing.”
“And you call me weird,” Jake said, pulling no punches. “You’ve been walking for weeks, from what I hear. What’s keeping you from going out?”
Olivia took pity on him.
“Connor hates love,” she said.
“I don’t hate love,” Connor said.
“That’s fucking sad,” Jake said at the same time.
“Yeah,” Olivia agreed, leading them to the living room. “It really is.”
The vibe had been thoroughly harshed. Valentine took a spot on the opposite side of the couch from Connor, as far away as they could get from his usual spot. He pulled Olivia onto his lap. She didn’t hesitate to snuggle into his chest.
Jake sat in the middle, a divide between Olivia and Connor she felt deep in her bones.
Everything felt hopeless. She ached to crawl across Jake and curl up in Connor’s lap.
In a month, if nothing happened between her and Connor, she would kick herself for how miserable she was making them both.
But everyone around them seemed to think Connor felt for her what she felt for him.
There was a real possibility she was too close to the situation.
Too wounded. Her idea of their relationship too rooted to a single night that happened a decade before their brains fully developed.
She trusted Valentine and Jake to have her best interests at heart.
If they thought it was meant to be, maybe it was.
Connor pressed play. A few minutes in, he said, “What do you say, Jakey? Want to snuggle? Looks like Lover and Livy are fine without me. And we already established I’m touched starved.”
Jake didn’t budge from his spot. “Not a chance, man.”
Connor jutted his lower lip out in an exaggerated pout.
“Aww, snuggle with the poor baby, Jakey!” Valentine said.
Jake rolled his eyes but scooted closer to Connor. “Fine. This one time.”
Connor dragged Jake closer, an arm around his shoulders.
Jake really committed to taking one for the team.
Physical touch was not his love language.
Jake’s stiffness had Olivia’s shoulders shaking in silent laughter, but she didn’t dare comment for fear of ruining the adorableness of it all.
Her two favorite men snuggled up, albeit uncomfortably.
Only one of them knew it was meant for her benefit.
They pressed play on a movie, and as the story progressed, Jake melted into Connor. Valentine stroked Olivia’s hair, and she almost fell asleep, despite the rampant violence on screen.
When the movie ended, they all stood and stretched. Something occurred to Olivia.
“Hey, Jake?” she asked.
“Yeah?”
“What are you doing on Friday?”
Jake shrugged. “It’s a day off. I’m enjoying some peace and quiet.”
“You should come over. We’re having game night.”
“Yeah, you should stop by,” Valentine said.
Connor took longer to agree, but with a pointed look from Olivia, said, “We’d love to have you.”
It wasn’t believable at all. But it was enough for Jake. He grinned and said, “Cool, I’d love that.”
As he gave Connor a bro hug, he winked at Olivia over his shoulder.