35. Drew
THIRTY-FIVE
DREW
“So, are you and Jules official now?” Ford asks in the dressing room two weeks later.
I bend down to tie my skates. It’s our first game tonight and the dressing room is buzzing with energy. He could have chosen a better time to ask this, but the asshole has to do it right now. The guys pause, turning to look at me.
“Absolutely not,” Roman says, covering his ears. “At least let me leave the room before you make me complicit in your lies.”
“We’re not lying,” I grumble.
Jules and I discussed it at length. If we don’t tell Lavinia, it’s a betrayal.
If she finds out from someone else, it’s a betrayal.
If we tell her and she hates the idea of us being together, we’re souring our relationship with her to the point where we might have to break up to protect our relationships with Lavinia.
If she’s ecstatic over the idea and we break-up, that’s going to affect the whole family.
That last one is valid regardless if we tell her or not. The only difference is, if the family doesn’t know and we break-up, we’ll have to pretend to like each other and be civil for the rest of our lives. It makes me irrationally angry just thinking about Jules bringing someone to family dinner.
I know I need to do everything in power to not fuck up this relationship. Jules is a wild card, the last woman I ever expected I’d fall for, but one I should have seen coming. I’m not about to let her get away.
“You’re going to tell Lavinia the truth, then?” Roman asks.
“We haven’t decided,” I say.
“You can’t seriously be thinking of keeping this from her,” Kai says, frowning at me. He’s very protective of Lavinia, a fact I’ve always appreciated. I don’t know what the two of them do when they meet up weekly when the team’s not travelling, but the two of them are close.
“It’s not like I want to lie to my sister,” I say. “The situation is complicated. Believe me, Jules and I have discussed it.”
Coach Cross walks in then, ready with his speech before the first game. His brown eyes look at each of us in turn.
“Alright team, first game of the new season means it’s a clean slate. You’re champions and you’ll remain so, but that shouldn’t affect your performance tonight. Winning the Cup doesn’t mean shit if you can’t play like the champions I know you are.”
The team is hyped for the game against the Renegades. The roar of the crowd and a fresh sheet of ice greets us as we exit the tunnel. The only thing better than this is having Juliet Love rocking her pussy into me as I suck on her perfect, gorgeous tits.
And just like that, I’m uncomfortably hard under my uniform.
It will be hours before Jules and I can go home.
She’s in the VIP room with Lavinia right now.
I don’t expect her to do anything about my situation; I can take care of it in the shower.
Not that it’s going to make a difference because I’ll be hard again as soon as I get in bed next to her.
Coach Cross is stressed and I can see his eyes twitching from where I am on the ice.
We’re in the third period, tied with the Renegades.
There’s no way to predict who’s going to win, but I can definitely predict a PR disaster coming as Holden slams into Ryder Campbell’s shoulder.
In return, Campbell, the Renegades captain, slams Holden into the boards.
I skate to his side and pull Holden back just as the Renegades defenseman grabs Campbell.
The game starts again and the puck is behind the net in the offensive zone. I look at Roman and Ford, signalling to them what we’re going to do. I’m the first forechecker so I’m pushing forward. The Renegades defenseman is already skating up to the puck and I come in on his side.
Ford and Holden are by the boards on either side. The defenseman hooks the puck and as soon as he turns, I’m there, cutting off his escape. He turns the other way and Roman comes along the wall from the other side, blocking him off.
He’s trapped. I take possession of the puck, with Ford defending my back, and Reese protecting the net. The Regenades defenseman slams me into the boards and the force rattles my body, but I don’t lose the puck as I push past him.
I cycle the puck to Roman and he moves it up the wall with Holden right on his tail, protecting him. The Renegades second defenseman is on Roman and sensing danger, Roman cycles the puck to me. We keep it up until we’re certain the defensemen are exhausted and likely to make a mistake.
I make the goal at the last second when the defenseman thinks I’m about to pass the puck. The buzzer sounds and the crowd goes wild. The Titans are in fine form tonight.
After the game, Roman and I head to the VIP box. He side-eyes me as we enter the room, silently telling me I need to come clean to Lavinia.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” Lavinia is rushing toward us, her eyes concerned as she looks at Roman. There’s a bruise forming on the corner of his mouth.
“I’m fine, Blossom. I have you to kiss it better.”
I roll my eyes and look around, finally finding Jules.
She’s talking to Elena, nodding along to something she’s saying.
Her eyes flick to me, and she smiles softly before her eyes shift to Lavinia.
Her smile dims. I want her to come rushing to me.
Hell, I want to go to her and sweep her into my arms.
I sigh, turning to my sister. She’s inspecting Roman’s bruise.
“Vin, we need to talk.”
Her eyes move to mine. We’ve been together since the moment of conception, two peas in a pod that were never meant to be apart. I hope that remains true after tonight.
“What’s up?”
I clear my throat, wondering where to begin. Roman raises his eyebrows, waiting expectantly. I glance back at Jules. She’s turned away from us, her body stiff, her phone pressed against her ear. Elena has stepped away to the bar.
Lavinia follows my line of sight and frowns, leaving our side. “Jules?”
I follow her, rushing to Jules’s side.
“I understand,” she says into the phone. Her face is devoid of all expression as she stares blankly at the wall in front of her. I start to reach for her hand, but Lavinia gets there first.
I fist my hand, pulling back. I can’t even comfort her until Lavinia knows the truth. I don’t give a fuck about how she’s going to react. Jules is important to her, but she’s important to me too.
She’s the woman I l—
“I’ll be there,” Jules says.
Her eyes flick to mine.
“I don’t know if he’ll be able to make it. He might have a game.”
Lavinia and Roman glance at me curiously, as if I might know who she’s talking to. I shake my head at them helplessly.
“Sure. See you then.” She lowers the phone, her lips pressed into a thin white line. I want to pull her against me, but I promised I’d never do anything she’s not ready for. Until we’ve discussed how and when to tell Lavinia, I can’t do anything.
“Jules, what’s wrong?” Lavinia asks, eyes shadowed with concern.
“The devil and her mistress are in town and wish to see me,” she looks at me, “and my boyfriend.”
I stiffen. Is she telling Lavinia the truth? Now?
“Wait, your parents are in town and they think you’re dating Drew?” Lavinia asks, outraged. “You’re not meeting with them?”
“You know I have no choice,” Jules says, sounding exhausted.
“Why do they think you’re dating Drew?” Roman asks, side-eying me again.
“The wedding,” she replies. “Apparently, you can’t attend a wedding with a man who’s just a friend.”
She sighs and pushes her hair back behind her ear. “I’m going to take a cab home.”
“Jules—” Lavinia begins, and Jules shakes her head.
“I don’t want to talk about this right now. I don’t even want to think about it. I want to go home and hug Bailey.”
“I’ll go with you,” I say.
Jules looks at me, so many emotions flickering in her eyes, sadness being the prominent one followed by exhaustion.
“You should go out and celebrate,” she says.
I’m already shaking my head. The last place I want to be right is anywhere that’s not next to her. “Nah, I’m exhausted and coming with me is better than taking a cab.”
“Drew’s right,” Vin says. “We’ll go home right now and we won’t talk about it. We’ll have a sleepover!”
I can tell from the look in Lavinia’s eyes that she’s not going to leave Jules alone. As happy as it makes me that they’re close, it also fucking means I have to keep a distance from my own girlfriend for the rest of the night.
“What about Roman?” Jules asks, looking at him in question.
“Roman’s fine. He knows you come first.” Lavinia looks at him in question. Even if he doesn’t know, he’s never going to deny Lavinia anything. The man is completely gone for my sister and it shows in the way he smiles at her, hopelessly devoted.
Lavinia goes to his side, wrapping her arm around his waist and pressing a kiss on his cheek. I look at Jules, and find her looking at the floor, brows drawn in. She glances at me and I see the helplessness in her eyes. She has no reason to stop Lavinia.
“Alright, then. Let’s go,” I say with a sigh.
It’s how I find myself sitting on the chair in the living room, watching Twilight because it’s Lavinia’s favorite movie.
Jules is lying on the couch in the fetal position, Bailey tucked in next to her.
With the way Lavinia keeps stealing glances at Jules, I’m guessing she wants a reaction out of Jules that isn’t this.
I’m going out of my mind, my skin feels too tight for my body.
I want to drop down on my knees in front of Jules and ask her to unload everything on me.
I fucking hate seeing her this quiet and lost. It reminds me of the night Gemma died.
I felt helpless then, too, unable to do anything to help her.
She doesn’t even have to talk to me. All I want to do is hold her so she knows I’m here, whenever she wants to talk.
I’ll always be here.
I have half a mind to tell Lavinia the truth right now, just so I can hold Jules. That will be an extremely selfish decision, one that takes away Jules’s autonomy in this relationship. We should decide, together, when to tell everyone.
Just because I’m ready now doesn’t mean she is as well. Maybe she needs more time to feel secure in this relationship before we say anything.
“This is my favorite scene,” Lavinia says, as Edward Cullen displays unusual strength.
“I think Jules is about two seconds away from falling asleep,” I say drily.
Lavinia peers closely at Jules. “No, she’s fine. She’s watching.”
I look at Jules and she has her eyes closed.
“Unless she can see with her eyes closed, I don’t think she’s watching.”
Lavinia looks at Jules again. I know she’s not sleeping. She’s a sensitive sleeper and she’ll never be able to fall asleep with this noise.
“Stop staring at me,” Jules says, opening her eyes.
“See, she’s watching.” Lavinia sits back with satisfaction.
Jules and I exchange an eye roll. It feels strangely good to have an inside moment with her.
We’re already having silent conversations like couples do.
She stretches her legs, feet poking out of the throw.
They’re dangling off the end of the couch and I can’t resist running my thumb nail along her instep as Lavinia’s focus is on the TV.
Jules yelps and giggles, pulling her feet back under the blanket.
Lavinia looks at her in question. “What’s wrong?”
“In my hatred for all things angsty teenage love triangle, I forgot about the existence of Carlisle Cullen,” Jules says.
Lavinia snorts a laugh. “I know, right? The man can get it.”
“He’s one vampire I would let do dirty things to me,” Jules agrees.
I raise an eyebrow at her and she winks at me.