Grace
“You’re joking, right?”
I shook my head, popping another handful of white cheddar popcorn into my mouth as we pulled off the busy Atlanta midtown street into the valet line of our home for the night. “The fucking Four Seasons, Jax?”
Jaxson looked confused as he cut the wheel, pulling our Mercedes-Benz in behind a Maserati. “It’s a nice place,” he promised, as if that was my concern. “I stay here with the team a lot when we play the Stars.”
“We’re on a road trip,” I reminded him, tossing a kernel of popcorn his way. “Not a bougie NHL overnight trip.”
He grabbed the popcorn from between his legs and popped it into his mouth. “Are you seriously mad that I booked us a swanky hotel?”
“I’m disappointed.”
He covered his heart with a fist as if I’d wounded him, but then smiled and pulled us in farther, a young kid in a valet uniform hustling our way. I rolled the top on the popcorn bag and put it away.
“That’s funny, considering I’m pretty sure you stayed at the JW Marriott last time you visited Tampa.”
“Again, that wasn’t a road trip. Besides,” I added as the valet opened my car door. “That was all my parents’ doing, not mine.”
I smiled and thanked the guy who helped me out of the SUV, as if it were a carriage and I a princess. I didn’t miss the way his eyes darted over my sleep shorts, no doubt covered in dust from the various snacks I’d been munching on, before they found mine again.
His eyes widened when I smirked at the fact that I caught him staring.
I turned around, looking over my shoulder and running my hands over the back of my shorts. “Do I have anything on my ass?” I asked, feigning innocence as I batted my lashes at the poor kid.
I saw him flush crimson before looking almost green as a strong hand gripped me by the inside of my elbow and toted me away.
“You trying to give him a heart attack?” Jaxson growled into my ear.
I grinned up at him. “Maybe I’m trying to give him my number.”
Jaxson’s nose flared a bit at that, and he kept his hold on me as the valet crew struggled with my suitcase behind us.
“Aww, are you jealous,” I teased him, and then I lifted his hand from my elbow until I was draping his arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him, putting my own arm around his waist. “Don’t worry, Brittzy. I’m currently celibate, due to men being dreadfully disappointing, and the unfortunate fact that I am not sexually attracted to women. Besides,” I added, my neck aching with the effort it took to look up at him — the tall motherfucker. “He’s not really my type. I’m more of a brother’s grumpy teammate kind of gal.”
He closed his eyes and shook his head once, a long sigh leaving him, but I saw the way the corner of his lips curled just a little.
“Okay, you win tonight,” I conceded, and I was content to stay there under his arm, but he released me when we approached the front desk.
I was suddenly very aware that I was in my dirty pajamas with no bra on in a Five-Star hotel lobby. I crossed my arms over my chest, and I swore I could hear my mom’s voice whispering in my ear about my indecency, as if she was there with us.
“But tomorrow night, I get to pick our accommodations,” I added.
Jaxson looked like he was ready to argue, but he was next to check in, and I watched as every muscle in his face shifted as he approached the desk with a glittering smile.
Holy shit.
It was magic, how he completely transformed. I watched him tuck his true self behind some invisible wall as he lit up like a fucking Christmas tree, leaning one elbow on the desk as he fished his wallet from his pocket. He told the woman behind the desk that he was checking in for the night, and when he gave his name, recognition sparked in her eyes, as well as a few of her colleagues at the desks on either side of her.
Two of them began muttering to each other, smiling shyly as they watched Jaxson’s every move. I swore I felt a hush come over the entire lobby, and when I glanced over my shoulder at the bar, there were various crowds of people with their eyes trained on Jaxson, too.
I was used to this with my brother. Vince Tanev was already a household name after just one season in the NHL. Add in the fact that Maven had followed him around all season and posted his every move on social media, and you could say he had a rabid fanbase. We couldn’t even go to the damn grocery store anymore without him getting asked for both photos and autographs.
When I turned back to Jaxson, I realized he likely suffered the same fate. Not that he didn’t enjoy it, from the way he was not-so-subtly flirting with the woman behind the desk. She played with her hair as she listened to him talk, and now I was the jealous one, a sinking feeling in my gut as I watched him turn his charm all the way on for her.
He’s stayed here plenty of times with the team, he’d said.
How many women had he fucked inside these walls?
Jaxson tapped his credit card on the counter before sheathing it in his wallet again, taking the hotel keys and brochures from the woman and turning to face me. He didn’t slip back into the Jaxson I knew, though — he kept that façade going strong as he gave our room number to the bellman with instructions to bring ice to our rooms, too.
“Ready?” he asked, handing me a trifold that had my room number written in Sharpie on the outside. Then, his eyes flicked behind me, and he muttered a curse before his smile grew strained.
“Hey, man, so sorry to bother you,” a voice said, the so giving away that they were from somewhere in the Midwest. I turned to find four guys with their phones clutched in their hands. The boldest of them was the one talking. “We know you’re just trying to get checked in, but we’re huge fans. We both went to Ohio State, too.”
“Go Bucks!” his friend chimed in.
“We were just wondering if we could get a picture?” the guy asked, cringing a little despite the hopeful look on his face.
I felt the way Jaxson schooled himself, how he forced a calm breath before smiling big. “Of course, man.”
“Really? Oh, sick,” he said, and then he looked around for someone to take the picture.
I held my hand out, and the guy thanked me before he and his buddies flanked Jaxson. There was another group watching us and slowly making their way over — this one looked to be three couples. I gave them a warning look that I hoped told them this was not fucking Disney World, and it seemed to work, because they paused their advance.
Once the photos were taken, Jaxson hurriedly pulled his hood overhead and slid his sunglasses into place even though we were inside. That notion also stopped a few other groups in their tracks before they could make their way over to us, and I wondered if he just didn’t enjoy taking photos like he was some sort of zoo animal, or if he was more worried about pictures of us getting put into the world. Not that I wanted that to happen, either — God knew my brother would blow a gasket, and I didn’t want that for either of us — but it still hurt a little.
I didn’t have time to overthink it before Jaxson grabbed my hand and hauled me toward the elevators.
I stared at that point of contact, at where his hand completely enveloped my own, feeling another zap of a memory from the night we spent together in Austin. His skin was warm and calloused, and he kept his gaze locked on the elevators all while subtly looking around as if I was the one who needed protecting from the fans watching us pass by.
I chastised myself for the way my stomach took flight at that, at the thought of him wanting to keep me safe, to protect me like I was his. I had been single for all of ten seconds, and I was already dreaming of another relationship.
You are a stupid, lovesick girl, Grace.
Will you ever learn your lesson?
Add in the fact that he’d made it very clear before we even stepped into that rental car together that we were just friends, and I put an extra emphasis on stupid.
I needed to listen to those words, regardless of what his eyes said when they raked over me.
If I would have done that with Trent, I could have saved myself a whole lot of heartache.
What was it about me that I didn’t take a man’s word for the truth when he said shit like that? Why did I have this ridiculous fantasy about being the one to change their mind, about being special enough that the I’m not looking for a relationship guy would fall at my feet and declare his undying love for me?
I blamed all the 90’s rom coms I watched growing up.
I mean, really — if Kat Stratford could make Patrick Verona fall in love with her despite him being a grumpy, unobtainable asshole who initially started talking to her only because some douchebag paid him to… how was I not going to think I had a shot with the guy who treated me like a girlfriend but swore I wasn’t?
Actions speak louder than words, they say.
But just because they’re the louder ones doesn’t mean they’re the truth.
The elevator dumped us off on the top floor with my mind whirring as it often did when I stopped long enough to let it. This was why I was always racing off to my next adventure.
If you never stopped moving, then you never had time to overthink.
“You’re here,” Jaxson said, nodding to room 5314. “I’m just next door if you need anything.”
“Are you going to bed?” I asked, frowning when I looked at my phone. “It’s not even seven.”
He blew out a breath, running his hand through his hair and looking down at me like what he should do was go to bed.
But he also looked like he could be persuaded.
“Come on, let’s shower and get dinner downstairs,” I said. “Maybe have a few drinks?”
“I find it hard to believe you’re anything close to hungry after how many Peanut M&Ms I watched you shovel into your mouth today.”
“Interesting that you’re paying so much attention to my mouth, Jaxson Brittain,” I teased, stepping a little closer.
His next breath came slower, more controlled, like the exhale would burn if he released it too quickly. His eyes searched mine, jaw ticcing.
I waited for him to call me on it, to remind me of our little boundaries as he’d called them.
But he just stared.
And I took it as permission to step even closer.
“I’ll be right here in an hour,” I said, pointing to the spot beneath my feet. “If you want to join me for dinner, then meet me here. And if you don’t,” I added on a shrug, stepping back. I swore I saw his chest release when I did. “Then enjoy your slumber. I’m sure I can find someone else to hang out with.”
His eyes flared at that, and again I found that stupid, misleading feeling swimming in my gut. He looked like the thought of anyone else hanging out with me but him was enough to drive him mad.
In all reality, I was likely just a pain in his ass — his teammate’s little sister who he somehow felt obligated to care for.
I scanned my key card and slipped inside my room, where my bag was already waiting for me, along with a bottle of champagne on ice and a marble plate with petit fours.
Calling it just a room was laughable.
It was a luxury suite, complete with a king bed, city view, and giant bathtub that was already calling my name.
I chuckled to myself, leaning my head against the door I’d just shut behind me.
“Really roughing it on the road out here,” I muttered, and then I stripped out of my shorts and top, leaving a trail of clothes on my way to the tub.
