“Heads up,” Ash calls as he tosses me a beer and then another to Leo.
“No thanks.” I set it on the coffee table.
“You’re no fun anymore, Sharpie. You have to learn to release some of that tension.”
He takes a seat on the chair across from me and kicks his feet up. “Your sister is outside talking on the phone telling someone you’re sending her back to Iowa. That true?”
“I should,” I say. That was the bargain. Everly wouldn’t mess up and I wouldn’t send her back to live with Mom.
“At least they didn’t suspend her,” Leo says quietly.
“No, not this time.”
“Tough situation, man.” Ash offers a sympathetic smile. “But first week at a new school has to be tough. Especially if it’s filled with a bunch of pretentious pimple-faced assholes.”
My head snaps up. “You know Park Academy?”
“No, but I overheard Everly saying that verbatim.”
“Eavesdrop much?” Leo asks him with a chuckle.
“What can I say? I love some good, old-fashioned high school drama. Nothing exciting happens around here anymore since this one settled down.” He points a finger wrapped around his beer toward Leo.
Ash sighs and looks at me. “Remember when he was hooking up with Scarlett behind Coach’s back? Those were the days. Angst and excitement.”
Leo rolls his eyes, but his lips twitch with amusement. Since he and Scarlett got engaged, Leo is all smiles. I’m happy for him. But it drags my thoughts back to Piper.
“I ran into her.”
They exchange a look and Ash asks, “Who?”
“Her. Piper. My Scarlett.” I wave a hand toward Leo. “Except without the sneaking-around drama.”
“She sounds kind of dull.” Ash’s lips quirk up when I glare at him. “I need more information.”
“We dated in high school—long distance.”
“Why’d it end?” Leo asks.
“Because I was a stupid teenage boy.”
“Ooooh, shit.” Ash gets a wicked grin on his face. “This is your girl. The one that got away? It’s all coming back to me now.”
I might have gotten drunk and mentioned her a time or two.
“She’s a teacher at Everly’s new school.”
Piper’s face fills my mind. I’ve missed her every day for four years, but something about seeing her again has the pain of losing her as fresh as the night it happened.
“Oh shit.” Ash rubs his palms together. “Drama and angst, lost love. Tell me more.”
Leo shoots him a shut the fuck up look before he glances at me. “What happened?”
“Nothing, really. Piper was perfect. Beautiful, fun, the best girlfriend. She’d send me these long texts on game days, pumping me up, telling me how great I was going to be and how she was so proud of me.”
The guys are hanging on my every word. “You know what it’s like. If it wasn’t eating, sleeping, hockey, or school, I barely had time for it.”
Ash nods thoughtfully. “She got sick of it?”
“No. Well, yeah, I’m sure she did, but she never said as much.” I stare at my hands. “I got tired of not being there for her. It ate away at me. She invited me to stuff, and I had to say no, then she’d act like she didn’t want to go either. She was missing out on all the parties and dances, normal high school shit because my schedule made it basically impossible to travel to see her most weekends. I could see how it was wearing on her. I was never going to be the boyfriend that she deserved.”
“Fuck,” Ash says, his voice serious. “Yeah. I get that.”
“How’d you two meet in the first place if it was long distance?” Leo asks.
“Tim Vaughn is her uncle. I lived with his family while I was playing with the Gamblers.”
“No shit?” Leo’s brows rise. “That dude was a hell of a hockey player.”
Piper’s uncle, Tim Vaughn, was a pro hockey player, too, and basically my idol. Living with him was the golden ticket. The fact that it led me to Piper was the cherry on top. Hands down, the best thing that ever happened to me was living with the Vaughns.
Even so, I don’t regret breaking up with her, not for a second. I kept tabs on her through Tim and his family. I saw how she flourished without me, went to prom, attended parties, had a life that she was never going to have with me.
“How’d she look?” Ash asks.
“Like the hottest woman alive.” I rub at a knot in my chest. “I forgot. I mean, I didn’t, but fuck.”
“And? What’d she say?” Leo asks.
“Not a lot. She mostly glared at me. I don’t think she remembers our time together quite as fondly as I do.”
Ash gives me a sympathetic nod. “That’ll happen when you break up with a chick. Hell hath no fury and all that.”
Leo clears his throat. “I have to tell you something.”
“What?” Ash and I say at the same time.
“Scarlett knows Piper.”
My heart races.
Ash chuckles. “This gets better and better.”
“They met randomly and have hung out a handful of times. Neither of them knew the connection right away, and I just found out myself last month about the time Everly showed up. I wasn’t sure if I should say anything. I didn’t realize what she meant to you. Now I’m thinking I should have at least given you a heads-up. I’m sorry, man.”
“No, I get it,” I say. “You couldn’t have known.”
I’ve kept details about Piper mostly to myself. Talking about her just made me want her that much more.
The sliding door off the kitchen opens and Everly comes inside clutching her phone in one hand. “Are we going soon? River is supposed to pick me up in an hour.”
“Yeah.” I nod to her, and she buries her nose back in her phone and disappears into the game room.
“I should go.” I sit forward, elbows on my knees. “Thanks for letting us crash for a bit. I can’t think at my place with all the piles of stuff.”
“You need a bigger place,” Ash says.
“All the two-bedroom apartments are rented. They’ve got me on a list.”
“Stay here.” Ash lifts one shoulder in a shrug.
“Thank you for the offer, but we’ll be fine. I don’t know how much longer she’s going to be here anyway.”
“You’d send her back?” Leo asks quietly.
“No. He won’t. No way,” Ash answers for me.
I hate that she did the one thing I asked her not to do—get in trouble at school, but he’s right, I won’t send her back. Not after seeing her there today. It was only a brief moment that I saw the insecurity and remorse at what she’d done, but it was there. And besides, I haven’t given her a fair shake. I’ve been resenting her every second she’s been here when what she needs is me to support her. I don’t know how I’m going to do that yet, but it’s time to stop being selfish and figure it out.
“Something has to change.”
“Well, the offer stands.” Ash waves a hand in the air toward upstairs. “I have the space. The master is down here. I barely even go upstairs.”
“Ty!” Everly whines from the other room.
I stand and suppress a groan. It’s truly amazing how quickly she can make me want to pull my hair out.
“I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
With a salute, I head out. Everly is already sitting in my car waiting for me.
I drive home in silence, and that silence continues as we take the elevator up to my apartment on the fourth floor. I don’t know what to say. My mind is a mess.
River is leaning against the wall next to our door. Ev takes off down the hallway at a jog toward him. He pushes off the wall and catches her, spins her around, then places her on the ground.
I walk past them, unlock the door, and start inside.
“Are you ready?” he asks her. Neither of them come inside.
I turn around and face Ev. “Where are you going?”
“Just out with friends.”
“We need to talk, Ev.”
“I know,” she says, tone annoyed.
“I’m serious. The shit that went down today was not cool.”
“I knooow. Gosh.” She huffs.
My patience obliterates at my feet. “Home by nine.”
“It’s Friday night!”
I cock my head to the side as if to say, try me.
“Whatever.” She turns on her heel and slams the door behind her.
I blow out a long breath and head to the kitchen. Pulling open the fridge, I stare inside without finding anything. The silence is nice, but I can’t even appreciate it because I’m hungry, there’s no food, my place is a disaster, and I need to talk to Ev.
Things have to change. The loser boyfriend is at the top of my list. He’s twenty, thinks he’s God’s gift to women, has no ambitions, and is basically going nowhere fast. Not exactly the influence I want on my baby sister.
My thoughts drift back to Piper. I get that same uncomfortable sensation in my chest. I rub at it as I pull out my phone. She didn’t respond to my text. I guess I deserve that. It was obvious she wasn’t thrilled to see me. I don’t blame her, but it feels like the first bit of good luck I’ve had in a while to run into her again. The number of times I’ve looked for her in a crowd are too many to count. I knew she was here, and it was torture not to track her down.
I planned to as soon as the season was over. She’d be done with school, and I’d have, hopefully, proved my worth to the team. I wanted things to be different when I saw her again. I wanted to feel like I wasn’t keeping her from doing all the things she was meant to do. And yeah, I guess it was important to me that I’d reached my goals too.
But now? Ready or not, I’ve found her and there are so many things I want to say. I don’t know where to start.
I really appreciate what you did today. Can I buy you dinner as a thank you?
After I fire off the text, I order takeout and pick up the place. I toss anything that’s Everly’s into the bedroom, reclaiming a small fraction of space back for myself. I fall asleep watching TV and wake up at the creak of the front door.
Everly steps inside and pushes it closed softly behind her, then tiptoes toward her room.
“It’s almost ten,” I croak.
She stills and then stands tall to flash another haughty stare at me. “I was back at nine, but we were talking in the hallway.”
I wince. I’m almost positive that means making out where all my neighbors could see.
She starts for the bedroom again.
“Wait, Ev, sit down. We need to talk.” Sitting up, I roll my shoulders back to work out a kink. I’ve been meaning to buy a new couch, one with a pullout, but there never seems to be time.
She does, but her reluctance is clear with every slow step.
If someone had told me a year ago that I was going to have to think like a parent and have awkward conversations with my little sister, I would have laughed in their face. Yet, here I am.
“What’s going on with you? I thought things were going better?”
“They are,” she says quickly, then backpedals. “They were. I didn’t know the backdrops were for some stupid play or I wouldn’t have done it.”
“Why were you in the art room by yourself anyway?”
She stares down at her hands. “It was lunch, and I wanted some time alone.”
“What about your friends?” Oh shit. “You did make some new friends this week, right?”
Everly’s eyes narrow. “The girls at school are stuck up and the boys are worse. Besides, I have River.”
“Ev,” I start.
She stands. “I’m fine, okay. I don’t need you to feel sorry for me. If I wanted to make friends, I would, but I don’t. I’m only going to school because you said I had to.”
I think back to my high school days. God, how much worse would it have been without guys I could count on. Even now.
“Are you kicking me out?”
“Is that what you want?”
“If it were, I would have already left. River said I could stay with him.”
Oh, perfect. That brightens my mood. But even without the threat of her moving in with River, I won’t turn her away. Everyone deserves to have someone that will look out for them. Neither of us got that from our parents. I found it in my teammates, and I guess I’m going to be that for Everly. I’m not sure how, but I will figure it out.
“You can stay, but we have to make some changes around here.” I wave a hand around the apartment. “This isn’t working.”
“You can have the bedroom,” she says glumly.
“It isn’t the bed, though this couch is awful. We need more space, and you need people around when I can’t be here.”
“Okay.” Her brows tug together. “What are you saying?”
I sigh and say a silent goodbye to my six-hundred-square foot palace. “Pack your shit. We’re moving.”
“Are you positive this is okay?” I ask Ash as Leo and Declan carry Everly’s and my few possessions through his front door.
“Don’t even sweat it. This is going to be fun,” he says, and slaps me on the shoulder. “You want some coffee?”
I check the time on my phone. “I still need to get in a workout this morning.”
“You have time.” He nods his head toward the kitchen, and I follow. Something about this just feels wrong, like I’m overstepping. Asking for help doesn’t come easily, but I know this is better for Everly.
“Mugs and glasses are in here.” He opens a cabinet and sets out two coffee mugs. “Everything else, your guess is as good as mine.”
“You don’t cook?”
“Not if I can help it, but my housekeeper, Lynn, shops for me, so if there’s anything you want, just add it to the list.” He taps a notepad on the fridge, then opens it and pulls out the creamer. He puts it and the sugar in front of me then fills the mugs with coffee. By the time he sets one in front of me, my head is spinning, and I don’t immediately grab for it. I was worried about taking up space and invading his privacy, but I never considered all the other ways we’d be messing with his routine and his housekeeper’s routine. One pebble with a thousand ripples.
Leaning back on the counter as he assesses me, Ash shoots me a playful grin. “Relax, man. It’s no imposition.”
“I don’t believe you, but since I just gave away our apartment, I guess I’ll make my peace with it.”
Everly comes into the kitchen. Declan has one tattooed arm slung around her shoulders.
“All set,” he says.
Leo is behind them. “I have to take off, but I’ll see you guys at practice.”
“Thanks for your help.”
He nods. “Of course. Welcome to the neighborhood.”
“I should get going too,” Declan says.
“Are we still hanging out next week?” Everly asks him.
“Absolutely. You can come to my place or I’ll come by here. Text ya later, Little Sharpie.” He tips his head to me and then he and Leo head out together.
Ash looks at Everly and lifts his mug. “Coffee?”
She wrinkles her nose. “I only like iced coffee.”
“I don’t have that, but there’s OJ and Gatorade in the fridge. Help yourself.”
Before Everly can move, a woman wearing only an oversized Wildcat Hockey T-shirt saunters into the room. Her tits bounce with every step, and her long, blue hair hangs down her back in messy bedhead waves. Her eyes are only half open, but she goes right for Ash, throws her arms around his neck, and lifts up on her toes to kiss him. The movement makes her T-shirt ride up, and Ev and I get a generous glimpse of her ass.
“Come back to bed,” she says, voice husky.
Ash tugs her to his side and clears his throat. “Talia, you remember Ty? And that’s his sister Everly. They are moving in upstairs.”
“Morning,” she says to us, then takes Ash’s mug from him and sips it. Her nipples are saluting us, and Everly has this shocked, amused look on her face.
Ash pulls her with him toward his bedroom. “I’ll be right there.”
She saunters out, and Ash turns to look at me with a sheepish grin.
“Is that your girlfriend?” Everly asks.
“Uhh…” Ash rubs at the back of his neck.
I don’t know the whole story with Ash and Talia, but I watch in amusement as our new roommate tries to figure out how to tell my sister that she’s his fuck buddy.
I clear my throat. “Grab your stuff, Ev.”
“For what?”
“You’re coming with me to the arena this morning. I have a couple of meetings after my workout. It won’t take too long.”
“Seriously? Why can’t I stay here?”
“Because I want to hang out with you.”
She rolls her eyes but leaves me in the kitchen alone with Ash.
I cock a brow in the direction Talia went, and he smothers a laugh. “I forgot she was here.”
“Oh, this is going to be interesting,” I say with a chuckle.
Sunday afternoon I’m in the garage working on my car. We have the day off and Ash invited some friends over to hang out. They’re inside, but their laughter filters out every so often.
“You look like you could use a beer?” The voice is attached to a long pair of legs that step into my line of sight.
I glance up from my position, bent over the hood of my car, to meet her smile and shake off the beer in her hand. “I’m good. Thanks.”
“Is this your car?”
Resisting a laugh, I straighten and wipe my hands on a rag. “If it isn’t then I’m a really nice guy.”
“Are you…” She takes a step closer until her hip rests against my thigh. “A really nice guy?”
“No. I’m definitely not.”
A beat of silence hangs between us. Her gaze darts to my mouth and she presses against me just a little bit more. She’s all long legs and big hair, a nice smile. Plenty of women hang around my teammates so this isn’t the first time one has flirted with me, but she’s less aggressive than most and I like that about her. Some guys might be into the easy score, but I like sex the same way I like everything else in my life—earned.
So, I let the moment hang a little longer between us. I enjoy the heat of her body and the feeling of being wanted. And I think about it for a second, what it’d be like to give in and touch this gorgeous girl.
Motion in the driveway catches my attention, breaking the spell. A group of guys and girls are heading across the street. Someone is carrying a cooler and they’re all laughing and talking, not a care in the world.
I step away from the girl next to me. She seems nice enough, she’s definitely hot enough, but I’d be using her, wishing she was someone else.
“Olivia!” a girl calls.
“Coming,” she says from beside me. She sets the beer on the top of my car. “We’re crashing the hot tub at Leo’s house. You should come.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I say, knowing full well I won’t.
With one more smile, she jogs off to join her friends. Ash appears a second later from the door leading inside, a towel thrown over his shoulder and his swim trunks on, no shirt.
“Dude, it’s like thirty degrees out here.”
“Won’t be cold for long,” he says. His freaking breath is visible as he speaks. “Are you gonna stop working on your prized possession and come hang out or what?”
Declan steps into view behind him. He’s more appropriately dressed in jeans, a heavy coat, gloves, and a hat on his head. One side of his mouth quirks up when he sees me under the hood of my car. “Break down again, Sharpie? When are you going to sell that antique and buy something that won’t strand you on the side of the road every week?”
We have an ongoing thing with our cars. He has a sweet, little Ferrari. It’s a beauty, but I like old, American muscle. I dreamt my whole life of having a ‘67 Shelby Mustang, and now that I own her, there’s no amount of ribbing from the guys that will get to me. She’s perfect.
I close the hood. God, I love the sound of it. “I was just changing the oil. Showing her a little love.”
“Awesome. Now grab your trunks and come show Talia’s friend, Olivia, some love. She has been asking about you for months.”
“I don’t have any trunks.”
My teammate—and always up for a good time buddy—Ash, just shrugs. “Boxers or naked is fine too.”
Declan snorts. “I think that’s my cue to get out of here.”
“What?” Ash cocks his head to the side and stares at him. “You just got here.”
“It doesn’t take long to get sick of you.” He grins wide. Declan and Ash are total opposites, but they respect the hell out of each other, despite the joking around.
“I’m gonna pass, too, but thanks for letting me use your garage,” I say as I pull out my phone to check the time. I tamp down the irritation that bubbles up. Everly was supposed to be back fifteen minutes ago.
“You live here now. You can use it any time you want.” He walks backward. “If you’re not going to rock Olivia’s world, then do the world a favor and call up Piper. You’re not going to be able to move on until you find out for sure whether or not she hates your guts.”
He’s not wrong. She’s occupied most of my thoughts this weekend, but I flip him the bird anyway. It’s easier than admitting I don’t need to talk to her to know she hates my guts. Her silence says it all.
