Page 27 of A Little Crush (The Little Things #6)

RORY

W e don’t talk about my shoulder. We don’t talk about the forehead kisses, either, despite them being tattooed onto my memory for the rest of my measly existence.

Instead, I’ve kept a wide berth, spending my nights in my room, as far from any potentially intimate situations as possible.

I also got a week and a half off, so I could have some time to recover from my injury.

Thanks to painkillers and constant check-ins from Uncle Mack and Jaxon, I’d say I’m healing quite nicely and have been cleared to lose the sling after wearing it religiously up until this morning.

I didn’t return his shirt, though.

It’s not the brightest thing I’ve ever done, but I’ve never been particularly bright when it comes to all things Jaxon Thorne, so why start now, right?

Thankfully, Poppy is still light enough that, as long as I’m careful, I’m able to hold her without any issues despite my still-healing shoulder. She’s babbling more and more every day and loves when Hades kisses her toes. I love it, too. Seeing them together .

As I sit in the stands with Hades at my feet and Poppy on my knee, Jaxon whistles for the team to gather around.

It’s been a good practice. Lots of drills.

Lots of plays. Lots of goals. He’s in his element again.

Driven. Focused. A little bit of a hard-ass, but in the best way possible.

Or maybe it has something to do with those forehead kisses that makes him seem so perfect. I’d rather not think about it.

“Excellent work today!” Jax announces to the team. “The Grizzlies aren’t gonna know what hit ‘em at our opening game.”

The guys cheer, and Crowther lifts his stick into the air. “Here, here!”

“Don’t forget the banquet before the home opener. It’s a black-tie event. And as always, yes. You’re welcome to bring a date, and yes, it’s an open bar.”

“Here, here!” Crowther repeats, as jovial as before, pulling a round of low chuckles from his teammates.

“All right, that’s it,” Jaxon announces. “Hit the showers. We’ll ride the bus back to Lockwood Heights in the morning. Ev, come talk with me for a minute.”

Ev skates toward the bench without missing a beat.

While they’re chatting, part of the team makes their way back through the tunnel while the other half stays near the blue line.

Reeves, Crowther, Griffin, and a few other players.

Most have been on the team forever as they all talk back and forth, not ready to head to the locker room quite yet.

When Reeves looks up at me in the stands and gives me a wink, I squirm in my seat.

Why does it feel like they’re talking about me?

I peek down at them again in time to find Griffin glancing at me.

When our gazes connect, he waves me down, calling, “Rore, come here!”

Crap.

I called it .

Balancing Poppy on my hip, I walk down the concrete steps. Hades trails behind while Crowther, Reeves, and Griffin meet me halfway.

With only the half-wall separating us, Reeves asks, “Hey, are you going to the banquet?”

I shift Poppy a little further up on my hip and peek at Jaxon still chatting with Everett a few feet away. “Uh, I’m not sure?” I hesitate. “I guess it depends on if Jax needs me to watch Poppy.”

“You should ask for the night off,” Griffin interjects. “My brother’s a big boy. He can find another sitter for the night.”

“You talking shit about your big brother, Griff?” Jaxon asks, clearly distracted from his own conversation after hearing his name mentioned across the ice.

“Give the woman a night off,” Griffin volleys back at him. “Ask Mom and Dad or something. You know they’ve got you covered.”

I rock back on my heels, unsure what to say. “Then I guess I'm not going?” It comes out as a question more than anything else because…since when does Griff or Reeves care what I do on a Saturday night?

Griff shares a knowing look with Reeves. It makes me uneasy.

“Actually,” Reeves starts. He skates around Crowther and slaps his hands on his shoulders, pushing him closer to me. “Our boy here needs a date.”

My eyes widen. “I’m sorry?”

“Crowther needs a date for the banquet,” Griffin explains.

“And since he thinks you’re cute and all…” Reeves chimes in.

“What are you? Twelve?” Jaxon interrupts, completely ignoring Everett beside him.

Reeves’ head snaps in Jaxon’s direction. “Nothing wrong with trying to help the rookie out, Coach. ”

“I’m like five years older than you,” I point out.

“One,” Griffin corrects. “But close.”

“Besides, age is just a number, baby,” Crowther returns with a smirk that somehow rides the line between making me want to laugh and run in the opposite direction at the same time. Seriously, though. Who is this guy?

“You forget Rory’s dating someone,” Jaxon growls.

Surprise paints Reeves’ and Griffin’s expressions as they turn back to me. “You’re dating someone?”

“See? I knew she was too good to be true,” Crowther chimes in.

My jaw drops as my attention shifts from one person to the next. But seriously. What is happening right now?

“Who are you dating, Squeaks?” Griffin asks me.

Okay, this is bad. Very bad. It’s not like I honestly thought there was zero a percent chance of everyone finding out about my little white lie.

But after the wedding ended and everyone went on their merry way, I guess I assumed I’d gotten away with it scot free.

Now here I am. Hello, rock. Hello, hard place.

Shifting Poppy to face me, I stutter, “Well, I mean, uh?—”

“She’s dating Dodger,” Jaxon answers for me. Clearly, he’s given up on his conversation with Everett and is fully invested in outing me to the rest of the world as he moves closer to where I’m still standing.

Griffin’s eyes pop. “You’re dating Dodge?”

Panic spreads through me like a virus, making me feel like my tongue’s grown ten times its normal size despite knowing it’s from my own stupid lie.

The problem is that the more people who know, the more people who can ask questions, and it’s not like I can keep Dodger locked into a fake relationship forever.

The longer it goes on, the higher the odds of my lie unraveling. But how the hell do I backpedal now ?

Wiping my sweaty palm against my thigh, I stutter, “Well, no, I?—”

“Wait, you’re not dating Dodger?” Jaxon interrupts. His face is red, and his brows are pulled low as he folds his arms over his broad chest, scrutinizing me.

“Hold up.” Ice sprays against the half wall separating me from everyone as Everett stops short in front of me. “Since when are you dating Dodger? Does Raine know about this?”

Raine? Right. Dodger’s sister and Everett’s wife. Yup. It would definitely make sense for her to know about this.

“Maybe there’s hope for me after all,” Crowther quips.

Everyone’s attention turns to me as I stand on numb legs, playing out every potential scenario without finding a single one that won’t blow up in my face.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve never been one for the spotlight, but this?

This is an entirely new level of torture, and I have no idea how to get it out of it.

Besides, Dodger promised me a week of fake dating, not a lifetime.

What if the paparazzi take a photo of Dodger and his flavor of the day?

Then, the guys will all come out swinging, and he’ll be painted as a cheater, and I didn’t even think about Dodger keeping Raine in the dark on our fake relationship.

There’s no way he’d do that, would he? What if he?—

“Rory?” Jaxon pushes.

Okay, this is bad. This is very, very, very bad.

Is he onto me? I think he’s onto me. Actually, I think they’re all onto me.

Abort! Abort!

“I, uh, Dodger and I broke up,” I lie. “It wasn’t super serious anyway, and he’s a rockstar, so…yeah. We’re just friends.”

Pinning me with a stare I can feel in my bones, Jaxon demands, “Since when?”

“So, what do you say?” Crowther asks, ignoring his coach’s interrogation. “Want to be my date? ”

My attention ping-pongs from one person to the next. “I, uh…”

“What if I take you out for a drink tonight and then you can see how you feel?” Crowther offers.

But I don’t answer. I’m too busy trying not to crumble under Jaxon Thorne’s impenetrable gaze.

“She’s working,” he snaps.

“Come on,” Griff prods. Either he’s oblivious to the frustration rolling off his older brother’s shoulders, or he simply doesn’t give a shit. “Give Rory the night off. We all know you’ll just be in the hotel hanging out with Poppy anyway.”

He’s right. That’s exactly what Jaxon will be doing. And meanwhile, I’ll be hiding in my own room in hopes of keeping some distance between us while reminding myself exactly how stupid it would be to fall for Jaxon Thorne all over again. Not that I am. Not that I’ve even thought about it.

Okay, I’ve totally thought about it. But not seriously. Not legitimately. I’m not that stupid.

Am I?

“What do you say, Rore?” Crowther questions. Skating closer, he cuts off my line of sight with Jaxon and rests his elbows on the half-wall separating us. “One drink. My treat.”

I’m not that stupid.

“Sure,” I whisper. “I’d, uh, I’d love to.”