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T he next morning, I broke the news to Sellers after our workout as a reward for only texting me three times the night before.

He stared at me with his mouth open for several long beats before he shook his head. “No. I refuse to believe it. You don’t have a girlfriend.”

We were alone in the locker room after a cardio session, one of the many extras I’d been working into my schedule with anyone who would join me. Coach had been right about one thing—I’d been treating hockey like a hobby the last couple of years.

“Too bad. I like her, and I’m going to keep her.” Strangely, the words didn’t feel false at all.

I did like Kenzie. She seemed so proper and put together, then the sweetest burn would come out of her mouth. A mouth I desperately wanted to taste again.

Last weekend, when I’d rushed to her rescue, I’d been ready to play hero to her damsel in distress while having second and third thoughts based solely on my body’s reaction to her. Except the second I walked into the tennis club restaurant and saw Kane’s smirk, I knew I wouldn’t leave her to deal with him alone.

Then she’d flaunted me in his face, and I couldn’t have been prouder. She hadn’t needed me to rescue shit. After he ran his mouth yesterday, he might need her to protect him from me .

Sellers waved his hand in front of my face. “Dude, this is sad. You get a girl for five minutes, and you’re already losing it.”

“Don’t be an ass.”

“Me? You started daydreaming in the middle of a conversation. I had to say your name three times.”

I threw my towel at him. “I’m tired, and I still need to finish a paper when I get home.”

His face scrunched up. “Why?”

“Because I want to graduate, dumbass.”

Sellers scoffed. “I haven’t done a single paper since freshman year, and I’m still graduating. Try again.”

I grunted, not ready to admit I’d taken a hard look at my life and seen a few too similarities to my dad’s. “I don’t want to take the easy way out.”

This time he straight up laughed. “Since when? You know what—it doesn’t matter. We got off topic, nice try by the way. Are you seriously telling me after over three years of being TU’s most eligible bachelor you’ve suddenly decided to settle down?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head. “Coach will never buy it.”

I frowned at him. “What makes you think I’m selling anything?”

“I was in the room with you, remember? He said you needed to settle down if you wanted to be captain, and you took it as a personal challenge.”

Somehow, I had forgotten he was there when I talked to Coach. Sellers surprised me sometimes with his perception. He mostly used it on the ice, which I appreciated, but occasionally, he dropped a truth bomb.

Faced with Sellers calling my bluff, I doubled down with a mix of truth and lies even I couldn’t completely untangle. “It doesn’t matter what Coach thinks. Kenzie is fun and smart and so fucking beautiful. I like her. Deal with it.”

He held up his hands in surrender, taking a step back to grab his bag. “Whatever you say. I’m not about to ruin your shit by talking. I might have my doubts about you as captain, but if I hear Kane run his mouth one more time, I’m going to stuff him in the toilet.”

I chuckled. “That sounds like a good reason for me to ask him about it.”

Sellers threw my towel back at me. “Now who’s being an asshole? If you’re so into this girl, why haven’t I met her yet?”

“You have. Remember the Chi Omega party?”

“Oh shit, the one with all the curves? Damn, I had my eye on her, but she was only interested in you.”

The sudden urge to deck Sellers caught me by surprise. My hands tightened on the strap of my bag, and I reined in the violent response.

He was right. Kenzie did have fantastic curves. I just hated him talking about her like he was next in line. It was a little too close to Kane’s words from yesterday, which I still had to tell her about.

I’d never cared before. The women I’d been with knew the score, and I had no problem if they wanted to pursue Sellers after our time together. Or if he pursued them. None of my business.

He grabbed his bag and headed in my direction. “When do I get to meet her for real?”

Never . The thought surprised me, but it was stupid. The whole point of the exercise was to convince the world at large she’d tamed the wild bachelor. “She’s coming over today. Eva drove down for a duck family reunion, so I figured there wasn’t a better way to announce the news to the campus at large.”

His brows went up. “How many people are going to be there?”

I did a mental count. When I’d left, Marco was cleaning the kitchen while Stephen “supervised,” Cole and Avery were watching their ninja show with Henry and Sunny, and Mase was pouting in the basement because his duck had chosen the group over him.

Eva had dropped off Henry while I was getting ready then left to get coffee at Wildcat, so she’d be there too.

“With me, six people, two ducks, and one potential vampire.”

“Dude, you live in a clown car.”

I laughed because he wasn’t wrong. Our house used to be only for the four of us, but since Gavin had snagged Eva, we’d been slowly collecting more and more people. Of course, I hadn’t warned Kenzie the house would be full, but she’d be fine. We walked out of the arena and crossed to our cars.

The parking lot was empty except for my BMW and Sellers’ truck. Normally, we’d have morning skate today to prep for our game this evening, but our first match wasn’t until next week.

I should probably be enjoying my morning off like everyone else since Coach ordered us to take the day to rest, but I wasn’t great at following orders. This year, I planned to do everything I could to ensure Boston wanted me after I graduated. Including making my mark as captain.

Sellers threw his bag in the back and leaned against his open door. “I know I’m giving you shit, but I’m happy if you’re happy.”

“So are you coming over?”

“Can’t do it. Mase is still pissed at me for the frozen underwear prank.”

“I warned you not to pick on a guy who could snap you in half.”

Sellers was almost my size, but Mase was in a different category. Given enough leverage he could probably snap me in half. Teasing Mase required a certain amount of finesse.

He shrugged and sent me a grin. “I like to live dangerously. I’ll have to formally meet your girl another time.”

I nodded, throwing my bag in the trunk. “Thanks for coming out here with me.”

“No problem, man. See you tomorrow.” He climbed into his car and drove off with a wave.

The sun beat down on my shoulders, but I wasn’t in a hurry to head home. The house was bursting with people. I loved Eva like the sister I never had, and watching Marco and Stephen banter never got old, but over the summer, they’d all been gone.

Gavin and Eva had moved out, Cole spent most of his time with Avery, and Mase rarely left the basement. I’d gotten so fed up with the quiet of being alone I’d started talking to the damn duck. Then Kenzie had dropped into my lap.

I’d proposed the fake relationship out of desperation, but Kenzie turned out to be an excellent choice. She fed my need for attention with grace and humor. In fact, she’d texted me more in the last week than all my other friends combined. Only Sunny had demanded an equal amount of time.

I almost wished she were coming over today only to see me.

A breeze dried the sweat on my face, bringing the smell of warm pine straw, and I sighed. Sellers had a point. I was standing here daydreaming instead of sitting my cushy, air-conditioned car.

Kenzie would be over in an hour, and I still needed to tell everyone, especially Mase. Not that he’d necessarily show his face, but sometimes he surprised me. Either way, he didn’t like being ambushed, so I tried to respect his needs.

On the short drive home, I debated if it would be better or worse for Kenzie to meet Eva all on her own or with an entire house full of people around her. The others would help distract Eva from using her mind powers to figure out we were faking, but Eva alone is a lot. Add in a bunch of other people and Kenzie might run screaming back to her normal life.

I cursed when I got to the house because Eva had parked in my driveway spot. Cole, Stephen, and Marco were taking up the close street spots, so I had to park in front of Mrs. Lipnicki’s house. The only woman who couldn’t stand me.

As soon as my lock beeped, she appeared on her porch with narrowed eyes. “Something wrong with the street by your house?”

I offered her a smile and gestured toward the chaos Eva sowed when she came into town. “We have some friends over, so there’s no room.”

She squinted toward our house across the street, and I wondered if she really hadn’t noticed all the cars until just now. The woman had to be seventy, and she usually wore glasses on a chain around her neck—conspicuously absent at the moment.

“So it seems.” Her gaze returned to me, standing next to my car, and I swear she sniffed like in one of those old movies. “Make sure you move it before the street sweepers come through in the morning.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And tell Cole he doesn’t need to come by this week. My grandson is staying with me for a little bit. It’ll do him some good to practice responsibility for once.” She sent me a pointed look, and I tried not to take offense that my elderly hermit neighbor also thought I was irresponsible.

“Yes, ma’am,” I repeated, unable to think of anything else to say.

Why hadn’t anyone warned me everyone assumed I was worthless?

My phone rang as I crossed the street, and I groaned at the name on the screen. Everyone except Gram, who’d called me three times in the last two days. I should probably answer one of them. Not this one though.

I’d barely cleared the sidewalk when another call came through. Frustration slowed my steps, but the tightness in my chest released when I saw Mom’s name. Her call I’d answer every time.

“Hey Mom, what’s up?”

“I can’t call my favorite and only son on a Saturday morning for no reason?”

I chuckled and took a seat on our stoop. “Sure, but you usually respect game days. And I know you’re probably in your home office preparing to sue the pants off somebody.”

She tsked. “I know it’s not a game day, and I already finished my briefs. But you’re right. Loretta called me this morning and left a nasty message with my assistant.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What does Gram want?”

“You, my darling boy. I bore her the only grandchild, and she’s eager for you to ascend to your throne atop the company. She seems to believe I’m the one holding you back.” Even with the thick sarcasm, her anger came through loud and clear.

Gram refused to believe I truly wanted to play hockey. In the last few weeks, she’d stepped up her campaign to have me shadow her at the company as some sort of internship for passing the torch. Yes, I was getting a business degree, but I hoped to use it to invest well with the money I earned playing the sport I loved.

“Sorry, Mom. I’ll talk to her.”

“You will, but make her sweat a little longer. Stacia and I can handle an angry CEO. How’s hockey going? A little bird told me you were pushing for captain this year now that Gavin has left.”

I pursed my lips, not at all surprised she had inside information. “Your little bird is right, and stop calling Cole to spy on me. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“Cole is such a sweet boy though. I’m glad you found a solid support system out there. It’ll help you defeat your grandmother when she comes with the full might of her army.”

“Mom, you have to stop watching Game of Thrones reruns.”

“You have your dalliances, I have mine. Speaking of dalliances, when were you going to tell me about?—”

“Nope,” I interrupted her. “I’m not talking about Kenzie. It’s new, and I don’t want her to find out you did a full background check on her.”

She huffed. “What happened to you telling me anything I want to know?”

Sweat dripped down my back, but not from the heat. I didn’t want to lie to her. Mom and I didn’t talk much because she was busy being a ball-busting lawyer, and she could sniff out the truth with annoying accuracy.

“Boundaries. I like her. That’s all you need to know for now.”

Mom paused, gathering her argument. “Are you sure you don’t want me to look into her? After last time…” She trailed off, but I didn’t need her to finish.

The last time I’d had a girlfriend, she’d been more interested in the posh life I could give her than she was in me. Money had a way of attracting the wrong kind of people.

“It’s not the same,” I said quietly.

She blew out a breath. “Okay then. You know I supported your carefree lifestyle, but I’m not sure if I ever told you how smart I thought it was. No muss, no fuss—no chance of litigation. If you’re sure you want to change things, make sure you’re being careful.”

Mom meant well, but she believed romantic relationships were a waste of time. After the quickie marriage and subsequent divorce with Dad, she swore she was done sharing her life. Dad, on the other hand, loved relationships where he didn’t have to put in any effort. He’d been seeing the same lady for almost a decade, but she was more like a set piece hand-picked by Gram. I wasn’t sure she had any original thoughts.

Either way, not great role models for life advice despite the massive amount of money between them. At least they seemed happy in their choices.

“I’m always careful, and I’ll call Gram tonight so she stops harassing Stacia.” Cold air wafted over my back as the door opened behind me. “Hey Mom, I have to go. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

She hung up, never one to linger unless she was billing by the hour. I dropped my head, suddenly exhausted, and a small hand landed on my shoulder.

“I wondered what was taking you so long.” Eva rubbed a quick circle, then sank down next to me. “Want to talk about it?”

“No. Not now.” Not ever. I didn’t talk about my family drama with my friends. It was one of the ways I was careful. Except the other night with Kenzie when she’d fallen asleep during my dramatic reveal.

“Okay,” Eva chirped, resting her head on my shoulder. “Mase knows now, by the way. So do the others.”

“Fuuuck,” I let out. Last night, I’d told Eva about Kenzie as practice for today—which explained who my mom’s little bird was—but I hadn’t considered she’d share with the rest of the group right away. “I thought you were good at secrets.”

She laughed. “I am when I know they’re supposed to be secrets. Next time warn me first. He’s fine, by the way. Said he couldn’t care less.”

I tilted to look down at the top of her head. “You know he does. Change sets him off.”

“I know,” she jerked her chin at the house across the street. “Mrs. Lipnicki is watching through the blinds again. What story do you think she’ll concoct this time?”

Somehow, the normalcy of discussing our neighbor’s conspiracy theories lifted my spirits. “C’mon.” I stood, pulling her up with me. “Let’s go inside before she calls Gavin.”

Eva snorted. “Good luck getting him to answer. He’s doing some team bonding thing this weekend. No phones allowed.”

I hugged her against my side. “I’m glad we could entertain you here then.”

“Me too, but you go ahead. I’m going to sit here in the blessed silence for a few more minutes.”

I nodded, letting her sink back down without me, then opened the door to chaos.