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Chapter Sixteen

T here was a bizarre feeling in my chest. It was uncomfortable and foreign in a way that I couldn’t quite name.

But I was certain it wasn’t anything good.

Not when the reason for it was the little blonde dancing on stage with my sister.

I shouldn’t have feelings in my chest for my sister’s friends. And definitely not the one currently living with me.

Shake it the fuck off, I ordered myself, trying to tear my gaze away. But despite my best efforts, my eyes were glued to her.

She was beaming, and I couldn’t even be mad at myself for staring so blatantly when it meant that I got to watch that smile overtake her. She’d been so broken that night she came to me, so hurt and small and injured. And now, just a few short days later… well, it looked like she was getting her light back.

It was a testimony to what happened when you evicted dickheads from your life.

Off-key singing filled the bar, and I snorted at their terrible harmonizing, but still, I couldn’t fight the smirk that found its way onto my begrudging lips.

Until my least favorite interruption found him.

“Hi,” came a sensual voice, and I practically rolled my eyes before I even saw her.

A woman with long, sleek hair and a skin-tight black outfit that I knew would have any of my teammates drooling stared up at me through eyeliner-rimmed eyes.

“Hi,” I bit back in a way that I hoped would shut down any further conversation.

Apparently, my acknowledgment of her existence was all the encouragement the girl needed to make her way closer until she was inches away from my body.

The smell of vanilla filled my senses, and I found myself frowning at the audacious girl peering up at me.

“You’re Brynn,” she stated, eyes flashing.

I blinked at her. It hadn’t been a question. She knew who I was, so what did she want me to say about it?

“I’m Sam.”

Sam, evidently, was waiting for an invitation to crawl onto my lap.

I fixed her with a stare. “I know that it doesn’t look like it now, Sam,” I said dryly, “but our table is full.”

“Oh?” she said in a way that made it seem like a challenge.

“But if it’s a hockey player you’re looking for, you’ll find plenty of them scattered around here tonight.”

“Actually, I think I’m content right here with you,” she said, slipping onto the chair beside me.

I fought the urge to abandon our seats entirely as irritation prickled against my skin. What was it about girls at these clubs that made them think everyone there was for the taking? Couldn’t people read social cues anymore?

It was why I never bothered to go out anymore. People were too drunk, too touchy, or too bold. I was fine with the peace and quiet of my own home. Even if it meant missing out on team bonding.

“I’m not the best company.” I glared at her, screaming without words: get the point.

“I like the tough ones,” she purred.

I visibly recoiled as her fingers came up toward my arm.

“You know, you’re even cuter in person.”

My eyes scanned the bar, desperately hoping to connect with one of my teammates so I could shoot them an SOS stare. I knew any of them would come to the rescue, hoping to take the girl off my hands themselves, but everyone was apparently occupied elsewhere.

Even Brody, drink in hand, was up front by the stage, dancing to the song Cassie and Maggie were singing to their crowd of one.

“I’m really not interested,” I said, attention focused solely on Cassie and my sister, not sure how to make it any clearer.

“Oh, come on.” She pouted, trying to rub circles on my arm before I pulled it out from under her. “I’m sure I could find a way to make you interested.”

I jerked toward her, my eyes flaring in barely restrained anger. I knew girls like her. Brody had explained it perfectly. They liked the challenge, the thrill of the chase. Some people couldn’t possibly comprehend that a person could be uninterested in their advances.

I wasn’t playing hard to get. I just didn’t want to be got. By anyone.

So I let the lie roll off my tongue, hoping it might sway her in ways that the blatant rejection had not.

“I have a girlfriend.”

Predictably, she pulled back. Only slightly, but enough that she was no longer crouched over me, invading every inch of space that should be my God-given right to take when out in a public area. Hockey player or not.

“Who?” Her eyes narrowed on me, her nose scrunching upward as if this piece of information hit her like a bad smell.

“Who?” I repeated, dumbfounded. “Why would you ask that when you couldn’t possibly know her?”

“I mean, it’s not exactly a secret that you’re chronically single.”

Chronically single? Ouch.

“You know this how?”

“Rumors.” She shrugged. “The internet.”

“Well, the rumors are wrong. Because like I said, I have a girlfriend.”

It came out more easily than I would’ve thought.

Changing tactics, I decided to avoid eye contact with her entirely, putting my focus back on the stage where they were now transitioning into the chorus of Gives You Hell.

Maggie was sloppily singing, but Cassie was grinning from ear to ear despite her friend’s obvious drunkenness.

“Is that her?” the girl’s poisonous voice declared.

My back stiffened as I looked over to find her attention fixed solely on Cassie, who was now staring back at us with a watchful look on her face.

“No offense,” I said, mustering up as much offensiveness as I could. “But please leave me alone.”

The girl, persistent in her mission to work me into a rage, continued. “I haven’t seen her in any of your pictures,” she retorted.

I didn’t know if she meant the paparazzi photos or the social media account that the team media manager ran for me, but either way, she was bordering on stalker territory.

I stood from my seat, realizing that the girl wouldn’t be the one to walk away first. Grabbing Cassie’s bag that she’d left in her seat, I made my way through the crowd, away from her.

Cassie and Maggie were getting off the stage in a fit of laughter as I moved toward the stage.

“Hey,” Cassie said as I approached them.

Maggie was so close to her that she was almost leaning on her for support, sweat glistening on her brow from the exertion of their performance.

“Having fun?” I raised my brows with a smirk.

She blushed, hiding behind her hands. “I hope you didn’t watch any of that.”

“Oh, I saw all of it,” I confirmed smugly.

“We did great, huh?” Maggie giggled. “I never knew we could harmonize like that. We should totally sign up for community theater together.”

“Oh, God, no,” Cassie blurted, but Maggie had already moved on to her next thought.

With an arm around Cassie’s neck and her other one attempting to reach up toward mine, she pulled us toward her.

“Awww,” she cooed. “My best friend and my brother. We’re all out together. How fun is this!”

She ended with a squeal that had me grabbing the ear that was in closest proximity to her.

“Easy, Maggie,” I said through a wince.

“And look, ,” she continued, letting go of Cassie to put both her hands on my shoulders. “You’re smiling! I haven’t seen you smile in so long! No, I haven’t seen you in so long.” Her face contorted into devastation. “Why do you always want to be alone?”

I shifted uncomfortably, unsure what to say back to my sister, whom I had never known wanted to spend time with me.

I didn’t mean to neglect her. She was always off living her life, doing her own thing. She never needed me. Or so I thought.

“How much did you have to drink in the hour we’ve been here?” I asked, examining her.

That sent her into another fit of giggles.

Cassie, sensing my discomfort, stepped in.

“I’m going to take her home,” Cassie said, pulling out her phone and opening an app. “Because apparently, the answer to that question is a lot. ”

“Wait, what are you doing?” I asked, watching Cassie’s fingers type away.

“Ordering an Uber,” she answered without looking up from her phone.

“Uh.” I laughed, snatching the phone. “Are you forgetting that I drove us here?”

“No.” Cassie rolled her eyes. “But I’m not going to make you leave all your friends to drive us.”

“I don’t mind,” I said when I really wanted to yell that I was more than ready to get the hell out of there.

“No,” Cassie argued. “It’s okay, really. We’ll just Uber to Maggie’s, and I’ll spend the night with her. You’re probably itching to have your place to yourself for a night.”

What? No. Why would I?

“Ahhhh.” Maggie grabbed Cassie’s hand. “Sleepover!”

I felt the oddest sensation of disappointment.

“But all your stuff is at my place, and—”

“It’s just one night.” Cassie shrugged. “I’ll manage.”

“You sure you want to be stuck with her all night?” I gestured my head toward Maggie, who was repeating the word ‘sleepover’ on an endless loop.

Maggie stuck her tongue out at me while Cassie just gave a half-smile. Was I imagining it, or did she look sad?

“She’s going to need someone to take care of her when the hangover hits.”

“Uhh,” Maggie drawled. “I’m the queen of not having hangovers. Like, I’m immune to them.”

“See.” I extended a hand toward my sister. “She’s fine.”

“Still,” Cassie protested, for reasons I wasn’t entirely sure of.

Everything in me wanted to fight her on it. To make her come home with me to my apartment. But then, what if she didn’t want to? She’d told me no. I had to assume she meant it. Otherwise, I was as bad as the girl I’d just escaped.

“Well, at least let me drive you,” I argued, not wanting Cassie to pay insane city prices to get an Uber when I had the car waiting outside.

“Nope.” Cassie smiled brightly, holding her phone up toward me. “Our driver is almost here.”

Well, shit. She really didn’t want to spend any more time with me tonight. Something about her demeanor had shifted, making her feel distant in a way that she hadn’t when she’d been sitting beside me earlier.

Not knowing what else to say, I scratched the back of my head awkwardly, feeling the oddest pang of loneliness at the thought of going home to an empty apartment.

Ridiculous, I thought, thinking how stupid it was to be resenting the solitude that I’d cherished for so long.

“Okay, well, let me know if you need anything,” I offered, suddenly feeling unsure of what to do with myself.

“Thanks,” Cassie murmured, not fully meeting my gaze.

I slung her bag off my shoulder, handing it back to her.

“Oh, thanks.” She took it gingerly, pulling her hand away quickly as our fingers touched. “I hope you have a fun rest of your night,” she said, eyes scanning the crowd behind me. “I’ll text you before I come back tomorrow so you’re not ambushed.”

Why would she think that?

“Text me when you’re ready to go, and I’ll pick you up,” I offered, confused by the bizarre tension in the air between us.

She said nothing but smiled in a way that made me think she wasn’t going to take me up on that offer.

Before I could pull her aside and ask her what the hell was going on, what was wrong, and how I could fix it, her phone alerted her to the presence of her driver, and she was waving goodbye.

I watched her leave, my sister in tow, feeling that odd feeling in my chest resurfaced in an entirely different way. Somehow, it was even more uncomfortable than before.