Page 25

Tuesday, aka dinner date day, came around all too quickly for Astrid who was still reeling from her last dose of Blake.

And she didn’t mean the semi-naked dose.

She meant the way he’d burrowed into her soul and made her realise too much about herself.

Too much about her true desires for the future and the path she had carved out for herself.

She needed to get back to being the woman she’d been a fortnight ago.

Determined to do right by her friends and the article.

When it came to Blake, her head needed to be in the driving seat.

Not her foo foo, and certainly not her heart.

She was just about to step into the shower when her phone rang, Tay Tay’s tune telling her it was the girls. They probably wanted to wish her luck…

She could ignore it.

She probably should ignore it.

She hardly had a spine of steel right now, but if anyone could talk her back on the straight and narrow it was them.

Pulling on her robe, she picked up the phone and returned to the bedroom. Only Sissi was on the call but seeing her friend’s face in the bubble had her heart twisting. She swiped to answer before she could chicken out.

‘Hey babe, you good?’

‘Better for seeing your beautiful face.’ Sissi smiled. ‘I’m so sorry I’m only just checking in now. Between studying, work, and my ex going AWOL on his daughter, I’m spent. Not to mention Horrible Harvey is a hard nut to get access to, let alone crack. I’m in a world of chaos here.’

Sienna looked like chaos. The dark shadows under her big blues ran deep. Her blonde hair fell from her ponytail in tiny wisps. Her apron from the diner was covered in what looked like coffee and ketchup, and her pale cheeks were streaked with something.

‘We’ll help you with Harvey, you know that right?’

‘Na-ah, this is my responsibility. I’ll get it done.’

Oh, how to feel even worse…

She tried to smile, to be all, Yeah, I’m on it , but the words stuck in her throat and Sissi frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘ Nothing .’ Too quick.

‘Astrid, I haven’t known you all that long, but I kno w you. And something’s up… what is it? Is it Aiden? Is it Blake?’

Astrid buried her head in her hand with a groan. Try all of the above.

‘Okay, now you’re worrying me.’

She flicked her head up. ‘It’s nothing for you to worry about, it’s just…’ I’m not sure Aiden deserves to be messed with and I’m terrified of my growing feelings for Blake.

‘It’s just …?’

‘Aiden… he’s not… he’s actually…’

‘Oh my God, you’ve fallen for his charm, haven’t you? I knew this would happen.’ She threw a hand at the screen. ‘I warned you…’

‘It’s not like that, not quite,’ she hurried to say. But what was it like?

‘I don’t even know why I’m surprised.’ Sissi shook her head. ‘He managed to fool me and I trusted no one until he came along.’

‘What he did to you was wrong, honey, I’m not questioning that. I’m just questioning whether he deserves to be punished for something he didn’t have a say in.’

‘Didn’t have a say in? He had every say!’

‘But you know what his father was like, what his home life was like…’

‘His life was always that way; it didn’t stop him making all those promises and then walking away without so much as a backward glance.’

‘What if he’d had no choice?’

‘There’s always a choice when it comes to answering the phone, but he ghosted me, like I meant nothing, and I deserved better than that.’

‘You did, honey, you did.’

‘And there’s nothing he could say now that would make me feel any different so I don’t understand how you can.’

‘He should’ve answered the phone, he should’ve been there for you, especially when your dad was sent down but…’

Sissi’s eyes welled up and Astrid bit her lip, her friend’s obvious pain making her hesitate. She wanted to tell her about the fight, about the police and Blake, but she couldn’t. Not without betraying Blake’s confidence and she wouldn’t do that.

‘I think he felt that if they stayed, their father would ruin their lives for good.’

‘And what about my life?’ her friend choked out with a sudden fire in her eyes. ‘What about our baby’s life?’

What! Astrid jerked alert.

‘Sissi? Did you just… were you pregnant ?’ Her gut rolled, her mind with it. Never had Sienna mentioned a baby, a pregnancy… at sixteen! ‘When he left you?’

‘He didn’t know. I tried to tell him but…’ she whispered, eyes blinking back the tears that insisted on falling anyway. ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t have – I never talk about it. I…’

‘Honey, it’s okay, you can talk to me. God, I wish I was with you…’

Sissi gave her a tremulous smile. ‘Me too.’

‘You don’t have to talk, but…’

Sissi looked away, her eyes turning distant as Astrid absorbed the magnitude of what she was saying. Of how terrified and lost and all alone she truly had been. Astrid’s mother had only been a couple of years older but at least she’d had Granny and Grandpa. She’d had support. She’d had love.

Sissi had had no one.

‘I found out after he’d left…’ she said softly, her tearful gaze returning to the screen.

‘Everything was such a mess. I didn’t know what I was doing, how I was going to cope, how I was going to tell Dad…

I just needed him, Aiden. I knew that if I spoke to him, he would make it all okay, that I wouldn’t be alone.

But he wouldn’t answer the phone. I called and called.

I wasn’t begging for him to come back to me, I was begging for him to just be there . For me and our child.’

‘Oh my God, Sissi…’

‘And then… I lost the baby,’ she whispered. ‘I wasn’t taking care of myself, I was so broken over Aiden, then my dad was involved in that car accident; he was going to prison. My whole world was falling apart, and I… I miscarried.’

Astrid pulled her robe close, shivering with the weight of it – what her friend had gone through all alone, her loss and her continued pain. ‘I’m so sorry, honey.’

‘It was my fault. If only I’d looked after myself properly. If only I’d?—’

‘No! No, you can’t see it that way. You can’t blame yourself.’

‘But I do. I blame myself and I blame him. For all his broken promises and for not being there when I needed him the most.’

‘Yeah…’ Astrid nodded, she got it now, truly got it. How Aiden had swanned on with his life while poor Sissi… a miscarriage. She couldn’t bear it. ‘I’ll make him pay, love, I promise.’

And the sooner the better… for her own heart’s sake, too.

* * *

‘She’s here,’ Aiden said, tossing Blake the remote for the sound system. ‘Why don’t you put some decent music on and I’ll get the door?’

He tossed it straight back. ‘Why don’t you put something decent on and I’ll get the door?’

He moved before his brother could object, though it appeared Aiden was too busy laughing. ‘You’ve got it bad, bro.’

‘I ain’t got nothing bad.’

Though he did check his reflection in the hallway mirror, mussing up his hair and smoothing down his black tee. He didn’t like this, not one bit. Bringing a girl here. No matter what his brother said to the contrary. As for her turning him down…

Whatever . He tugged open the door. You win some, you lose— lose your effing mind!

It was the knee-high boots that did it. Heels for days. Or was it the sweet glimpse of thigh disappearing into a black dress that left little to the imagination? Or the glossy dark waves tumbling free, framing the plunging V of her neckline and electrifying his palms as well as his eyeballs…?

‘Hi,’ she said, and his head shot up.

Honey-coloured eyes, dramatically enhanced by shadow and liner, sparkled back at him. Blood-red lips curved into a slow, knowing smile. And her perfume, warm and rich, hit him like a one-two punch.

‘Hi.’ Hell, was that even his voice?

‘Can I come in?’

Yeah, Blake, move!

‘You’ll have to excuse my bro.’ Aiden came up behind him. ‘I think he’s still at the rink reliving today’s training session. Can I take your coat?’

‘Thank you,’ she said, her eyes warm as she turned her focus on his brother. ‘I bought you this to say thank you for cooking, Blake mentioned you enjoy a Scottish whisky every now and then?’

Aiden took it from her with a grin. ‘Wow, that’s a decent bottle too.’

‘My grandfather is something of a whisky connoisseur.’

Blake closed the door, refusing to acknowledge the way she cosied up to Aiden, and the way they were now walking and talking intently as his brother led the way.

It meant nothing. She had an article to write. This was a business exchange. No green-eyed monster necessary, but…

But nothing, you’re letting her rejection rule your head.

Not to mention the fact that she looked… Stop looking!

But those boots – how the hell was she, clumsy as fuck Twinkle Toes , walking in them ? He’d bet his life she had a pair of sneakers in her bag.

‘Can I get you a drink, Twinkle Toes?’

He waited for her to bite over the use of her pet name, his grin at the ready.

‘I’d love one,’ she threw over her shoulder. All smiles, no snark, go figure. ‘Thank you.’

‘What would you like?’

‘What are you having?’

He’d like to say ‘you’ … In fact, he was pretty sure his eyes were doing just that as they entered the living area and she turned to face him, her cheeks pinking up under his gaze.

‘A beer.’

Her eyes fired with something, the same something he’d seen that day she’d interviewed him and he’d requested the same.

‘You know before I met you, I thought all you guys were angels the night before a game.’

He gave an abrupt laugh. ‘Do I look like an angel?’

Her eyes dipped over him, their fire becoming a full-on blaze.

That was desire. He was convinced of it.

So why in the hell had she rejected him?

Why in the hell was she cosying up to his bro, fawning over him like a bear with honey – one sexy, curvy, smokin’ hot bear?

And holy fuck, why had his head gone there? A bloody bear!

‘Behave, Blake, and get the woman a drink,’ his brother called from the kitchen. ‘And she’s right, you shouldn’t be drinking, not that you’ll be told.’