“We’re not dating anymore. It’s Megan to you.” She flashed him a salty smile without an ounce of genuine kindness before glancing over her shoulder at me. “Watch out for that one.”
Megan was Zane’sex? Small world—a little too small for my taste. I usually found myself on “team girl” when it came to breakups, and Megan’s low opinion of Zane made my stomach drop.
“Play nice, you two,” Bri said as she walked up. She sighed. “This is why the rule exists.”
“What rule?” Zane asked.
“The rule about not dating your sister’s friends,” Bri said, throwing her arms around Zane’s neck. “Thanks for the box, big brother. This was the best wedding gift ever.”
“Anything for my baby sister,” Zane said.
My jaw dropped.Big brother?My flirty vacation crush wasBri’sbrother? I held out the jersey in front of me, reading the back. Number fourteen. I must have misheard her earlier when I’d asked what her brother’s number was. I gulped. Since when was my life aDaphne Rose Loveromance novel, complete with an off-limits heartthrob?
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I thoughtyou said your brother was number forty.”
“Nope, this was his first gameday jersey when he came to town.” She pointed at the jersey she wore. Bri’s gaze fell on the jersey in my hands. “Mine was the only one he’d ever given away, until now.” She shifted her focus to her brother. “Zane?” Her tone sounded like a mother who had just caught her child’s hand in the cookie jar. “What are you up to?”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Just making sure Wren has appropriate gameday attire.”
Bri flicked a brow, but our conversation was interrupted by a woman in a sharp blazer hustling a group of photographers into the box. She reached a hand out to shake Bri’s hand. “I’m Vivi, PR manager for the Bobcats. How was your night?”
Our party gushed about our experience in the box.
“That’s what Ilove to hear. How about a few pictures for the press? I’d love to make it onto the morning segments tomorrow. Who wouldn’t love a story about a pro hockey player gifting his little sister a bachelorette party at the game? Goodness knows, Zane’s reputation could use the help.”
Zane’s reputation needed help? My stomach sank again.
We came together for another round of pictures. This time, Zane slipped in beside me and draped his arm around my shoulders. I froze. Cameras flashed. My cheeks heated—hyper-aware of Zane’s warm body next to mine. Wren Penrose on the news? That didn’t happen. Thank goodness Vacation Wren had taken over because Bookstore Wren would have had a panic attack right about then.
Vivi left with her fleet of cameramen as quickly as she’d arrived and the girls in our party headed for the limo. “I guess I’d better get going,” I said. “I don’t want to get left behind.”
“Take this.” He put a folded-up napkin in my hand. “It’s for Percy. Gotta give the fans what they want, right?” he said, walking backwards with his arms splayed wide.
I opened the napkin and found a pile of beef jerky inside. My heart melted a little. Any man who was so thoughtful toward a dog had to be a decent guy, right? I looked down at the napkin again and my chest flushed when I saw a note scrawled on it:Call me, cupcake thief.He’d included the number I’d been prepared to beg for earlier that night. But I was suddenly leery of calling it.
Megan’s reaction to him and Bri’s tone when she’d seen his jersey in my hands had made me realize that there was a lot about Zane that I didn’t know. Vivi’s mystery comment about his reputation had been the icing on the cupcake.
Learning about someone was usually the most exciting part about meeting someone new. But somehow Zane’s unknowns felt scarier.What if he was a player in more ways than just hockey and I was nothing more than the newest game in town? Maybe I’d been right about my original “no-strings” method of dealing with Zane’s charm.
“See you tomorrow,” he called out from down the concourse.
The rehearsal, right. Zane was sure to be there. I smiled, quieting my spiraling thoughts. I glanced at his number again before folding the napkin and shoving it into my purse. “See ya.” I turned to walk in the opposite direction and catch up with my group.
“It’s not that serious, Wren,” I said under my breath as I quickened my pace. It didn’t matter how much crushing on my friend’s brother made my life feel like a romance novel. This was real life, not a book. And even if my life were a book, Zane was nothing more than a side plot. A here today, gone tomorrow character that wasn’t destined to be a part of my happily ever after.
How did I know that?
“Professional athletes don’t date girls like me—girls like therealme,” I answered my own question, and it was freeing. If he wasn’t serious about me, there was no reason for me to worry about his past. Zane was having a little fun just like I was. And the best way to keep it fun was to keep things light, flirty, andtemporary.
As soon as I delivered Zane’s gift to Percy, I’d be tossing that napkin in the trash. I’d been wrong earlier; I didn’t need it.
FOUR
Parallel parking had never been my strong suit, but trying to get the job done with Percy’s giant head blocking my view out the back window of my tiny Fiat 500 made it next to impossible. “The next time someone invites you to be in their wedding party,” I said to him, “I think I’m going to need to rent a moving van just to get you to the venue.”
He answered with a sloppy lick to my cheek, followed by a soft whine as he eyed my purse in the passenger seat. The napkin Zane had given me the night before peeked out of the top. It held thelast piece of jerky, and I hoped it would be enough to bribe Percy to cooperate with Bri’s vision for her wedding when the time came.
The rehearsal would start in fifteen minutes, and I was already nervous. Despite his elegant name, no one had ever accused Lord Percival Pennybone the First of being graceful. He was more of a one-dog wrecking crew than a dignified, furry gentleman. That was just the way I liked him at home, but we weren’t at home. Percy was slated to participate in Bri’s high-priced dream wedding.
