The irony of what she was saying wasn’t lost on me. “There’s nothing going on with me and Nick. He can’t even walk me home because everyone in this town will jump to conclusions.”
“I get it, Evie. I really do, but you shouldn’t let the Chance Rapids gossip train run your life.” Her lips narrowed and she got a faraway look. There was definitely more to Charlotte and Logan’s story.
“I’m not letting the gossip train run my life. It’s your husband. He told Nick that he couldn’t get involved with anyone in town.”
Charlotte’s brows shot up. “Logan told him he couldn’t be with you?”
“Not me specifically. Anyone. Nick doesn’t want to rock the boat with the team’s owner.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “What the hell is Logan thinking?” She seemed to be asking herself, not me.
I washed my hands even though I hadn’t used the toilet. “Apparently, he wants to avoid another billet scandal. Apparently, some of the players were sleeping with their billet’s daughters.”
She dumped her wine down the sink. “I can’t believe I brought that in here.” The bathroom looked like it hadn’t been updated since GJ was a teenager. At one time the tavern must have been grand, but now burn holes spotted the vanity. “I might be overstepping here, and I’m sorry about that, but if you want to see where things could go with Nick—do it. Don’t let that stupid team rule, one that doesn’t actually exist, I might add,” she shook her finger at me, “stop you.”
“It’s more than that.” I sighed. “I’m not sure I’m ready to trust another man—a hockey player at that.” Charlotte was a new friend, and I was definitely oversharing—but I couldn’t stop. I had to talk to someone about how crazy I was feeling about Nick.
Charlotte’s eyes softened. “I understand. And Evie, I knew your mom—she looked out for me. Now I want to return the favor. Back then the Chance Rapids community was a lot tighter.”
“Thanks.” I sniffed. The tears I’d fought to conceal threatened to make another appearance. “That means a lot.”
Charlotte went into a stall and rolled off some toilet paper, wadded it up, and handed it to me. I dabbed at my eyes. I’d always heard that the friendliest women in the world were the drunk ones in the nightclub bathrooms, and Charlotte was proving that theory correct.
“Men are men. There are good ones and bad ones—it doesn’t matter if they’ve got skates on their feet or not. Don’tlet the hockey player thing get in the way, but if you’re not ready, you’re not ready.”
The wastepaper basket’s lid squeaked as I tossed the ball of toilet paper into it. “Timing is everything, isn’t it.”
“It is.” She smiled.
“I’ve only known Nick for a few days.”
“I know.”
“I’ve never felt a connection like this with anyone.”
“I can tell.”
“I’m scared.” There it was.
The door opened and Meghan, Charlotte’s friend, walked in. “There you are.” She looked between the two of us and then took a step backward. “Am I interrupting?”
“No.” Charlotte waved for her to join the drunken bathroom therapy session. “Nick left without Evie because Logan told him to stay away from all the girls in town.”
“What? That’s ridiculous. You mean, you two aren’t a couple?”
Charlotte raised her brows. “Tell Evie why you moved to Chance Rapids and what happened.”
Meghan smiled and leaned against the row of sinks. “My husband and I were trying to have a baby. Then I found a picture of an ultrasound in his gym bag. Unfortunately, it didn’t belong to me.”
“Oh my god.” I clapped my hand to my mouth.
“Yeah.” Meghan crossed her arms. “He was a real piece of shit. But at the time I was devastated. Charlotte let me stay at her place up on the mountain. I met Josh the first week I was in town and…” She spread her arms wide. “Here we are, shacked up in a little house with a baby and a white picket fence.”
“How did you trust again, after that kind of a betrayal?” I thought that having a cheating ex was bad, but Meghan’s ultrasound discovery trumped the text messages I’d found in Brad’s phone.
She shrugged. “I made the decision that I was going to trust. It sounds basic, but that was it. It didn’t hurt that Josh was the hottest man I’d ever met and we were trapped in a cabin in a snowstorm.”
“That sounds like a movie.” My heart had started to race. If Nick wanted to kiss me, and I wanted to kiss him, why the hell was I letting my history with that dirtbag Brad and that stupidnot really a rulefrom Logan stop us?
