Before I could process how shocking that announcement was, Andrew’s eyes landed directly on me.
“Your captain is going to be Liam O’Conner. I have every faith he’ll lead you well.”
As I stood there gaping at him, the side of Andrew’s mouth drew up just a fraction, as if he was holding back a smirk. How many times had I seen him smirk at me, exactly like that? And now he was wearing that old cocky expression that always made me want to punch him right in the face while standing in front of the team he owned, telling me that I was going to be captain.
Before I could even wrap my mind around how crazy that was, Andy turned and left the room, Grace following right behind him. But just before she was out of sight, I saw her glance back at me over her shoulder, her wide green eyes looking just as surprised by her brother’s decision as I was.
CHAPTER 6
My favorite thing about Austin had always been the food scene.
Andrew and I started exploring local restaurants as soon as we relocated here to Austin. I had been somewhat unsure about the move in the early days. I knew no one in Texas besides my brother and a few of his long-term employees. Austin seemed a world away from the state of Minnesota. I didn’t care for the heat, had a hard time navigating what felt to me like a huge city, and sometimes struggled to understand some of the thickest accents of the teachers at my new school. I had always been shy and introverted, and moving to a new city full of strangers made me feel anxious and awkward—and that made it really hard to make friends.
Even as busy as he was with the expanding business, Andrew made sure to get out and explore the city with me as often as possible. We made it our mission to find the best restaurants that we could, and Austin made that easy. As someone who deeply loved food—and had the hips and ass to prove it—it was the abundance of really good restaurants that made me fall in love with my adopted city.
But Austin didn’t truly start to feel like home until I met my girls.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite sexy little school teacher,” Peyton called out when she spotted me a bit down the block from the restaurant. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Since you’re the one who arranged this dinner, I doubt you’re really surprised.”
She reached me and kissed my cheek, before holding her arm out to loop with mine. “Let’s get inside. I’m fucking starving.”
Peyton Baxter had been my very first true friend in Texas. I’d been here for about six months when I met Peyton in a spin class. We’d bonded over our deep hatred of the perky class leader— who never seemed to sweat or stop smiling, no matter how grueling the workout— right away, then cemented our friendship over years of martinis, gossip, and hounding the clearance racks for deals.
Her son, Elliot, was ten, and one of my favorite people in the world. He’d been the cutest little boy when I first met him six years ago, all chubby and pink cheeked with the same white blond hair of his mother. His coloring had darkened up a little bit as he got older, making him look more like his father, at least according to Peyton. None of us had ever met him—including Elliot himself.
Peyton had only been seventeen when she unexpectedly got pregnant, still in high school. The guy had taken off pretty quickly after they found out, leaving her on her own. Peyton had made it work though, with lots of help from her mom. Somehow, she juggled teen motherhood, work, and night classes to eventually finish her degree. She’s probably the strongest woman I know.
We’d brought Rosa Garcia into the fold about a year later when she walked by our table at the Bouldin Creek Cafe one busy Saturday morning. Peyton stopped her to compliment hercheetah print slingback sandals—because my bestie was the kind of person who had no trouble stopping complete strangers for a chat—which got them into a discussion about a trunk show coming into town the following weekend. Just like that, Peyton invited her to sit with us and that was that—we’d been a trio ever since.
Six years after following my brother here, I couldn’t really imagine living anywhere else. I felt like I had roots in Austin that I’d never had back in Minnesota. Somewhere along the way, the city had become home.
And now, apparently, it was going to become home for Liam O’Conner as well.
Rosa was waiting for us at our table. “You’re lucky I didn’t order without you,” she said as we took our seats. “I was swamped today. I shoved a granola bar into my mouth a couple hours ago and that’s all I’ve had.”
I made a face at her. Rosa was an executive assistant to a major real estate developer, and she was constantly up to her ears with all the nonsense he deemed essential. I had never met someone more swamped at work, with the notable exception of my brother. She stayed late more often than not and lately it seemed like she was skipping her lunches on a daily basis.
Rosa was already a tiny wisp of a girl and I worried that if this crap continued, she was going to fade away completely. Though not quite as short as me, my friend was much more delicate, with her dainty bone structure and her minuscule waist. I was only overcome with jealousy over her petite figure about eighty percent of the time. I envied her gorgeous brown waves and insanely long eyelashes the other twenty percent.
“Why haven’t you applied to work at Knight Corp yet?” I asked her, for about the millionth time. “Andrew would love to have someone with your skills and experience in the office.”
She frowned. “Why would I want to leave my job?”
“Because your boss runs you ragged?” Peyton suggested.
Rosa waved her hands dismissively. “I like to stay busy. Besides, I’m good at what I do.”
I met Peyton’s eye and I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. We had both long suspected that Rosa had a thing for her boss, and that was why she bent over backwards trying to please him. We’d brought it up once over margaritas, thinking the tequila might help loosen her tongue if she wanted to talk about it. Instead, she’d laughed for a solid three minutes as if it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. I still wasn’t entirely convinced.
The waitress appeared at our table, dropping off sweaty glasses of ice water that we all reached for immediately. It had been another scorcher that day. By this time of year, I was always completely ready for cooler winter months to arrive.
Since we all had the menu memorized, we placed our order right away. As soon as the waitress left, Peyton turned to me. “So, are we ever going to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“Your bonkers reaction to the hot hockey player the other night.”
