“Yeah. I told her I thought it was a great idea.”
“Why’s that?” If there’s anyone on the team whoshouldn’twant me to take that leadership role and potentially move back up to the first line, it’s our other alternate captain Patrick Walsh, who spent last season in my old position.
“Because AJ wouldn’t make that offer if she didn’t think you’d develop into a good leader on this team. Whatever she sees in you, focus on developing that. She doesn’t try to change players, just wants them to be better versions of themselves—whether that’s how they play, or how they act. Usually both.”
No one is a bigger shit talker on the ice than Walsh, which is pretty ironic because he’s such a stand-up guy. But he almost never gets in fights, no matter how much he chirps at other players. It’s like it’s part of his charm. But when I shit-talk people on the ice, they start throwing punches.
“Hmmm.” I let the sound rattle around in my throat as I give him a nod. He could easily come across as condescending in this conversation, but that’s not Walsh’s style. “And what if I take your spot on the first line? You still going to feel that way?”
“If you take that spot, it’ll mean you’ve earned it. I want what’s best for the team.” He claps his hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze before saying, “Have a good night guys. I’m headed home!”
Chapter Twenty
MORGAN
Tonight has been the girls night that I truly needed to get out of the vicious cycle of thinking about Danny/Aidan and the reality that he’s in my life for the foreseeable future. I’m just finishing up my dinner, laughing at the way Jules just says whatever the hell she wants and how it almost always horrifies Audrey, when my phone buzzes on the table. I flip it over to see a text from my mom.
Mom
Hey, Max and I will be in Boston in a couple weeks. He’ll be busy at a conference most of the time. Would love to grab dinner or something if you’re around!
I set my phone face down again, wishing that my dinner didn’t suddenly feel like it was turning sour in my stomach.
As far as I know, Mom hasn’t been back to Boston since my high school graduation—which means I haven’t had to see her on my turf since I became an adult. There’s something comforting in knowing she hasn’t been around to ruin any of my favorite Boston places for me, unlike the way she ruined myfavorite restaurant in New York City, the best coffee shop in Park City, and the view of Los Angeles from the Griffith Observatory.
So many bad memories are tied to her that I wonder why I even agree to see her anymore. But, she keeps making the effort—she calls or texts often enough that I know she hasn’t forgotten me, but not often enough to consider it a meaningful relationship. And here she is, wanting to see me again because she’ll be in town with Max. She’s trying, even if her efforts all feel half-assed. Maybe that’s all she’s capable of?
“You okay?” Lauren asks, nudging me with her elbow from the seat next to me.
“Yeah,” I say, realizing I’d been staring at my glass sitting on the table in front of me with such intensity that she probably thinks I was trying to make it levitate. “Just got distracted by a text.”
“Your mom?” Clearly she saw my screen.
“Yeah, unfortunately.”
Lauren’s arm sweeps around my shoulder as she pulls me into a side hug. While technically they’re my cousins, she and Paige are more like the sisters I never had. I used to spend a month every summer up in Maine with them, and my dad and I have spent every Christmas with them since my mom left. So I developed a very close bond with the two of them even though we lived over three hours away growing up. It’s nice that we all live in the same city now, even if Paige is almost always traveling for work.
“You good?” Eva asks, brows scrunching as she assesses me from across the table.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Just embarrassed that I’ve made a bit of a scene when I’m supposed to be having fun with my girlfriends. “I just got distracted by my mom texting me.”
Audrey leans back as the waiter clears her empty plate. “Did you ever ask her about your stepbrother’s last name?”
Jules’s eyebrows lift in anticipation of my response.
“No. I’m putting the past in the past, where it belongs,” I say, wishing that this was true in my mind as well.
Now that I know who “Danny” is, and that we work together and my dad is his agent, I need to stay far away from him.
Despite being a great father to me, my dad is a great agent because he has no issue being a cutthroat asshole. Sleeping with his daughter is not something Aidan can risk in a contract year. It’s not an understatement to say that his entire future rests in my dad’s hands.
Unfortunately, it seems that the more I’ve tried to avoid Aidan this week, the more he’s been on my mind. And flashbacks from Bermuda—the easy flirting the first night in the bar, how protective he was at dinner and on the boat, the way our bodies came together even when we knew they shouldn’t—hit me at the most unexpected times. I can’t stop thinking about our time together and wishing we could turn back time, even just for a night.
“Oh, come on, Morgan,” Audrey says with a groan, as she rests her elbow on the table and cradles her chin in her palm. “You said it was thebest sex of your life, remember?”
Her voice is quite a bit louder than I’d like in the glass-encased rooftop restaurant, so I lift my gaze to see if anyone else heard her. And of course—of fucking course—who is standing right behind her, but half of the Boston Rebels.
Drew smooths his hand over the top of his fiancée’s dark hair with a shake of his head, like he’s realizing she’s had too much to drink. But Drew is not who catches my eye.
