Across the booth, Haley’s eyes narrow behind her glasses. “So it’s a female friend?”
“Define friend,” Max says.
Jared glares at Max before removing his arm from around me to pull out his phone and glance at the screen.
“No friend,” he says firmly. “An old…acquaintance.”
Right. More like someone he used to fuck around with.
“So you’re still dating a lot?” I ask, trying to keep the jealousy out of my tone. I think Ialmostsucceed.
“Define dating,” Max says with a gleam in his dark eyes.
“Fuck off, brother,” Jared says to his twin as he and Max engage in one of those silent staredowns I’ve seen them do their entire lives. Some kind of twin telepathy the rest of us aren’t privy to. “I’m not kidding.”
“I’m sure you’re not,” Max says. “But you really think Ashley’s naïve to your lifestyle? She’s the one who filled me in years ago.”
That’s true. I was the first who realized just how scared Jared is of intimacy. And one drunken night, I told Max. I was worried. Of course, Max brushed it off, saying all four of the brothers have problems getting close to people. But maybe he listened to me more than he let on.
“You think any of us would get off scot-free in that department after the way we lost our parents?” Jared counters.
Mr. Storm was murdered while cashing at a convenience store in New Orleans when the boys were teenagers. And years before that, their mom died of cancer. Despite the tragedies, all four guys made the pros in ice hockey. And they’ve all excelled.
It’s a beautiful ending from sad, humble beginnings, but not everything is neat and tidy. Sometimes, underneath all that glitter, there’s a mess that has to be tended to.
And the thing is, I get it. I get Jared. Because, underneath my friendly, open vibe, I’m not that different than he is. A work in progress who has a hell of a time with trust.
“So what are you two doing out?” Mia asks in an effort to break the awkwardness.
“Emmy’s working late,” Max says. “I told her I’d pick her up some food, and then this guy called. So here we are. I think my brother’s got some nerves about our opener tomorrow night.”
He says it without a trace of humor, and I can’t tell if he’s messing with Jared or being serious.
“We’re not drinking,” Jared says when Jamie Beth signals to the waiter. “Just water.”
He brushes my shoulder with his own. “How was day one at work?”
I smile over at Mia and Haley. “Great. My boss and coworker couldn’t be kinder.”
“Good.” Jared lowers his head and whispers into my ear, “I have an idea for later. Something fun.”
I nod, but inside me, the butterflies soar. Jared’s tone is flirty and far too interested. He’s always interested in me—but as aperson. Not as a woman.
Yet, ever since I landed in Montana, his interest meter has wandered into sexual territory.
My hopeful high crashes down seconds later when his phone buzzes again. He silences it immediately.
It buzzes again.
“For Christ’s sake,” he mutters as he looks at the screen and then swipes it. “I’m silencing it,” he tells me.
“Don’t do it on my account,” I say.
“Of course I’m doing it on your account,” he says in my ear.
I turn my head so I can lock eyes with him. “Is that so?”
“Yes.”
