“How was everything last night?” OC asks.
“Good.” I glance around the room. “Don’t say this to Posey, because his head might explode, but I shared my bed with Blakely last night. Nothing happened but this morning, she said it was the best night’s sleep she’s had in a while. She said it was probably because she felt comfortable sleeping next to me.”
“Dude.” Silas slaps my chest. “That’s huge.”
“She really said that to you?” OC asks.
“Yeah.” I can’t hide my smile. “It was the first sign I’ve gotten from her where I thought . . . maybe there could be something there.”
“There’s definitely something there and, now that you get to spend all of this time with her, Posey was right, this is the perfect chance to make your move,” Silas says.
“Yeah, I think it is, but I’m going to take it slow. Feel her out and then, maybe when the time is right, I’ll ask her out.”
OC shakes his head. “I swear, if this all works out and you end up marrying this girl, Posey will never, and I mean never let us live it down.” Fuck, he’s right. But if I were to end up with Blakely,nothingwould overpower the utter happiness I’d feel.I’d have my girl...something I still can’t even imagine.
“I think that’s a risk I’m willing to take,” I say.
“This smells amazing,”Blakely says as she grabs a piece of cheese pizza and puts it on her plate. “I don’t think I’ve ever ordered pizza from here before.”
“It’s my favorite,” I answer before taking a bite of pepperoni. We ordered half cheese, half pepperoni and I don’t know why, but I think it’s fucking cute that she wanted just regular cheese.
The game is on in front of us, the announcers in the background talking about my absence from the game and how it might affect the team, but I tune them out.
“Do you always get cheese?” I ask her.
Her eyes are fixated on the TV, most likely listening in.
“Hey.” I nudge her foot with mine, drawing her attention. “Ignore them. They’re paid to talk, but they’re not necessarilypaid to state the facts. The boys reassured me that they will be fine without me.”
“You’re right. Sorry.” She turns toward me. “Yes, I always get cheese, I love it. Perry hated that I wanted cheese and so he’d get pepperoni and make me pick them off and put them on his.”
My brows draw together. “How is that fair to you?”
She shrugs. “I’m pretty chill. But this is true cheese and it’s so good.”
As long as this woman is in my life, I will make damn well sure that she always has just plain cheese pizza as an option. What a fucking douche.
When she’s finished chewing, she swallows and says, “So tell me, what would be going through your mind right now if you were on the ice warming up?”
I glance over at the TV where the guys are skating around, doing some stretches. “Probably wondering if anyone is recording me while I stretch my inner thighs.”
She laughs. “Oh, you mean the move where it looks like you’re humping the ice? Uh yeah, people are recording you. Haven’t you seen our social media?”
“I try to avoid it. You learn pretty quickly that social media is a blessing and a curse. There is so much love to drown yourself in, but there’s also the negative. It might be few and far between, but the negative comments and posts, they’re like freshly soiled seeds in your brain, planting themselves without even giving you a choice. And they grow and root themselves deep inside. That one negative comment becomes all you can think about—despite the love, despite the praise, despite the accomplishments.”
“I guess I never thought about it that way since we’re always posting positive things. Although, there are some comments on our posts that people will be sure to say how much the team sucks.”
“Those comments are just rowdy fans from other teams,” I say. “It’s the other ones like . . . the wrong twin died.”Something I’ve never admitted to a living soul.
“Stop.” She sits taller. “Please don’t tell me that’s true.”
“Unfortunately, it is,” I say, unsure why I went from how good this pizza is to the dark thoughts that capture my mind daily. Because there are many times that I believe that narrative.Holden was the better player. The better man. The more outgoing, likable man.And when you read that someone else thinks that way, it’s hard to ignore.
“That is such a shitty and awful thing to say.”Facts.
“Confidence runs rampant when someone can hide behind a keyboard. It’s why I ignore social media. I get my energy from the present fans, the ones I meet outside of the arena or at special events, because those are the ones that matter.”
She shakes her head. “You’re right, but how freaking disgusting. I’m so sorry people think it’s okay to treat others with such disregard.”
