Tonight isn’t the night I have to face it, but it is coming.
And my number-one priority is to make sure Aiden isn’t hurt in the process.
* * *
Dinner went by quickly, and thankfully, with no further talk about dating hockey players. Conversation still stayed centered around hockey, and Aiden came up a few times. Not that Dad was giving away any Manatee game plans or secrets—but he talked about how much talent Aiden has, what a great acquisition he was, and how he’s not only a fantastic leader, but a fantastic person, too.
I felt sick when Dad kept praising Aiden like that. I couldn’t even look up from my plate. Dad is going to see this as a major betrayal when he comes forward, because my father lives by this stupid code, and apparently, Aiden is the last player he’d ever expect to break it.
I could ruin Aiden’s career in Miami, I think as my stomach ties into a knot.
Guilt. Nothing but guilt rages through me as I help Mom clear the table. Aiden doesn’t fully understand what he’s going to face. He says he does, but how can he? He’s never broken a rule this big in his life.
“Hey, little sister, want to drive me back to my hotel later?” Ethan asks as he brings in some plates. “Save Dad the trip?”
“Sure,” I say, rinsing a plate.
“Here, let me load for you,” Ethan says, taking it from my hands.
“Thank you.”
“I never realize how much I miss home until I’m here,” he confesses, slipping the plate into the dishwasher rack.
I rinse another one. “You miss loading the dishwasher?” I tease.
“Smart ass,” he says. “No, but it’s nice to see everyone. And sometimes I see things others might not see. Things Mom and Dad might not notice because they see you all the time.”
I turn off the faucet and stare at him. Ethan levels a knowing gaze at me, and a wave of uneasiness ripples through me.
“I think,” he says, dropping his voice to a murmur only I can hear, “something is going on with you and one of the Wentworth brothers. And I’m going to give you a hundred different reasons why you need to knock it off.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
As soon as I pull out of Mom and Dad’s driveway, I drive a few houses down the road in their exclusive gated community and slam on the brakes. I stop in front of a sprawling modern mansion decked out for Christmas, edged completely in white lights, along with the palm trees. If I weren’t furious, I’d actually admire the professional lighting as another example of Christmas beauty in Miami.
But I’mpissed.
And Ethan is about to feel my rage right now.
He turns and looks at me in confusion. “What are you doing?”
“Start your lecture now,” I snap angrily. “Because I’m not going to listen to it the whole ride back to your hotel.”
Ever since Ethan’s warning to me at the dishwasher, I’ve been stewing in my own thoughts. First, I was upset. Then ashamed. I’m the good girl. I’ve never caused any problems for my family—ever.So to hear my dad saying things like “Scarlett knows better” and Ethan telling me I need to “knock off” my behavior hurt.
Really, really hurt.
But as we sat around with Mom and Dad in the living room, with the tree twinkling in the background, and eating sugar cookies with sprinkles, I grew angrier. What have I ever doneto deserve this complete distrust? Why is my dad’s coaching reputation hanging in the balance of who I want to date? Will people really assume he’d give Aiden preferential treatment just because he’s dating me? That’s idiotic.
So I’m doing something I’ve never done. I’m going to tell Ethan where to stick his lecture.
He exhales loudly. “I thought we could have this conversation back at your place before you take me to the hotel.”
“No. We’re going to have theconversationright now. Not that what I do is any of your business, Ethan.”
His eyes flash. “Oh? I think it is my business when we share the same last name and I’m wearing it on my back—and worse yet, it’s the last name of the Manatees’ head coach.”
This is where I’d begin to waver in the past. I wanted to please everyone, especially my close-knit family. I would follow rules and make concessions for them, to make them happy—or at least that’s what I thought at the time.
