“Or in love with him?”
“Not that again.” I snorted. “You damn well know I love him as a best guy friend. He’s hot and amazing but not for me.”
“May I ask why?”
“Uh, because he’s too good for this world? Because he’s my best guy friend? Plus, not a huge fan of committed relationships to be honest. Don’t want any part of them. You’ve seen how miserable my mom was after my dad peaced out. Why commit to anything like that?”
“I see your point, but counterpoint. You’ve also seen my parents.”
“Yeah, they are a fluke though. Well, so are you and Quentin.” I waved my hand in the air. “Plus, let’s say Preston and I did date—it’d have to end in marriage because I love him too much to not have him in my life. And I’mnevergetting married.”
“You beautiful maniac.” Logan laughed, and it made me smile. “You jumped real fast into marriage when I said you have feelings for Preston.”
“Because that’s the only way it’d have to end since I can’tfathom not having him in my life. When I picture us in twenty years, I see you, me, and him still going on adventures. You’ll probably have cute babies, and he’ll have a wholesome wife, and I’ll be in between lovers traveling around the world, but it’ll be the three of us. That’s the future I want.”
“I do like the sound of us all being close.”
“Not to sound too wild, but I’m hoping to have a one bedroom in whatever town you end up in. I don’t plan to have a home, so I’m gonna move mine to be near you.”
I meant it. I wanted to be around the people I loved who brought me joy. I experienced too much loneliness growing up, and I’d inserted myself into the Harts and Logan’s family. Preston was a part of that too, and so I had to stop this feelings chat, since having deep feelings for anyone wasn’t an option. This was getting too serious for me, and I needed to keep shit at surface level. I’d learned the hard way about giving myself to people who used my love to hurt me. It started with my dear mother, and she never stopped.
“Son of a bitch!”I slammed the wheel with my fist. Traffic was horrendous, and the game had just entered the third period. The game played on the radio, Liam and Quentin having a great game, but it was close. Tied 2-2 and Preston wasn’t playing great. He didn’t have any assists or goals.
“The guys will understand us being late. I bet they’re just excited we’ll be here tonight and tomorrow.” Logan’s voice was calm and nothing like my inner turmoil.
The radio crackled with the announcers’ voices. “Charming had a great scoring chance there, but he couldn't capitalize. Honestly Tim, it’s been that kind of night for him.”
“Agreed, he just isn’t connecting like he usually does.”
“He’s battling out there, you can see the frustration, but he’s having an off night. Hopefully the rest of the Wolves pick up the slack to get the win.”
“What a dick.” Logan scoffed, making my lips twitch. “The slack? Please. Preston is the soul of the team. You can’t measure that with a stat, but we all know it.”
“I like feisty Logan.”
There were ten minutes left by the time we parked the car. The ticket booth was closed, so we couldn’t even get the tickets he left for us at will-call. “Guess we’ll listen to the game out here and wait?”
“All we can do, really. Unless we want to wait at the hotel?” Logan chewed her lip, her brow furrowing. “That might be easier. Coach will make them take the bus to the hotel.”
“Good call.”
By the time we pulled into the team hotel, the Wolves won in the final minute. Liam passed to Quentin, who scored the winning shot, but my heart hurt for Preston. He was always in the action. His stats were insane, and while Quentin needed to have the season of his life to get his shot with the NHL team, the Acorns, Preston also wanted the stats.
“Hi, reservation for…what name did you use, Jordan?” Logan asked as we approached the hotel front desk.
“Vanderfleet.” I set my bag down. “I made it for two.”
The woman clicked her keyboard for a full two minutes in silence. Each swiped finger over the keys was painful. “I can’t seem to find the reservation. Do you have a confirmation email?”
Shit. I blinked before swiping my phone. “Here, yes, I do.” Thank god. I showed her my phone, but she winced.
“The dates are for another weekend, I’m afraid.” She pointed to the numbers on the top right. “You have them for next weekend,not tonight. I’m sorry. We don’t have any rooms available. With the tournament, we sold out.”
My stomach sank. “A-are you sure?”
“Yes. I can give you a list of nearby hotels if you’d like?”
“Shit. Shit.”
