He cuts me off. “With Sawyer Jennings?”
“What? No.”
“Then who were you with?”
“None of your business.”
Matt’s jaw clenches. “If you’re screwing around with my teammates, it is my business, Finley. Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you did that?”
“No,” I reply, crossing my arms over my chest. “Your teammate preying on me when I was barely legal isn’t something I’ll forget.”
Matt flinches as expected. It’s the line I try not to throw in his face because I don’t like stoking his guilt over what happened with Garrett. But I have something precious to protect, and all bets are off.
“All right,” Gemma says. “Let’s not argue in front of Elodie.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell Gemma, because other than marrying my overprotective brother, none of this is her fault. “I need to do some homework.”
“We’re not done talking about this,” Matt calls to my retreating form.
But my footsteps don’t hesitate.
27
Zach
The tradition of ChristmasEve at the Callahan’s continues this year, bigger than ever.
I haven’t spent Christmas with my family since entering the league three years ago, which makes it hard to get into the holiday spirit. The Wolves always play the day after Christmas, so I don’t have enough time to fly to Manitoba, and my family isn't able to come to North Carolina. My mom’s a librarian with holidays off, but my dad’s construction job schedule causes issues. Melanie and Jeff both make their own working hours, but they lose money any time they choose not to work.
It’s not only the atmosphere heading into the party that gets me into the holiday mood—decorations covering every inch of the house, a display of Santa and his reindeer on the roof, light-wrapped trees in the front yard, Christmas scents wafting from the house as I approach—but it’s also my teammates—my family—waiting inside.
And the woman I’ve fallen helplessly in love with, whose name flashes on my phone screen as I reach the front door.
Finley
Are you almost here?
Me
Do you have a tracking device on me or something?
I open the front door to the enormous house packed with people. I maneuver my way through the foyer to the kitchen, miraculously not bumping into anyone while scanning the rooms for Finley.
Finley
What are you talking about?
I spot her standing beside the fireplace, her hair glowing in the dim firelight, curls falling over her bare shoulders, splashing onto the top of her dress. The dress hugs her body until it flares out from her waist, the front shorter than the back, showcasing her sculpted thighs. Black boots reach above her knees, tied strings hanging in the back. I swallow hard, managing to make my fingers type a reply to her.
Me
Look to your left.
Finley’s scrunched expression smooths when her gaze lands on me from across the room. For a singular moment, it’s the two of us—no music, no chatter, no one to distract us—then Finley’s head jerks to the right to Kennedy, who whispers something to her and smirks.
Finley
Apparently, we’re being too obvious ??
