“Speaking of things you’d rather forget,” Landon drawls, “how’s the whole porn career working out for you?”
My head whips around. “It’s not porn, it’s adult content, and frankly, it’s none of your business what I do.”
“Adult content,” he repeats, but there’s a bite to his tone. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”
“Yeah, like Leila’s necklace isn’t a sex collar,” Levi says, laughing as he watches the two of us.
“Shut up, Levi,” both Landon and I say at the same time, glaring at each other.
Landon takes a long sip of his juice, his eyes never leaving mine. There’s something in his expression I can’t quite read, like he has the audacity to be hurt and angry.
“You know, blocking us with no explanation was real mature,” he says. “We deserved to know why at least.”
“You deserved a lot of things,” I say. “An explanation wasn’t one of them. Not after what you did.”
“Whatwedid?” His voice rises slightly. “Abby, you ghosted us. You blocked us on everything. You walked away without a word.”
“Because there was nothing to explain,” I snap back.
Landon’s face darkens the moment he realizes I won’t budge on this. Whatever he was about to say dies on his lips; instead, he shakes his head and sets his glass down on the counter with more force than necessary.
“You know what, forget it,” he replies, his jaw clenching so tight I can see the muscle ticking. “Forget all of it. Enjoy your little content creation career, Abby.”
The way he says it—as if he’s disappointed in me or I’ve let him down somehow—makes my chest tighten in a way I absolutely refuse to acknowledge.
“Get out,” I shout.
He stares at me for a long moment, his blue eyes searching mine, like he’s looking for something I’m not willing to give him. Then he grabs what’s left of his juice and stalks out, the tension in the room dissipating the moment he departs, leaving behind only the faint smell of his cologne and the bitter taste of regret.
Levi lets out a low whistle. “Damn, that was intense.”
“Shut up,” I mutter, turning back to the sink and gripping the edge so hard my knuckles turn white.
I can still feel Landon’s gaze on me, and I absolutely will not think about the hurt I saw flash across his face before he left.
Chapter Five
Landon
I knew staying here would be a terrible idea, but Leila had insisted—and when my sister insists on something, you don’t have a choice in the matter.
Abby broke my heart in ways that can never be repaired.
She knew how important that day was for me and Levi. We were waiting for the call. The one that would change everything and determine if we made it. When we got back to the house after signing with the Wolves, she was gone. No note, no explanation, nothing. When we tried to call her, our numbers were blocked. She’d disappeared from social media like she had never existed at all.
Anastasia had warned us that openly sharing a girlfriend would be a shit show at that point in our careers. So Levi had agreed that he would walk away and let Abby and me be happy. But I would never have done that to him. We’re brothers, and I knew he loved her as much as I did.
So we talked to Abby and explained that we needed to keep things quiet until we proved ourselves in the NHL and showed the world we could handle the pressure and the attention. Anastasia agreed it was a good idea, saying it would give us time to see if a long-distance relationship even worked out before we derailed our careers. It seemed reasonable, though Abby didn’t see it that way and insisted that Anastasia wanted us for herself.
Once Abby ghosted us, I begged Leila to find out what was going on, to tell me something—anything—to help me understand. But she insisted she didn’t know, only that Abby had said we had broken up and it wouldn’t work, and we should respect that she was hurting.
SHE WAS HURTING.
How rich is that?
“So Leila called,” Levi says, setting down his weights with a grunt. “And she’s pissed.”
I set down my own weights and pick up a towel, wiping my face. “About what?”
