“Okay,” I chuckle. “That’s fair.”
She hooks her arm through mine. “Come on. Let’s go steal Stacey and head to lunch. We’ll figure this out.”
I nod and let her lead me down the hall toward the physical therapy offices, though in the back of my head I can’t forget that when I go home tonight, Zander will be there, invading my space and ready to get on my last nerve.
CHAPTER EIGHT: WILDCARD
ZANDER
My mind is buzzingafter practice as I get dressed and ready to take off for the day. The rest of the guys are chatting excitedly about the ICON articles… and about Rylee.
Beautiful, wild, infuriating Rylee. A goddamn Wildcard.
“Jensen!” one of the guys calls out. “Wasn’t that girl from ICON at your wedding?”
Looking up from his locker, Jensen replies, “Yeah, she’s Grace’s friend.”
“Dude, why don’t I remember her?” someone else asks off-handedly.
“Seriously?” another voice responds. “She was one of the bridesmaids, dude.”
“Honestly, that whole night is a blur.”
Thank God most of the guys don’t remember Rylee. Everyone on the team was invited to Miami for the wedding, but by the time I took her back to her room, they’d all either called it a night or were so wasted, they wouldn’t have noticed a naked Margot Robbie walking among them. This situation would be unbearably humiliating if anyone knew Rylee and I hooked up, but nobody has any clue it seems… including her.
Once I’m dressed, I grab my duffle and get ready to bolt out of the locker room, but Carson steps in my path, looking sheepish.
“Hey, buddy,” he begins.
I glower at him. “Hey.”
“Look, I’m really sorry about the mixup with the apartment,” he says with a heavy sigh. “Honestly, I’m pissed at Grace. The apartment’s mine, not hers. But because I had originally rented it for her, she thinks she can invite whoever she wants to stay.”
At that moment, Jensen strolls by and holds up his hands when we look at him.
“Nope,” he says as he continues on his way. “Not touching sibling disputes with a ten foot pole. Happy wife, happy life.”
“Coward!” Carson calls after him. Jensen flips him the bird without looking back.
“It’s all right,” I tell him when he turns his attention back to me. “Really. I’ll start looking for a new place right away.”
“Ugh, I feel so bad,” Carson groans. “I can’t imagine how awkward it must have been for you guys last night.”
“Well, she did try to kill me with a lamp while her demon cat attacked my leg… so, you know, a little awkward.”
Carson bursts out laughing at that.
“Holy shit,” he gasps, wiping literal tears from his eyes. “That sounds awful… I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, you seem real choked up about it.”
He continues to heave with amusement as we make our way out of the locker room together. When we reach the hallway, his phone starts to buzz and he digs it out of his pocket.
“Oh, text from Sky,” he murmurs, swiping his thumb over the phone’s screen. “Huh… guess the girls are all hanging out at my place tonight. I have been ordered to hang out with you and stay away.”
“Lucky me,” I say.
“Your sarcasm is not appreciated.”
