Chapter 32
BLAKE
THE BADMINTON TOURNAMENT IS AS intense as I expected it to be. If it were any other family, this might be a pleasant day of some sports, some beer, and some laughter. But this ismyfamily, and every single one of them is competitive to the extreme. Aggressively so.
My dad and Allie win their heat against my mom and Dean, which only intensifies the hostilities because Dean is the king of tantrums, and when Garrett and Hannah come from behind to knock out Gray and Stella in an upset for the ages, the entire playing field goes wild.
The day devolves into a barbecue and drinking session that ends at the firepit with all the younger people gathered on chairs and blankets, getting wasted and skewering marshmallows over the flames. I sit with Alex, Gigi, and Stella, drinking my third glass of white wine and catching up with the girls, while several feet away, Wyatt chats with Gigi’s husband and sneaks looks at me.
By the fire, Gray and AJ laugh their asses off about something. Beau sits on an Adirondack chair nearby, talking to AJ’s girlfriend, Tara, a petite girl with shiny blond hair and a Disney-princess face.AJ, Tara, and the Davenports arrived yesterday morning, courtesy of Wyatt, who grabbed them all from the airport, mostly because we needed an excuse for him to stop at the CVS first and pick up our Plan B.
Tara is currently perched on the edge of Beau’s chair, leaning in close every time she says something. She touches his arm too, more than once, which raises my hackles.
“Are you seeing this?” Alex murmurs as we watch AJ’s girlfriend flirt with Beau.
Beau, of course, doesn’t seem to notice how obvious Tara is being, because men are clueless. He’s just being his usual lovable self.
“Oh yeah. This girl is shameless,” Stella says, rolling her eyes.
I glance over. “Is she?”
I don’t know Tara well at all. She and AJ started dating freshman year at Briar, but this is her first time coming to Tahoe with him. He clearly adores her, though. He’s been doing things for her all day. Refilling her drinks, bringing her snacks, always asking if she needs anything.
“Shameless,” Stella confirms. “And AJ issucha simp for her, which she takes full advantage of. Ivy and I were talking about it the other day. Like, after two years, he still can’t figure out she’s using him.”
“Using him for what?”
Stella shrugs. “Clout, probably. His dad’s won two Stanley Cups.”
“Your dad won a cup too,” I point out. “She could’ve gone for Gray.”
“Nah, Tara isn’t stupid. Gray is a forever fuckboy,” Stella says of her brother. “Everyone knows that.”
I glance toward the fire at the dark-haired guy. With his bronzed skin, piercing eyes, and killer smile, Gray could get any girl he wants.And he does. Often. Stella’s right. Of the three Golden Boys, Gray’s the one I can never see settling down.
“If she’s angling for a ring on her finger and to marry into hockey royalty, she knows her best bet is AJ,” Stella says, cynic that she is. “Poor dumb Connelly. She’ll cheat on him first chance she gets.”
“I mean, she already has,” Ivy chimes in from the other end of our blanket. Beau’s sister is so sweet and unassuming, I sometimes forget she’s there. “Remember Christmas in Miami?”
“What happened in Miami?” Alex asks curiously.
“Oh shit, we never told you about that?” Stella grins. “So Ivy and her brother and AJ and Tara come to Miami with us over the holidays to spend a few days at my grandparents’ place. Tara says she has some sorority sisters down there and disappears for the entire day, supposedly to hang out with them.”
“But,” Ivy pipes up, “we already knew from stalking her IG page when she first got together with AJ that she has an ex who lives in Miami. We saw all their pictures before she deleted them.”
“So we’re all supposed to go out to dinner, but this bitch just disappears and then strolls into the restaurant forty-five minutes late—”
“After AJ’s been trying to text her for hours,” Ivy says.
“Smelling like cologne that definitely wasn’t AJ’s,” Stella finishes, “and thinking no one notices. Please.” She mimics a high voice. “Oh my God, you guys, traffic was crazy.”
Ivy giggles. “And Stella goes,traffic doesn’t leave bite marks, sweetie.”
Alex and I snicker. “You are such a bitch,” Alex informs Stella.
“Oh, I’m more than a bitch. I’m a total cunt,” Stella drawls, and we all howl with laughter. “Anyway, so she tells thisinsanestory about her sorority’s sister’s dog getting too excited when it was greeting her,and that’s why she had a bite mark on her neck.”
“And AJ’s just sitting there, nodding along,” Ivy says, sighing.
