Interesting… But more so, Mason looks like he’s ready to throttle him.
Not sure if this has happened before, but I make a mental note to mention it to Luke. We don’t needZanie’santics to wreak havoc with the family dynamics we have with the team and staff. We’ve worked too hard to recover from the scandal last year.
Ethan grabs my shoulder and leans in so he can whisper in my ear, “Did you let her win?”
I shove him off. “No, you bonehead.”
Although I do feel a slight pinch of guilt that I had considered it, but Bree did this all on her own. She deserves the win.
And I intend to tell her that. I walk toward their group. Bree’s back is to me, but her head is down. Mia, Sophie, and Lily stand around her, their smiles shifting to something else as I step closer, catching a glimpse of her phone.
A text pops up.
Chase: I’m glad you came around. This will be good for both of us, don’t you think?
I freeze in place, heart pounding so hard I can hear it in my ears. Is she getting back together with him? How could she do that after everything that creep did to her?
Sophie notices me standing there and quickly pushes her hand over Bree’s phone. “Did you come to congratulate our girl?”
The happiness I felt for Bree’s win turns cold in my chest. I force a smile when I’d rather grab her phone and toss it at the dartboard. Then I’d revel in watching it smash into pieces on the floor, joining what’s left of my hope that I could ever make her see me as more than a friend.
“Of course. She got lucky, I guess.” I hate myself for the barb, but I’m barely holding in my anger at this point.
Bree glares at me. “Never imagined you as a sore loser.”
With a shrug, I turn away, tell the fellas I need to go, and then leave the bar, agreeing with Bree’s statement every step to my car and on the ride home.
Because she’s right, I am a sore loser. More than she’ll ever know.
Chapter Twenty-Six
BREE
I still haven’t answered Chase’s last text.
Weary to the bone, I fall back on my bed. Harper’s thumping around, getting settled for the night. I’ll do the same as soon as she’s done. Rooming with her has worked out great, despite sharing a bathroom. As an only child, I never had to share one growing up—not until college when I had an assigned roommate. And I had my own place before moving to Sarabella.
We lingered at the bar for a while after the guys left. Thankfully, Mia and Sophie came separately, and Sophie offered Lily a ride home so she could stay longer, too. After swearing Harper to secrecy, I gave her a semi-brief rundown of the Chase Files so we could talk strategy.
At first, I thought Harper would find the Chase Files unbelievable. She’s so nice and innocent, but when I got to the part about Chase’s latest attempt to blackmail me, this fierce side of her showed up, telling Sophie to annihilate him. That’s when they filled me in on how Harper’s father treated her as GM of the Sun Kings. She totally understood, which made me love her even more. She understands what it feels like to be used bysomeone who supposedly cares about you. I guess you could say we’re bonding over our traumas.
After we brought Harper up to steam, Sophie helped me craft a reply to Chase, telling him I found a new contact—a photojournalist who freelanced for the magazine. All true. And that she would reach out to him to set up an interview. Also true.
When he didn’t text back right away, Sophie instructed me to share her contact information with him when he did. My own dread compelled me to ask if she was sure about doing this, because I knew how awful listening to Chase’s self-absorbed rhetoric was. She replied she couldn’t wait to tear the scumbag apart with a gleam in her eye that made me even more nervous.
But now I’m second-guessing everything—even my friendship with Wade.
The heat between us tonight was undeniable, I’ll say that. And unexpected. Wade’s never acted like that toward me before—sexy…flirting…
I recognized it, too, from the times I watched him flirt with a girl in high school or with the puck bunnies when he played in junior league. But never with me. That’s how I knew he wasn’t into me, so I pushed those feelings away until they vanished. Until I only saw Wade as my best friend.
But what if thosefeelingsnever went away? How else can I explain the intense emotions I’m experiencing now? They seem so sudden, yet familiar at the same time.
A shiver runs through me as I remember how Wade leaned in to tease or taunt me during our darts faceoff, his lips grazing my ear as his warm breath caressed my neck. His clean, spicy scent wreaked havoc with my resolve to keep us in the friend zone. As much as I love how the girls have encouraged me to take the risk and made that crazy spreadsheet to help, I still feel an intense need to protect our friendship. But after tonight, I don’t know anymore.
Wade lost despite his efforts to unhinge me. I’m sure he only did all that to mess with my game, which only made me more determined to win. He always knew how to bring out my competitive side.
But the way he left…
