“For what?” I raise my eyebrow in confusion at his response.
“Did you not check your messages? Henley’s calling a team meeting. We have to be there in thirty minutes and we still need to pick up Blake.” I can’t help but notice his heavy sigh.
“What’s the meeting about? Did he say?” he asks as he stands from his desk, moving across the room to his nightstand, where his phone is plugged into the charger.
“It’s about the tension on the team. I’m sure you can figure it out for yourself.”
“Fucking great. More of my love life being put on display for the whole team. Wasn’t Blake’s rejection punishment enough?” Chase mumbles under his breath and it takes everything in me to keep a straight face.
“Well, you were the one who made the grand proclamation of love in front of the whole team.”
“Yeah, that didn’t exactly go well for me. All it did was drive us completely apart.” He slides the phone into his pocket and picks up his jacket off the bed. “Let’s go and get this over with.”
I step back, allowing him space to leave his room, and follow behind him down the hall.
“Who’s driving?” he asks, not even looking back at me. “Let me check if Max needs a ride.”
“I will. I’m sure if he did, he would’ve asked.” God, I hope that works. Or else I’m going to have to come up with something to keep him from trying to call him.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
I blow out a breath of relief, locking the door behind us as we exit. I click the remote on the keys, unlocking the truck doors for Chase. He gets into the passenger seat, no doubt making sure there’s no way Blake can sit beside him.
“Have you talked to Blake about where the two of you stand?” I ask him as I slide in behind the steering wheel.
“What’s there to talk about? He made it clear. I was a mistake. One he regrets making. There’s nothing else to say.” He clips his seatbelt in place, then lets his head fall back against the seat as he gazes out the window.
“You know he didn’t mean it. He was upset. He felt like you were ashamed of him, wanting to put him in the closet, and hide what you are to each other.”
Chase’s head swings in my direction. His lips are firmly pressed together as he glares at me.
“Are you siding with him? He fucking got pissed and went out and cheated on me instead of trying to talk to me about it. I’m your damn brother, Carter. Where’s the loyalty?”
“You have my fucking loyalty. No matter what. All I’m asking is for the both of you to put aside your anger and just talk.” I grip the steering wheel tighter, my knuckles going white. I need to get myself together or I’m going to ruin what I’m about to do. “I’m sorry. I just want the both of you to be happy, and I know being together will do that.”
He doesn’t say anything. I can see him looking at me out of the corner of my eye, but I don’t say anything more. We still need to get Blake, and then I need to get both of them in the damn locker room. This insane plan of mine has to go off without a hitch. They have to repair their fractured relationship before we can pursue fixing the one with Ginny.
She’s it for me. Mom always said I’d know it when I found the woman I wanted to spend eternity with. My only thoughts would be of her and nothing else would be important. From the time my eyes open until they close at the end of the day, my only thoughts would be of her. It’s what I have with Ginny.
We spend the rest of the ride in silence. Neither of us utters a word until we pull up in front of Blake’s building. He’s standing underneath the awning, his back leaning against the brick wall as he scrolls through his phone. He’s so into whatever he’s looking at, he hasn’t noticed us as we pull up to the curb. Honking the horn, he lifts his head, flashing a smile as he slides his phone into his pocket. Pushing off the wall, he heads in our direction, climbing in the truck behind Chase.
“Any clue why Henley’s calling a meeting today? Isn’t the rink shut down for the weekend?” Blake asks, shutting the door, then taking hold of the seatbelt, clicking it in place.
“Us,” Chase answers, his voice hard and full of anger.
“Oh,” is all Blake has to say before we all settle into an uncomfortable silence. This is going to be a long ride to the rink, especially with the both of them hating being in the same space.
It takes fifteen minutes to get to the rink and Chase sits upright, his eyes rapidly scanning the parking lot before he turns to face me.
“Are you sure this is where we’re supposed to be? There’s no one here,” Chase asks, already pulling out his phone, taking his first look at the message Henley sent.
Shit! The one fucking thing I forgot to account for. Luckily, I see Henley’s car sitting right in front of the door.
“Guess we’re just early for once in our lives. But look,” I point in the direction of the door. “Henley’s car is right there.” I pull into the empty spot beside him and slowly let out a breath, waiting to see if either of them is going to say something back in response.
They don’t.
I turn off the truck and we all get out, heading in a single file line toward the door.
