“Logan? What’s going on?”
“Hey, Uncle Trevor,” I say, grimacing. “I have a favor to ask.”
“I can’t get over how good these seats are.”
I glance over at Lexi, who has been grinning from ear to ear since we set foot in Leighton’s hockey arena twenty minutes ago. Willow, who is on her other side, nods in agreement.
“I don’t think I’ve ever sat this close.”
Rolling my eyes, I mutter, “Glad the two of you are enjoying yourselves.”
Lexi shoves my shoulder, and I instantly bark out a sharp, “Hey!”
“Well, would you quit being such a sourpuss? We’re basically front row to watch your boyfriend kick some Blackmore ass, and you’re acting like you’d rather swallow a pair of rusty kitchen scissors.”
Oh, if only she knew how accurate that sentiment is.
If I can be grateful for anything, it’s my uncle actually having three tickets to give me. Being here with the two of them is a helluva lot better than being here alone.
“Just because I’m dating a hockey player doesn’t mean I’m over all…this,” I say, gesturing vaguely around the arena.
I don’t try to explain more, but I know I don’t have to. Lexi gets it. One of the many things she and I bonded over was the curse of older siblings becoming professional athletes; hers in the MLB and mine in the NHL. Their success tends to sour the whole experience, though I’m fully aware I’m much more cynical about it than she is.
“It’s definitely not easy, that’s for sure,” Willow muses, her gaze fixed on the players doing these weird cat-like stretches on the rink.
I blink a couple times, looking at her with confusion until…
“You know, sometimes I forget your brother played college football,” I tell her.
“And apparently that my brother-in-law still plays professionally for New England,” she teases, a little smirk on her lips. “Though, I don’t know how you’d forget the reason I avoid athletes like the plague.”
I scoff. “Oh, I get it. And believe me, you’re preaching to the choir.”
“Not anymore, apparently,” Lexi chimes in, grinning. “Now you’re a turncoat, just like me.”
I don’t miss the way Willow watches me intently, like she just caught me slipping up. Which, come to think of it, she kinda did.
Shit.
Camden’s right. If anyone is gonna blow our cover, it’s me. Which means I gotta step it up a notch and make this relationship believable.
“No, yeah. You’re right,” I amend quickly with a tight smile. “Guess I found the right person to break the rule for.”
“Should we all be so lucky,” deadpans Willow, causing Lexi to laugh.
The light and airy sound wraps around my heart and squeezes like a vise, andfucking Christ,I need to get a goddamn grip. This is just embarrassing.
“It’s not all that bad, you know; dating an athlete,” she says, oblivious to my internal chiding. “You just gotta get past the trauma of being related to one. After that, it becomes pretty fun.”
Yeah, unfortunately, my trauma is a lifetime’s worth. Multiple generations’ worth. That’s not the easiest thing to forget.
“You say that like it’s nothing.”
She shrugs. “I mean, when I first started dating Wyatt, it was definitely hard. Baseball was so tainted by Keene and his success for a long time. And unlike you and Oakley, I have a pretty goodrelationship with my brother.”
I nod before asking the million-dollar question.
“What changed?”
