“Yeah,” she admits and sniffs again before walking to the sink farthest from me.“I will leave you alone.I just gotta wash my hands.”
She pumps the soap dispenser.
“Are you okay?”She doesn’t answer me as I get my second skate off and slip off the counter, propping it next to the other one against the wall.And then it hits me.The similarity.She’s got the same cheekbones as Landon Casco and his eyes, too.Grady’s words about staying downtown to meet her come floating back.“Are you Landon Casco’s sister?Lola?”
She bristles and catches my eye in the mirror.“Yeah.”
“I’m…” It’s not the first time I don’t like telling people who I am.The news of my “incident” spread far and wide, and people now recognize my name for all the wrong reasons.Lola will definitely know it since she’s a Casco.“I’m related to Grady Garrison.”
“That doesn’t narrow it down.”She blinks her big blue eyes with thick dark lashes.I can’t help but notice.“Oh fuck.You’re Theo Richard.”
She walks swiftly to the paper towel dispenser and yanks off a piece.Her gaze goes everywhere but me.
“I’m sorry.For what happened… on that video.”
“For what you did?Drunkenly outing him?”Lola says flatly.
“Yes.For that.”
She tosses the paper towel into the wastebasket.“You apologized to him, I’m told, and he has no hard feelings.That’s what matters.”
Her gaze moves to me as she reaches for the door handle, and she seems to notice my scars.The one from the compound fracture on my left bicep is particularly gruesome, and I know it.Her face softens a little, and she finds my eyes.“Can you do me a favor and not tell Grady I was crying?Or anyone?”
“Are you okay?”I ask the question she’s yet to answer.“He said you were breaking up with your boyfriend.”
“Pete isn’t my boyfriend.He never was.I wish they would understand that,” Lola replies and runs her hands through her hair self-consciously.
“He made you cry?”
“No.It’s stress tears because…” She sighs.“I can’t seem to make him leave me alone.He is like… I don’t know… impossible.It was never a relationship.It was supposed to be a fling.Anyway, I made it very clear this time.”
“Are you sure?”I ask.“Dudes like that… they usually need to hear it from more than one source.I bet Grady and Landon could help you explain it to him.”
Lola pushes her shoulders back and juts out that pretty little chin.“I don’t need their help.Or your advice.Thanks anyway, though.”
She yanks open the door and leaves.
Chapter5
Lola
Randie is out like a light before I even get her in her crib.I consider just keeping her on my shoulder and sitting in this rocking chair until the sun comes up, but I shouldn’t.And I can’t.Landon, Callan, and Grady will all worry.They already think I’m being a bit insane.So I lay her gently in the crib, press a kiss to my fingers before pressing them to her forehead, and then quietly inch out of her room.I leave the door ajar and head to the living room, where the guys are digging into the fresh fruit flan I picked up at my favorite vegan bakery in Portland.
“My god, Lo, this is to die for,” Landon raves as I walk past him at the table and grab a fork and plate from the kitchen.
“It’s vegan and as healthy as a dessert can be.Wouldn’t want you guys to fail out of training camp or whatever.”I cut myself a slice and head into the dining room, dropping down in the seat next to Callan.
“How did the breakup go?”Callan asks.
I chew longer than I need to and decide to change the subject swiftly.“Uneventful.You know what was eventful?Finding Theo Richard in the bathroom at the Riptide’s rink afterward.”
Landon and Callan’s jaws both go slack.Just as I suspected, they didn’t know he was practicing at their team rink, which also means they don’t know the rest of what Grady explained to me on the ride home.That means talk of my love life has definitely been tabled.Thank God.I take another bite and pretend not to notice the WTF glare Grady flashes me.
My brothers snap their heads to the giant ginger, who huffs and puts down his fork.“I invited him to practice a little while I waited for Lola.Coach suggested it.He knew, from my aunt and uncle, that Theo’s living in Portland now.”
“Why would Coach want him to skate at the rink?I thought Theo was retired?”Callan questions, and his eyes, the same color as mine, get wide as he waits for an answer.
“He didn’t retire, he just didn’t find a team to take him,” Landon clarifies, and then his gaze shifts to Grady.“Or has that changed?”
