Page 26 of Break Out

“Hey, Bri.” Aubrey hugs her sister and peeks into the carriage to say hi to her niece before turning and hugging Brielle’s husband.

He glances over at me, and I see the moment he registers who I am. Shit, this is going to be a long week if all the wedding guests are like this. So much for flying under the radar.

“Oh,” Aubrey says, stepping back to my side. “Devon, this is Brody, my boyfriend.”

I put out my hand to shake Devon’s hand, and he stares at it for a beat before taking it. “Shit. I’m a huge fan. I never thought I’d get to meet the Brody Thompson. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.”

“Wait, you’re a hockey fan?” Aubrey asks Devon. “How have I never known that before?”

He shrugs.

“You’ll have to get them tickets to a game, Brod,” Aubrey says, nudging me with her shoulder. I smile weakly and nod. I’m sure that even if I’m not playing for the Storm next season, Caleb or Cole would be happy to get me tickets.

“Oh, not me. Just him,” Brielle says, holding up her hands and shaking her head. “I don’t know the first thing about hockey.”

We all laugh. The baby starts fussing, and Brielle reaches down to soothe her.

“It’s past Anabelle’s bedtime, so we should go. We’ll see you in the morning,” Brielle says.

She pulls Aubrey into a hug and says something quietly to her. I can’t make it out, but I have a feeling it has something to do with me because she glances my way a couple of times. They finally head toward the elevators on the north end of the hotel, and we make our way in the opposite direction.

Aubrey yawns as we get on the elevator.

“Ready for bed?” I ask, even though it’s only a little after eight.

“Yeah.”

“What’d your sister say to you?”

She looks over at me, crossing her arms. “She said we need to make it more believable that we’re dating.”

I rear back. “What? You told her?”

“No, of course not.” The elevator doors open, and we step off on our floor. “She’s right, you know. We weren’t really acting like we’re dating. If Bri noticed in the five minutes we spent with her, everyone else will for sure pick up on it.” She pulls out her room key and opens the door to our suite.

“Sorry,” I mumble, stepping into the room and closing the door behind me.

“It’s not your fault.” She spins around to face me, and now we’re standing so close. Close enough for me to see the small scar above her right eyebrow that she got in high school when she fell off her bike. Faded now, but I know where to look for it.

She says it’s not my fault, but that doesn’t stop me from blaming myself. Add it to the list of other things I’ve screwed up recently.

One thing I refuse to mess up is our friendship, which is why I take a deep breath and step around her, needing to put distance between us.

Chapter twelve

Aubrey

Bri’s words echo in my head. “I find it hard to believe you and Brody are finally dating because that would mean you took your head out of the sky and admitted you have feelings for him. But if that’s the story you’re going with, you’re going to have to work a little harder to make it look believable. Because if Mom gets a whiff that this isn’t real, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

I hate that she’s right. I guess I assumed that since Brody’s teammates and their partners took us at our word, everyone else would. Add it to the list of things I’m stressing about.

It’s fine.

It’s fine.

Everything is fine.