Page 66 of Scoring Lessons

Anderson arched an eyebrow. “Why are you so jumpy?”

I grabbed a piece of toast and chewed thoroughly as I tried to come up with a white lie, because I couldn’t exactly tell my best friend what I was planning on doing.

Guilt snuck up on me out of nowhere. I may have been an idiot most of the time, but I wasn’t stupid. If he ever found out what I was doing, he was going to kill me. Or worse, be disappointed.

I hated disappointing him. Yet, it wasn’t enough to stop me, and I couldn’t even pinpoint why.

“I slept like shit last night, so I’m a little overtired right now,” I finally said after taking a sip of water.

Technically, not a lie. All I did was read some of the book then twist and turn as I replayed the conversation I had with Olivia in an endless loop.

Here I was again, coming up with another crazy idea to help her. I was going fucking insane. Being around Olivia made me reckless in a brave sort of way—like she was gravity and I was stupid enough to keep falling toward her no matter how many times I hit the ground.

Anderson grunted. “Same. I don’t sleep well when Kennedy isn’t around. But she should be arriving soon, actually. Some PR crisis they need her here for.” He checked his watch. “I rented a car to pick her up at the airport.”

“How romantic,” I deadpanned. He was one sappy motherfucker. I never thought I’d see the day. I also couldn’t believe he hadn’t proposed yet, because those two couldn’t have been more in love. It was humanly impossible. It was nauseating, but they made a lot of sense together, though they fought their attraction like hell when they fake dated last season. I’d like to think I helped them get there. But if you were to ask Henry, he’d deny it.

He rolled his eyes but then snapped his fingers as if remembering something. “Did I show you the book I saw Kenny reading the other day?” He grabbed his phone from his pocket to show me the cover. “Check this out.”

And what did you know? It was the same book Olivia was reading last night.

“Apparently, it’s a hockey romance.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I’m not going to lie, Kenny forced me to read like two chapters when I started teasing her, and I was hooked. I kind of see the appeal.”

“We should all read it,” I said because, apparently, I was officially losing my damn mind.

He tilted his head with a confused frown. “What do you mean?”

I shrugged. “We could start a book club with the guys.”

He barked a laugh. “There’s no way they’ll go for it.”

“Why not? Parker reads.” I waved my hand dismissively with a scoff. “We can easily convince the rest.”

He settled me with a dry look. “There’s no way we can convince Owens.”

“Valentina can, though.” I grinned.

He nodded, visibly impressed as he typed away on his phone. “I’ll order the copies right now.” Once he was done, he set his phone upside down and rested his elbows on the table. “What are you up to today?”

“Not much, since we’re leaving tonight.” Some of the other guys on the team had some endorsements they had to attend to, so we ended up staying an extra day even though we didn’t have a game today.

I was supposed to go on another practice date with Olivia, but now that I had the list, I wanted to start scratching things off. But there wasn’t much I could do. Most of them took some planning. If I was going to do this, I was going to make sure she had a memorable time. This was my opportunity to show Olivia the type of things she deserved. I’d been wanting the opportunity to help her get her spark back, and there was no question—this was the way to do it.

“Want to hang out with us? Kenny has to do a few things, but we were going to the beach afterward, maybe dinner.”

I gave him a flat look. “There’s no way you’re inviting me to be your third fucking wheel.”

“Sue me for wanting to spend time with my best friend.”

I narrowed my eyes without a word.

He let out a resigned sigh. “You seem kind of lonely lately. You sure you’re okay?”

Besides my future being up in the air? I’m totally peachy! Oh, and I’m going to start doing some things with your sister that you wouldn’t be too thrilled about. But I sure am excited!

That was what I would have said if I had some sort of death wish. Instead, I settled for, “I’m fine. I don’t need a pity invite.”

His lips tightened, the faintest crease forming between his brows. “It wasn’t a pity invite.”