Page 97 of Pucking Good Girl

“Of course,” I smile. “I’ve never really left Star Cove and never set foot out of California. Moving away must be exciting and scary at the same time. I know I complain about how nosy and overbearing my family can be, but if I moved away, I know I’d miss them.”

“That won’t be an issue,” Carissa says. “My little sister is applying to colleges in the East Coast, and my parents are moving too.”

That’s a surprise. “The Dean is moving?”

“Yeah, but do you mind keeping it between us for now? He’s accepted a job at an Ivy League college in the city, and my mom is happy as long as she’s near her daughters and there’s a country club within reasonable distance.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” I hug Carissa goodbye and find Sam waiting for me by the front door.

My bestie steps out with me, but stops on the stoop. “I was gonna give you a ride home, but it looks like I don’t need to.” She points out Macklin’s car idling by the curb.

Becks is riding shotgun, but he jumps out the second I approach.

His lips are soft and warm when he greets me and helps me into the passenger seat.

Once he’s settled into the back seat, Macklin drives off.

I’ve never seen the Shayba brothers smile so wide. “Did the link I sent you work?”

“It did,” Macklin chuckles. “We watched the whole meeting.”

“It was fucking epic,” Becks leans forward in the space between the two front seats. “I’ve never seen anyone being slapped by karma so hard.”

Macklin briefly squeezes my hand before negotiating the exit from campus. “We called Brett to check on him after the press conference ended.”

“You did?”

“He’s our dad’s best friend. He’s more like a second father to us.”

I get that. “Was he ok? He looked visibly upset during the press conference. I mean, it’s understandable.”

“Right now he’s focusing on damage control.” Macklin says.

“And on protecting his assets from any possible civil lawsuit that might result from Gen’s shady actions. He’s looking into taking her trust fund away for good.”

Macklin nods. “That shouldn’t be hard at all. Gen told me countless times that graduating from college was the main condition in the trust. She’s going to be expelled, and I doubt that any college will touch her with a ten-foot pole. But we’ve wasted too much time and energy talking about Gen. Talia is in the clear now, and I think we should celebrate. I already texted Tucker and Vaughn. They’re bringing the beer, and I was thinking we could order some pizza and kick it back on the deck.”

“Pizza?” Becks groans. “Again?”

“What’s wrong with pizza?”

I can see Becks’s eye roll in the rearview mirror. “Nothing. It’s just that you order pizza, like, five days a week. I would like to choose dinner too once in a while.”

They bicker about food choices all the way home. I don’t mind pizza. I’m staying out of the argument because I don’t want Becks to think that Macklin and I are ganging up on him. But pizza is one of my favorite foods, firmly in the top three.

Eventually, my two boyfriends turn to me to settle their dispute.

“Talia,” Becks asks. “Would you rather have pizza or tacos for dinner?”

And the problem is that my mind and my heart are stuck on the other, more important choice Macklin and Becker expect me to make. No matter how hard I try, I really can’t choose. “I love pizza, but I also love tacos,” I end up saying. “If it’s up to me, I’d rather have both.”

CHAPTER 24

THE CHOSEN ONE

Talia

Six months later, Star Cove Hockey Arena