Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 131271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Shawn: Can we talk?
Her response comes faster than I expected.
Riley: I’m working. Give me twenty minutes.
That’s enough time to get to her building if I hurry. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I stride out of the training facility, only pausing for a quick conversation with the janitor, who’s always so friendly and appreciates a quick exchange about our plans for the next game.
I toss my bag in the trunk of my car and speed-walk across campus, wanting to arrive early so Riley’s not waiting around for me. Sex photos are bad enough, but combine them with lateness, and that’d be like rubbing salt into the wound.
Waiting is torture, and the cold bites at my skin like it’s holding its own grudge against me. Three times, the door opens, and I brace myself, and three times, other students, startled at my strange response to them, exit the building. When Riley eventually appears, she spots me immediately and makes her way over. She’s wearing a casual blazer over a fitted top with her hair pulled back into a smart style that makes her look older and more professional. Despite the anxiety churning in my gut, I think she looks incredible.
“So,” she begins, folding her arms across her body, already hostile. “Do you want to tell me what’s happening, or should I just Google it like everyone else?”
She knows. Shit. I didn’t even have the foresight to think through what to say, and my nerves force my default mode to the surface. My face twists into a grin, and accompanied by the shrug, I know I’m flying toward a disaster I can foresee but can’t stop. “I don’t know what to tell you. Some old hookup got bored and decided to make me famous.”
“Shawn.” Her tone is sharp, cutting through my facade. “This isn’t a joke.”
“I never said it was.”
With her grim expression growing grimmer, my smile fades.
“Do you know how humiliating it was to have my colleagues discussing your body and brainstorming all the ways we could deal with this terrible exposure? Shawn Drayton scores more off the ice than on. He’s so used to being a triplet, he didn’t realize he wasn’t seeing double. Bench him for the chaos, or applaud him for scoring twice? He’s great at stopping pucks. Stopping his own loins? Not so much.”
She reels off the quips with a high, clipped voice, and I don’t understand why I have to bite back laughter. Jesus. What’s wrong with me? This is so serious, but my default has always been to lighten the mood. To play the joker. To hide my real feelings behind humor.
“I’m sorry,” I say eventually, but her expression remains dark.
“You don’t seem that sorry.”
I cover my mouth with my hand, squeezing to force away my nervous smirk.
“It was before,” I say. “Before us.”
“I know that.” She takes a sideways step and a break from looking at me before she turns back. “And I can’t even be mad because by being in a relationship with you and your brothers, I’m you in that picture but with an extra dude.” She’s not laughing, but keeping a straight face is killing me. “It’s just that you found out the picture was viral last night and didn’t call me. You didn’t even try to check on me. You left me to make this grim discovery and deal with the fallout alone… imagine if the roles were reversed. How would you feel?”
That chastens me because the thought of Riley in bed, touching, kissing, fucking anyone else levels me like a bulldozer. She’s ours. Mine and my brothers’. No one else’s. The words come out easily and with the seriousness they deserve. “I’m sorry.”
She blinks, then nods. “It matters how you handle things that can affect other people, Shawn. It isn’t something you can laugh off.”
“I know.”
“You don’t take anything seriously.”
“I do.” I run my hands through my hair, struggling to keep it together. Is she going to tell me she’s done? I’m too immature and thoughtless, and she’s not interested. Panic grips me with icy palms that chill enough to send a ragged shiver through me. I look away, the knot in my chest tightening. She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t understand what it’s like to doubt everyone you ever get close to because you don’t believe you’re worthy of their loyalty. She doesn’t know what it’s like to want a connection but have to push it away the moment it takes root. “You deserve better,” I mumble.
“Damn right, I do.”
I jerk back my head like she slapped me, hearing what I feared she’d say. Instinct drives me to seek distance, step back, and harden my heart before she can slice into it like Lucy did.
“I deserve your honesty, Shawn, even when it’s hard. I deserve for you to put me first in a situation like this, not yourself.”