She was hooked, and couldn’t seem to not watch his games, no matter how busy she told herself she was. Even Stella came over one night for takeout and they watched together, since Stella and Trick were still bed buddies, though Stella insisted that’s all that was going on between them.
“No emotional attachment?” Carolina had asked.
Stella laughed. “I’m too busy to be emotionally attached, and I’m pretty sure Trick is one of those girl-in-every-port kind of guys. Which suits me just fine, because my first love is dance, not men. And clingers aren’t my type.”
“Trick doesn’t strike me as a clinger.”
“He’s not,” Stella had said, opening up her fortune cookie. “Which is why I’m still sleeping with him.”
Carolina wished she could be so laissez-faire about her . . . thing with Drew. But it seemed so much deeper, so complicated between them. And maybe that was all in her head, and because Drew was tied into her fashion line. Maybe she was deliberately keeping him closer to her because of that.
She paused as she perused lighting and music for the show. Was that what she was doing? Was she keeping Drew interested because she needed him so desperately for her fashion show? Surely she wasn’t that superficial. Besides, Drew had agreed to do it before the two of them had ever slept together. And he had been the one to pursue her—rather diligently, as she recalled. She could have said no, firmly, and he still would have agreed to participate.
Wouldn’t he have?
She worried her bottom lip with her teeth and pondered.
No, that wasn’t it at all. She thought about him all the time. There was more to it than that. Though her thoughts about him were often jumbled up between hot sex, how he made her feel, an ache in the pit of her stomach, and how hot he was going to look in her clothes.
She laid her head in her hands. What a mess. She’d hate to think she was using him. Then again, hadn’t he done the same thing to her all those years ago?
Oh, please. She was so past over that now. He’d apologized, she’d forgiven. That was done and she wasn’t going to think about it anymore.
Her phone rang and she picked it up with a smile on her face.
“Hey, Stella.”
“I’m starving. Are you finished working for the night?”
“No, but I’m tired. And hungry, so I need to shut it down.”
“Great. How about pizza? There’s a hockey game tonight, the Travelers last away game before they head back to town. Want to watch with me?”
“Sure.”
“Great. I’ll bring the pizza. Say a half hour?”
“Sounds good. See you at my place.”
She wrapped up and headed home, stopping at the store down the street for a few things before going up to her apartment. She made it with five minutes to spare before Stella rang the bell. She opened the door to the smell of some very tantalizing pizza.
“My stomach is growling,” Carolina said as Stella came in.
“Mine, too. You’re lucky there’s any pizza. I almost ate it on the way.”
They grabbed plates and drinks, then sat in front of the television. The game was just getting under way. Carolina zeroed in on Drew, that tingle in her stomach prominent as always as he skated down the ice.
They ate and talked, mostly about the game.
“No wonder they’re losing,” Stella said. “There’s something wrong with Mangino. Does he have an injury?”
Carolina gave her a blank look. “Like I would know anything about the Travelers goalie?”
“Well, you have the relationship with Drew. I thought maybe you’d have some insider intel.”
“And you’re sleeping with Trick.”
Stella shrugged. “We’re just having sex. You and Drew have something else.”
Carolina blinked. “What do you mean, we have something else?”
“Oh, please. You brought him home with you for Christmas, and then he whisked you away for New Year’s. That’s a relationship, honey, not fuck buddies.”
“He’s also Gray’s best friend.”
“So? What does that have to do with your relationship with him?”
“That’s why I invited him to come to the ranch for Christmas.”
Stella took a big bite of pizza, chewed, and said, “Uh-huh.”
“Seriously. My relationship with Drew is the same as yours is with Trick.”
“Bullshit. It’s totally different. Your eyes light up when you talk about him. Even when you watch him on TV. It’s like you’re in love with him.”
And there was the word, the one she’d avoided even thinking about. “I am not in love with him.”
“If you say so. But you are in love with him.”
“Don’t tell me how I feel, Stella. We’re just having some fun. And we’re together a lot because of the fashion line.”
Stella waved her hand back and forth. “Denial, denial, denial. What are you so afraid of? He’s not a bad guy. He’s damn fine looking, seems to treat you well, you two have fun together, and obviously the sex is off the charts because you spend a lot of time in bed together. So what’s the problem?”