“Honestly, Rio,” my brother pipes up from the seat next to me. “Stevie is much more interesting than I am. Trust me. You have the cooler one of the two of us on your plane.”
“EZ, you’re up, man!” Thompson calls from a few seats down, motioning towards another table of women. They’re beautiful, with bodies barely covered thanks to the Florida heat.
Their focus is locked on Zanders at the head of the table, something I’ve become accustomed to, but this is the fourth time tonight one of his teammates has tried to test him, and it’s getting kind of old.
“I’m good. Just like I said the last three times,” Zanders reminds them before chugging back his water.
“But why not?”
Zanders hesitates in his seat, his eyes quickly darting to mine before averting back to the guys. “Because I’m not partying tonight. So, I’m good.”
“Yeah, you never drink during playoffs, but that hasn’t stopped you before. Come on, EZ! Give the tabloids something to write about!”
Unfortunately, Maddison is already back in his room, so he can’t help Zanders out of this one.
“Zanders, let’s go! Teach us your ways!”
Zanders’ jaw tics in annoyance.
“EZ, boy! Do what you’re best at!”
“Let’s see it! We want a show!”
“For fuck’s sake! Let it fucking go!” Zanders’ palms land harshly on the wooden table as silence overtakes the rowdy group. “I have a fucking girlfriend, okay? And she’s right there.” He motions towards me, completely fed up and frustrated. “So please, for the love of God, shut the fuck up.”
My cheeks heat from the attention. Mouths gape in shock, eyes are wide, and brows shoot up from every guy around the table. Quiet voices stir, mainly from the hockey team, as stares bounce between Zanders and me.
He shoots me an apologetic smile, throwing his hands up in defeat.
Those whispers among the boys grow to shouts as both the rowdy hockey and basketball guys start clapping and cheering.
“EZ has a girlfriend!”
“And it’s our Stevie of all people!”
“Have you guys fucked on the plane yet?”
“Okay, that’s my sister,” Ryan interjects.
Zanders’ moment of frustration has dissipated from his face, replaced with a boyish smile that makes me melt.
I can’t imagine how freeing it must feel for him to tell people, and not only that but for his teammates to be happy for him. Maybe that’ll give him the boost of confidence he needs to know that whenever he decides to show the rest of the world who he truly is, they’ll still love him too.
“If any of you say shit, I’ll fuck you up,” Zanders warns, his typical commanding presence coming back real quick. “Stevie will get fired if word gets out. So, don’t let it.”
“No fucking way,” Ryan sharply curses under his breath from the seat next to me, his eyes glued to the door.
My gaze follows his to find a few of his old college teammates walking into the bar, most notably my ex.
Zanders must spot the blank look on my face because he trails my stare, and as soon as he turns around to the entrance, he takes off with lightning-quick strides.
“Oh no, no, no,” I mutter as I climb over the guys to my side, needing to get out of this booth before Zanders gets to Brett.
His muscular body is large and intimidating as I chase after his back.
“Evan fucking Zanders,” Brett taunts as soon as I grab the back of Zee’s white linen shirt, attempting to restrain him.
Zanders continues straight to the door, and I’m only slightly slowing him down by holding on to his shirt, but it doesn’t much matter because apparently, my boyfriend wasn’t the one who I needed to stop.
In a blink of an eye, Ryan charges past us, elbow cocking as he swings one heavy fist into my ex’s face.
The crack isn’t all that loud, but it silences the entire bar as Zanders and I pause dead in our tracks.
Brett grasps at his nose, the blood streaming past his fingers and onto the floor. “What the fuck, Shay!”
“That’s for my sister, you fucking piece of shit. And if you come around again when I tell you not to, the next hit you take will be for me.” Ryan turns towards his old college teammates. “Get him out of here.”
My brother’s anger is palpable, his chest rising as he turns back towards the table. “Fucking prick,” he mutters under his breath.
As Ryan passes by my boyfriend and me, Zanders holds his fist out, to which my brother proudly pounds.
Indy stops him in his path, halfway from the entrance to the table. “That was hot,” she drunkenly admits right before she keels over and releases every drink she had tonight all over Ryan’s shoes. “Oh God.” She slaps a palm over her mouth in embarrassment. “But that wasn’t.”
38
STEVIE
As soon as I get Indy back to her room with a glass of water and some Advil on her side table, I sneak back downstairs to meet Zanders on the beach. His overpriced shoes hang in his hand, and the bottom of his lightweight pants are cuffed to keep from dragging in the sand.
Thankfully, the shoreline is deserted this time of the night, allowing us some rare privacy outside of his penthouse. The only lights are those coming from the oceanfront hotels, but they’re not bright enough to illuminate the beach.
Carrying my sandals in one hand, I place my other in Zanders’.
“Let’s go farther away,” he suggests as I follow, my toes sinking into the sand.
The ocean breeze is perfectly cool, taking an edge off the Florida humidity.
“I can’t believe I spilled everything at the bar.” Zanders shakes his head. “I got frustrated, and I’m just tired of people not knowing about you.”
I swing my hand over, holding his forearm while my other fingers intertwine with his. “That wasn’t ideal, but I get it. You’ve got a lot of pressure on you to be someone you don’t want to be. Do you think the team will stay quiet?”
“They’re mostly afraid of me, so yeah, I think they will be.”
He squeezes my hand in his as we continue to walk down the empty beach, farther away from the lineup of hotels.
“Are you still okay with it? Us being a secret?” He looks down at me, hazel eyes full of concern.
“No,” I tell him honestly. “But this is what has to happen for now. I need my job, but more importantly than that, you need to get re-signed.”
“I called my PR team while you were upstairs. Just in case anyone else heard anything at the bar that could end up online. I also told them I was the one who punched Brett, so if that comes up, Ryan’s shiny image should stay perfectly intact.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
He pops his shoulders. “Kind of a win-win. It pushes forward the narrative Rich is trying to sell and keeps Ryan from looking like a bad guy. Plus, it probably makes my girlfriend swoon that I’m protecting her brother.”
I knock my hip into his thigh. “It does.”
“This spot looks good.” Zanders tosses his shoes to the side.
He takes a seat, legs spread wide with his hand reaching out, asking for me to sit.