My chest clenched, growing tighter until it was hard to breathe. I rolled out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Our eyes met as I swung the bathroom door back open and paused in the doorway.
“Do you have anywhere to be this morning?”
Bailey shook her head. “Not until after lunch.”
I moved close and touched her shoulder, stroking with my thumb. “Why don’t you try to get back to sleep? If I get a few more hours, I’ll be much more functional.”
Her expression was guarded, her eyes wary in a way I couldn’t interpret. I got back under the covers as she bit her bottom lip, assessing me. My breath stilled, the tension in my body growing with every second that passed. Somewhere along the line, something had gone wrong.
“Okay.” Setting her coffee on the desk, she stood. Then she padded over to the other side of the bed and slid in beside me. The blankets rustled as she adjusted the pillows and pulled the covers up over her chest until only her head poked out. “I was kind of cold anyway.”
“You could take a hoodie. They’re hanging in the walk-in closet.” James in my hoodie would probably be the only thing cuter than her in one of my shirts.
“Noted,” she said. “Next time.”
Next time. I guess that was a positive sign. But something was clearly wrong.
I shifted to face her. She turned her head my way, full lips parted slightly and breath soft. Her face was so fucking perfect that it almost killed me.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why can’t you sleep?”
“Just couldn’t stop thinking. Sometimes I wake up early when my brain is working overtime.” She rolled to her side, big hazel eyes locking on mine. “Why were you so upset about that text Luke sent to everyone?”
Couldn’t even attempt to dodge that question or deflect with humor, because I hadn’t just been upset. I had been livid. Still was. I wanted to shove that phone down his throat.
“Was it because you thought it might be true?” Her forehead crinkled. “Did you think I would do something like that?”
“No, not at all.” I fumbled inwardly, trying to find a non-pathetic way to phrase it. “I know you can handle yourself, but it triggered something protective in me. You’re one of my favorite people.”
Her lips curved into a small smile, her gaze softening. “Who are your other favorite people?”
“It’s mostly you, I guess. Not a big fan of humankind in general.” Maybe this was a little crazy, given the length of time we had been hanging out, but it was the truth.
“Ah,” she said. “Well, now you’re stuck with me.”
“Thank Gretzky for that.”
We fell silent for a moment, considering one another. Lying with her like this felt more intimate than anything I’d ever experienced. It made my heart ache a little, and I didn’t even know why.
“One more question.” Bailey looked away. She sucked in a breath and paused, the moment heavy, and then the words came out in a rush of air as she glanced back up at me. “Have you been with anyone since we started hanging out?”
There was another tug in my chest, because suddenly I knew this was what had kept her awake.
“I mean…” She winced. “I know it’s not my bus—”
“No,” I said. “It’s okay. But the answer is no, I haven’t.”
She eyed me warily, which kind of hurt. But I understood. I knew my reputation preceded me.
“Look,” I said, touching her cheek. “In the interest of total transparency, I haven’t been with anyone whatsoever since you and I started talking.”
Her brow creased. “Would you tell me if you had?”
The puzzle pieces continued to snap into place. She’d told me about Morrison and all of his shady-ass behavior the night we met. Disappearing for days, calls and texts from other girls late at night, flirting right in front of her face. Hockey knows I was no saint, but he was next-level trash for treating Bailey the way he had.
It stung a little to know she thought I would do those things to her. But I guess getting past that would take time.
“Have you ever known me to be anything other than uncomfortably honest?”
She gave me a half-hearted smirk. “Good point.”
“I’ll always give you the truth, even if you might not want to hear it.” I covered her hand with mine, squeezing, and laced my fingers in hers.
Her eyes dropped to my hand, then back up to my face. She bit back a smile, letting out a little huff of breath. “Okay.”
We fell quiet for a moment, and she scooted closer, nestling against my chest. I rested my cheek against her hair, inhaling the clean scent of her shampoo. She sighed as I ran my fingers up and down her arm, back and forth.
“I don’t want anyone else, James.”
“You don’t?”
“Not even a little,” I said, kissing the top of her head.
“Think you’ll be able to sleep now?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Think so.”
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER 22
OceanofPDF.com
PEOPLE YOU KNOW
Chase
After dropping Bailey off and giving her a not-so-brief goodbye kiss on the front step, I was flying way too high to return home and face the guys. I was so hopped up on hormones that I wasn’t sure I could carry on a coherent conversation. Hell, even driving was a little dicey.
Instead, I took a detour and grabbed a gigantic drive-through coffee before running a bunch of errands I had been putting off. With the good mood I was in, everything seemed a lot more tolerable, even the boring-ass drugstore. While out and about, I fought the constant urge to text James. I didn’t want to come off as clingy.
I was probably overthinking that one, but this was uncharted territory for me. I had no idea what I was doing. At all.
Then I hit my room for some earnest study time before our afternoon practice. So far, my increased effort had paid off—and admittedly, it was a lot less stressful living without an ax hanging over my head.
An hour into Economics of Sport, a loud bang at my door broke my focus.
“You ready?” Dallas bellowed. “Your turn to drive.”
We piled into my truck, and I turned on the ignition. I drew in a deep breath, bracing myself. The inevitable gears were coming any minute now, and I had already made peace with it. Bring on the teasing.
Dallas leaned forward, trying to catch my eye. “So, Bailey spent the night.”
I nodded. “Sure did.”
“You’re grinning like a lunatic,” Ty said from the back seat. “Just FYI.”
I stole a glance in the rear-view mirror. He was right.
“Can’t a man be happy?” I said, turning away to shoulder-check and easing out of the passing spot. “Damn, guys.”
He snorted. “Did you even get laid?”
“Not that it’s your business, but nope.” If I was this loopy now, I was going to be straight-up cracked out after that happened.
It was going to be great.
Fuck, now I was thinking about sex with James at the most inopportune time.
Dallas leveled his icy-blue stare my way, snapping me back to reality. “I can’t believe you have a girlfriend. That’s wild.”
“I don’t know if she’s my girlfriend.”
But somehow, I felt like a gigantic asshole saying that. It wasn’t like that would be a bad thing.
Oh, shit.
I really was in deep.
“Dude,” he said, laughing. “She definitely is.”
“Like you’re one to talk.” I waved a hand in his direction. “You and Shiv have been dancing around that issue for way longer.”
“I don’t know.” Dallas shrugged, leaning back in the black leather passenger seat. He quieted, looking stung by my remark. “That’s on Shiv, man.”
“Really?” Ty and I said in unison.
“Yeah.” He frowned and glanced down at his phone, his jaw tight. “We’ve talked about it, but she didn’t want to slap a label on it. Ball’s in her court on that one.”
Weird. The number of chicks who would love to tie Dallas Ward down—both figuratively and literally—could line a city block. What was the holdup?
Then I wondered whether Bailey felt the same way as Shiv. Did she want to put a label on it? Should we put a label on it?
OceanofPDF.com
BAILEY