“Yeah.” Siobhan pulled her legs under her on the sofa and turned to face me. “Except most of my stuff was ruined because the smoke damage was so extensive. Rental insurance is covering it, but it’s still a pain to replace it all. Especially when I’m trying to live out of a suitcase in Dallas’s room.”
“I bet he doesn’t mind that part.” I picked up my chicken taco and bit into it. Heavenly. Between dinner out with Chase and takeout tonight, I was getting totally spoiled. It was a nice change from my usual broke college student fare.
She laughed, tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear. “All three of them have been good about it, actually. I think Ty is probably the least thrilled to have a girl around all the time, but he’s managing. Either way, I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
“Have you had the chance to look at any two-bedroom places yet?”
“I’ve got a list of potentials I thought we could look at.” She hesitated. “I hope I’m not getting ahead of myself. If you have anything in mind, we can totally go look at those too.”
I cringed. “Honestly, I haven’t even had the chance to look. I was pretty swamped this past week.”
Shiv gave me a look, the corners of her mouth quirking. “So I heard.”
“What did you hear?”
“Oh, Chase said you guys hung out twice. And he told me about your little skating date. I have to say, that’s pretty adorable.”
“It was fun,” I said, cheeks warming. “Until we got busted by the custodian in the middle of making out.” Sharing this tidbit was probably the margarita talking.
Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth, giggling. “Shut up. You did not.”
“Well, almost. More like a close call, I guess.” I shrugged. “Has Dallas ever taken you skating?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m a Florida girl through and through. I don’t think I could even stand up in skates, let alone use them. Ice is a spectator-only surface for me.”
“Florida? Wow, you’re pretty far from home, huh?”
“By design,” she said. “The ex and all that. I wanted a buffer several states wide.”
Jeez. “Does he still try to contact you?” I pried, but she’d brought it up, so it seemed safe to broach the subject.
“Sometimes.” She took a bite of her enchilada. After she swallowed, she expanded. “My social media is on total lockdown, which helps to some degree. But a while ago, he got my phone number from a mutual friend. He called over and over again in the middle of the night. You should have heard Dallas when he answered. I changed my number the next day.”
Siobhan pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I guess that’s why I’ve kept Dallas at arm’s length.” Then she gestured to the living room. “Obviously that hasn’t worked very well. I mean, I’m crazy about him. But I’m still a little gun-shy.”
“I get that,” I said. “Your ex almost makes Luke look good.”
Luke was an asshole, to be sure. And inexplicably hell-bent on messing with my life now that I had moved on. But her ex sounded next-level, like the kind that could be dangerous. The damage Luke could inflict was likely limited to spreading ridiculous lies and trying to annoy Chase to death. If anything, Chase was the bigger threat to him.
“I dunno. Luke sounds terrible.” Siobhan dipped a tortilla chip in guacamole. “I heard about that text message thing.”
“Right? Who does that?” I hummed. “Actually, it’s pretty on-brand for Luke. I think he was trying to cause trouble between Chase and me.”
She grinned. “Oh, I don’t think Chase is going anywhere. Not to sell him out or anything but…” She paused. “Okay, I’m selling him out a little, but he’s cute about you.”
I couldn’t fight back my goofy smile. “I can’t believe I used to hate him.”
“You did?” Shiv tilted her head questioningly.
“I thought I did, anyway.” I frowned. So much had changed recently that it felt like up was down.
“In your defense, he can be a total pain in the ass on the ice.” She laughed. “Dallas says he’s one of those players you love if they’re on your team and hate if they’re on anyone else’s.”
“Sounds about right,” I said, standing to put my empty plate in the kitchen. “Should we watch Love in Summer first or Accidentally Engaged?”
Siobhan shrugged. “Let’s work through the list alphabetically.”
“Binge-watching all of these under Dallas’s profile is going to mess with his Netflix suggestions,” I pointed out. Right now, his home screen was full of John Wick, stand-up comedy, and horror movies.
She giggled, taking another sip of her margarita. “That’s the best part. They’ll be notifying him about upcoming chick flicks till the end of time.”
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER 27
OceanofPDF.com
PART OF THE GAME
Bailey
I set my phone on Chase’s nightstand and slid beneath his covers, leaning against the wooden headboard. It was strange being in his bedroom without him; his presence permeated the room like a ghost. And the bed smelled just like him, infused with that intoxicating blend of his cologne and his natural scent.
Not that I’d been inhaling the pillowcase or anything.
Oh my god, I really liked him. It was terrifying.
A moment later, my phone vibrated. My stomach did a little twirl as I grabbed it, hitting the green Accept icon. “Hi.”
“Hey, baby,” Chase said, his voice deep and hypnotically suggestive. It did something to my brain—and other parts of my body. “What are you wearing?”
I laughed. “Are you drunk?” Somehow, I could tell by the lilt in his voice.
“I mean…” He trailed off. “Maybe a little.”
In the background, one of the guys yelled, “More than a little, you fucking lightweight.”
“Ignore Ward,” he said. “Lightly buzzed at the most.”
“Don’t you have another game tomorrow?” I shifted, pulling the soft gray comforter higher around my torso to combat the chill in the air. Chase was like a portable furnace; I was never cold when he was in the bed with me.
“It’s all good. I’m a machine.”
“I’m sure.” My gaze drifted across the room, landing on the white door to Chase’s walk-in closet. Then I remembered what he said about his hoodies. “Are you at the hotel?”
Sliding out of bed, I held the phone between my ear and my shoulder. I opened the closet, studying its contents for a second. Like everything else of Chase’s, it was neatly organized and broken into categorical sections. I pressed my lips together at the sight of it. He was so tidy all the time.
Reaching past the suits, I grabbed a white Falcons sweatshirt off one of the hangers and slipped it on. It was too big in the way that made it fit just right and broken-in enough to be soft and cozy.
“Yeah,” Chase said. “Some of the guys snuck out, but we stayed behind to have a couple beers here instead. Then I got to thinking about you in my bed, so here we are.”
I couldn’t lie; it put my mind at ease knowing he hadn’t gone out. Not that I thought Chase would do anything, but lots of guys with girlfriends hooked up on the road. Learned that one the hard way.
“The bed does seem awfully empty without you hogging all the space.”
Pulling back the covers, I crawled back under them and settled in. His bed was a dream. The mattress wasn’t too soft or too firm, the comforter was fluffy, and the pillows were clouds of perfection. It was so much better than my cheap IKEA setup.
“Me?” His laugh was deep, beckoning. “James, you’re adorable, but you sleep diagonally.”
He had me there; I was a chaotic sleeper. At home, I took up my entire double bed. I also tossed and turned so much that sometimes the edges of the fitted sheet came off the mattress. Though my sleep wasn’t as restless when I was with Chase; maybe because I had less space to sprawl out.
“I never told you what I was wearing.” I shivered, pulling the soft cotton cuffs of his sweatshirt so they half-covered my icy hands. I swear the guys kept the thermostat set to refrigerator. Maybe Shiv and I could turn up the heat a degree or two while they were gone.