I creep into the dark bedroom and crack the door. Light and noise from downstairs filter in, but the hallway is empty.
I tiptoe back to the bathroom, where Jennie wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me in for a kiss.
“First orgasm of the new year. Solid six outta ten, Andersen.”
“Get outta here, sunshine. I rock your world night after night.” Linking my pinky with hers, I tow her into the bedroom. “I checked. The coast is—”
“Not clear,” Cara finishes for me, from where she’s standing in the doorway of the bedroom. “Those were the words you were looking for, right, Garrett?”
Behind me, Jennie cowers, pressing herself into my back, her face peeking out beneath my arm. Beside Cara, Adam’s jaw dangles.
“We-we-we…” Oh fuck. “We, uh…” Think, Garrett. Think! “We sanitized.”
Adam claps both hands over his eyes. “No, no, no, no. I can’t know about this!” He spins, dashing off down the hallway. He doesn’t make it far, based on the crash we hear, then the way his broken voice calls out, “Caraaa.”
“Yes, my sweet angel,” she shouts back, eyes on us. “I’m coming!”
Her smile doesn’t waver as her eyes pierce ours, one red fingernail tapping on the door frame. My entire life flashes before my eyes as I contemplate all the ways Carter is going to hurt me, torture me slowly without ever actually killing me, just so he can do it all again.
“We are so going to talk about this,” she finally says, simply, like this isn’t the last time I’ll have all my limbs, and with that, she turns on her heel and leaves us.
“So it’s over.”
“Over.”
Jennie takes my hand, towing me into the elevator. “Because Cara said she wouldn’t tell.”
I nod, pressing for the twenty-first floor. “She did.”
“Because she thinks it was a one-time thing.”
“She does.”
Jennie’s foot bounces. “So we shouldn’t push our luck.”
I follow Jennie to her door. “Definitely not.”
Her hand trembles as she jams her key in the lock, and when she finally gets the door open, she stares up at me. “So we’re in agreement? We’re done?”
“Done,” I whisper, leaning toward her.
“Totally done,” she murmurs, lifting her chin.
I bend my neck. “Done like dinner.”
Her breath ghosts over my lips, warm and sweet. “Stick a fork in me, I’m done.”
Jennie’s back hits the wall with a thud as we crash into it, the door slamming behind me. I kick my shoes off, ditch my coat, and don’t wait for Jennie to take her heels off before I tear her dress over her head and hoist her up to me, winding her legs around my waist.
“Not done,” I growl against her neck as we pinball down the hallway. “Not fucking done.”
“I think we broke Adam.”
“We definitely broke Adam.”
Jennie hands me a plate of cold pizza. “Will he be okay?”
I devour an entire slice before I answer, mostly because I need time to think. “I’m honestly not sure.” I tried talking to him outside, but he kept putting his hands over his ears and singing, I’m not listening, I’m not listening. He was pretty drunk. I might be able to pretend this was a figment of his imagination.
When I’m finished, I set my plate on the bedside table and yawn.
“Are you leaving?” Jennie takes my hand in hers, tracing the length of my fingers. “Could you stay a while longer? We could cuddle.”
A slow grin spreads up my face. “Cuddle?”
She lifts a shoulder. “If you want.”
“If I want, or if you want?”
“You.” She giggles, slapping my hand away when I reach for her waist.
I crawl toward her. “You know, you’re turning out to be a huge snuggle bear. Who woulda thought?”
“Am not.”
“Admit it, Jennie.” I knock her down to her back, straddling her hips as I loom above her. “You’re a cuddler. You like cuddling with me.”
“Nope.”
“C’mon, Jennie.” I nudge her jaw with my nose. “Admit it.”
“Never.”
For the second time today, my fingers descend on her rib cage, and I watch with pleasure as Jennie writhes below me, shrieking and giggling until she’s breathless.
Laughing, I hug her to me. “I can’t believe I was ever so scared of you.”
“Yes, clearly I need to get my fear factor back.” Jennie snuggles into my side as the tips of my fingers circle her shoulder blades, dancing down her spine, over the back of her waist. “Can I tell you something, Garrett?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t make friends all that easily. I have a hard time trusting people. I’ve learned to be okay with keeping my circle small, but you…you’ve made everything better.” She sleepy blue eyes stare up at me, showing me the vulnerability that lurks beneath them. “I think you’re my best friend.” She drops her gaze to my chest, cheeks radiating with heat. “It would really hurt me to lose you.”
Hooking a finger under her chin, I force her gaze to mine. I don’t know what happened to make friendships so challenging and unattainable for her, to make her trust a prized possession, but the fear is so real for her, the fear that I’ll just leave, that she’ll lose this all.
Is that why she’s refusing to see what’s right in front of her, what we might be able to have? Because she’d rather have me as a friend than nothing at all?
I can’t promise her forever, not when I don’t know what tomorrow holds for us, not when she’s not ready to go down the road that takes us from friends with benefits to something more. But I can promise her one thing.
“Best friends don’t lose each other, Jennie. I’ll be right here, always. I promise you that.”
CHAPTER 21
MY NAME IS GARRETT ANDERSEN, AND I HAVE A HOCKEY BUTT
GARRETT
“Damn, I look good.” Carter pivots, watching himself in the mirror. He tugs on the lapels of his tailored suit jacket. “I’d fuck me.”
He hands his phone to Emmett before he presses his palm to the floor-length mirror, sticks his butt out, and looks back at us over his shoulder. “Take a picture. Gonna send it to Ollie. Let her know what she’s in store for tonight.”
Emmett shoves a stool toward Carter. “Hike your leg up.” His head bobs as he snaps pictures. “Yeah, that’s good. Ollie’ll like that.”
Adam crosses his arms, watching the mini-photoshoot. “Damn, these pants are really good.” He gestures at Carter’s ass in his burgundy suit. “Doesn’t even look like you’re gonna split ’em open, Carter. I’m impressed.”
Carter holds his arms out and drops down to a squat, bouncing. “It’s all the stretch. They’re fantastic. Give it a try.”
We do, all of us. To be clear, it’s our entire team. All twenty-five of us are standing here, fully decked out in designer suits specifically tailored to athletes with muscular lower halves, dropping it low. We get called in for a ton of different marketing and commercial shoots, but I think this might be my new favorite. I look bomb as fuck.
“Fuck.” I place one hand on my thigh, the other on my left ass cheek as I lunge forward. “These are incredible. So comfy.” I sink into the stretch, feeling the burn in my groin, groaning. As a dancer, Jennie’s incredibly flexible. I’m not. She gets these ideas and I go along with them, but if I can be honest, keeping up with her is hard sometimes.
The photographer giggles, snapping my photo. “This is great.” Her raven hair is tied back in a tight pony that hangs halfway down her back. “Forget the posed photos; we should have just let you guys go for it. You’re all naturals.”
When I smile, she grins. Her name is Susie and I’m 99 percent sure she’s been flirting with me for the last hour, mostly ’cause mine is the only suit she seems to think needs to constantly be adjusted. She’s cute, but I haven’t said more than five words to her; there’s a saucy brunette occupying most of the space in my brain.