Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 132951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“Just throw gasoline on the fire, why don’t you?” Mildred mutters with an eye roll.
“The fuck?” Flip looks like his head is about to explode.
The elevator doors slide open, and half my team and their significant others fill the hall. Their timing couldn’t be more perfect.
I turn to look at all of them. “Mildred and I are engaged.”
CHAPTER 6
DRED
Connor’s timing could not be worse. My friends pile out of the elevator as he makes this announcement. Rix is carrying a churro cheesecake, and her husband, Tristan, has a cooler, also likely full of delicious things made by Rix.
Dallas and Hemi, Lexi and Roman, Hollis and Hammer, Essie and Nate, and Tally all wear matching confused expressions. Only Ash and Shilpa are missing, but Shilpa just had a baby, so the Palaniappas get a pass on fajita night. The men of the group are current and recently former Terror hockey teammates—except for Nate, who is one of Tristan’s younger brothers—and the women are my Babe Brigade. They’re the only real family I’ve ever had, and I’m about to drop a significant bomb on them. Here’s hoping they can handle it.
“Am I high? Did Connor just say you and he are engaged?” Rix’s eyes are saucers.
“The fuck, man?” Hollis shoots daggers at Connor with his eyeballs. “When are people going to stop stepping on my damn toes?”
Hammer squeezes his arm and whispers something to him. Probably reassurance. He’s been waiting to pop the question while everyone around him gets married.
“This is a joke, right?” Flip looks like he’s on the verge of something not good.
“It’s not a joke.” Connor looks Flip dead in the eye as he leans down and kisses my cheek.
His lips are soft and warm, fingers flexing gently on my shoulder. I’m annoyed at the thrill that shoots down my spine. I give him what I hope is a scathing look. “Can’t resist lighting the match, can you?”
“Just playing my part, darling.” He winks. “I’ll be in touch.”
And with that, he slips past everyone and disappears into the elevator, leaving me to deal with my very confused friends. Fucking Connor Grace. Why can’t he be the nice guy who sits next to me at Callie’s hockey games? I take a deep breath. He’s fixing your life, I remind myself. You probably should have asked him to stay. And needle Flip? Not a great idea.
It seemed like a fantastic idea in the moment, but how the hell am I going to explain this?
“I think we should move this into Flip’s apartment,” Rix suggests. The before he blows a gasket in the hallway is implied.
Lexi slips between the others to join me, worry etched on her pretty face as she threads her arm through mine. She’s pregnant and showing and still acting as a barrier between me and Flip and everyone else. Aside from Flip, Lexi is my best friend.
She’s married to Roman Forrest-Hammer, formerly Hammerstein, the Terror’s recently retired goalie. Lexi understands loss. She became the legal guardian to her sisters Callie and Fee when her mother and stepdad were killed in a boating accident a couple of years ago.
“Is everything okay?” she asks.
I nod. “I’ll explain.”
We file into Flip’s apartment. He’s already pacing with his hands in his hair. “How long has this been going on? How can you be engaged to that assclown? Why would you commit yourself to someone like that?” He spins to face me. “Why him?”
Flip knows me better than anyone. Of course he’s upset.
Before I can respond, he fires another question at me. “Is this some kind of revenge plan on his part?”
I cross my arms. That Connor’s world and mine overlap should be wildly implausible, but I’m still a little offended. “Because he obviously can’t be truly in love with me, is that what you mean?”
“He doesn’t deserve you!” Flip shouts. “He’s malicious. He always has been! He’s going after the people I care about!”
If that were really true, it wouldn’t be me Connor went after, it would be Tally. But Flip isn’t ready to pull himself out of Denial River yet.
“Are you saying I’m not strong enough to stand up for myself in the face of coercion?” I press.
He continues to pace the room. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Aside from the sandwich incident, he’s actually a decent guy,” Nate says.
“Don’t take his fucking side!” Flip snaps.
Tally steps in front of him and places a hand on his chest. “This isn’t helping.”
I sigh. I expected a meltdown. But Flip is already in a spiral, so I need to recalculate. He’s not reasonable enough to be given the truth and hear it. And beyond that… “You know what? I don’t owe you or anyone an explanation. Not everything is about you, Flip.”
He spins around, and his anger melts as his face changes to a mask of guilt and regret. I’ve said this exact thing to him before—when his sister, Rix, and his best friend, Tristan, were hate-turned-love fucking behind his back.