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)
His choices had made it difficult for them to be honest with him. And his reaction now is doing the same for me. We stare at each other, our friends gathered around us, not taking sides, not judging, ready to step in if they’re needed. God, I love these people. They’re more than enough reason to go through with marrying Connor. Besides, I’ve already signed the paperwork, and I have a feeling getting out of it would cost more money I don’t have. Connor doesn’t seem like the type to half-ass something like this.
Flip raises his hands. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just… I’m shocked. I didn’t see this coming. At all.”
“I don’t think any of us did,” Hemi, the head of Terror PR and one of the Babes, adds.
I seriously hope I haven’t made her season impossible with this new development. Flip and Connor were at least civil at the end of last season. Fingers crossed they don’t go back to fighting in the locker room over their teenage stupidity—or this.
“I know.” I glance around the room. “Connor and I both go to Callie’s games.” It’s true, even if it has little to do with why I’m in this position.
“So you’ve been secretly dating each other?” Flip asks, the hurt in his voice slicing through me.
Lying will just make this more difficult, so I carefully step around the truth. “We know each other better than any of you realize.” Maybe even better than he and I could have known. “Connor and I have our reasons for getting engaged.”
“This sounds like a business transaction, not a marriage,” Flip says.
I can barely meet his forlorn gaze. Flip has deep convictions about love and marriage and what it all means. “I need you to set aside your personal feelings about all of this and just…support me, okay?”
“Are you in trouble?”
“No.” Not anymore, provided Connor follows through. I get the sense he isn’t someone who doesn’t keep his word.
“So you’re not in danger?” Flip presses.
“No. I’m not in danger.”
“And this isn’t coercion on his part?”
“You know I wouldn’t let that happen.” I’ve been forced into enough corners in my life. This one I can confidently navigate without falling on knives.
Flip nods slowly, shoulders deflating as he exhales a heavy breath. “This is something you want?”
“It’s the right thing to do,” I reply.
“You didn’t answer the question,” Flip presses.
“It’s what I want. He has a big heart. You’ve seen him with Callie.” None of it is a lie.
“He’s stepped up for us in the past.” Tristan wraps his arm around Rix’s shoulder. “In Aruba he took care of the hotel situation.”
“He took care of a lot more than that,” Nate mutters, but I think I’m the only one who catches it.
Essie hugs Nate’s arm and kisses his bicep.
I ran into Connor on the beach in Aruba after the wedding. He seemed particularly despondent, even with his bottle of expensive champagne and the pretty view. I didn’t push then, even though I wanted to.
Flip turns back to me. “If you ask me to support you, I’ll support you, no matter what. But if he fucks you over in any way, I’ll end him.”
I smile up at my best friend, grateful and sad. “I know you will.” I can’t tell him why I’ve made this choice. He’ll want to fix it, and I won’t risk it changing our friendship. Everyone in this room is too important.
I just hope Connor doesn’t give Flip another reason to hate him, for the health of his team and our friendship.
After a long look, Flip hugs me. “If you let me, I will always have your back, Dred.”
“I know,” I say, muffled by his chest. “Thank you. I promise this is the right decision for me.”
“I need a drink,” Flip announces. The guys follow him into the kitchen.
The girls converge on me.
“Are you pregnant?” Rix asks.
“No. I’m not pregnant.” And I don’t have plans to consummate the relationship even though I find Connor wildly attractive.
“Are you going to tell us what’s going on?” Hemi, who is usually the boss of us, asks gently.
“Eventually, yes.”
“But not right now?” Hammer clarifies.
“Not right now, no.”
“Have you secretly been in love?” Tally asks hopefully.
With Connor? No. But his grandmother is another story. “It’s a complicated situation. I promise all of you I want this, and that eventually, I will explain it all, but for now, I just really need you to be on my side.”
“Okay. We can do that,” Lexi pipes in.
The rest of the girls nod their agreement. This group has been through it over the past few years, from Hemi’s on-ice engagement to Lexi marrying the team goalie last season. We always have each other’s backs.
“He really is a good person,” Essie whispers.
I smile, even as that makes me wonder what she knows that other people don’t.