Page 16 of Wildest Dreams

“You’ll have to wait and see,” I whisper, smiling when he drops his eyes, laughing huskily.

I know on the surface he seems adorable but the real reason why we can only be friends is because I know that he’s a player.

And the only reason why players like him turn into endearing cinnamon rolls with girls like me is because they seem to think thatI’ma player too. And, like any hierarchy, there can only be one master player sitting at the top of the pyramid – and because I don’t take any crap, they all think that’s me.

The problem with that? Itisn’tme. I don’t want to be the heartless bad girl but, for some reason, it’s the role that I always slip into.

So, for now, like always, I guess that I’m just going to have to run with it.

“This is where Tanner and I are stayin’,” Hunter says, shoving the front door of his cabin open with the back of his large tan shoulder. He walks Fallon over to one of the two beds and drops his voice to a murmur. “And this is going to be our bed,” he says quietly to her.

My eyes flicker over to Tanner’s bed and I notice that there’s a small khaki carry-on set at the foot of it.

Hope instantly blooms in my chest.

He hasn’t left, I realise, heat rising in my cheeks.Wherever Tanner’s gone, he’s coming back.

Secretly thrilled, I look back to the bed and imagine Tanner’s large muscular body lying on those soft floral sheets. The thought is so endearing that I almost wish I could see it for myself.

Tristan, the human embodiment of golden sunshine, rests against the small wooden kitchen table and grins, “This is also exactly what our cabin looks like.”

I cross my arms over my chest and smile up at him as he lazily kicks out his legs, setting a boot on either side of my sandals.

“Who are you staying with?” I ask.

“Austin. I could get him to fuck off though if you wanted me to,” he adds, his boots caging me slightly tighter.

I partially notice the sound of crunching gravel outside followed by a repetitive grunt-and-thud that lasts for a couple of minutes. Then again, I’m also distracted by Tristan’s eight-pack right now so I don’t fully register what those sounds could possibly mean.

“You know what,” I say, flashing an excited look over to Fallon, letting her know that I’m having a spontaneous moment, “Fallon and I have, like, a tonne of work to do on the lake house, but seeing as this is our first night maybe we should do something fun to settle in?”

Fallon gives me a super encouraging best friend squeal and nod. Her two-hundred-and-twenty pound boyfriend gives me a subtledo not do thisshake of his head.

I turn to Tristan with my best captain-of-the-cheer-team smile.

“I want to tick ‘visit a dive bar’off of my bucket list. We’re going out tonight,” I tell him, beaming.

Just as Tristan shoves himself to his feet, grinning down at me so adoringly that I actually think he’s about to kiss me right now, heavy footsteps sound from the doorway and the room becomes instantly silent.

A hot shiver runs up my spine as I feel a large presence step up behind me.

“You’re doing what now?” Tanner rumbles quietly.

I give myself a moment to steady my breathing before turning around to face him.

And I see that Tanner, like Tristan, is also dripping wet.

Dark hair, broad chest, and denim jeans all soaked, as if he decided to dip in the lake fully clothed.

My subconscious does a little bit of testosterone arithmetic about why only two of the hockey guys here would be soaked to the bone.

My gaze trails down to his knuckles and I notice that they’re a little red and swollen.

Tristan’s chest brushes against my back as I stare unblinkingly at Tanner’s fist.

Oh, my God. Did Tanner and Tristan… have a fight?

What on earth would they have been fighting over?

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