Page 141 of Never In My Wildest Dreams

He’d missed out on a lot.

Hellcat: Let me know when Xander and Lulu arrive for the cooking competition.

Booker: Will do.

After a full day of bows and arrows, shotguns, and flag football, everyone changed into swimsuits to join the other half in the spa’s hot springs. Booker found it exhausting to keep up the friendly façade, so he headed into the kitchen to put the baskets together for the cooking competition. Not all fifty guests wanted to participate, of course, but they had enough for three rounds with four chefs competing at a time. It should be fun.

When he heard voices at the back door, he figured it was the chef and his staff. Then again, it could be Xander and Lulu.

His mind instantly shifted into agent mode. Xander Wilder was one of the best quarterbacks in the league, well on his way to earning a spot in the Hall of Fame alongside his dad and brother. Of course, he had an agent, but Booker never missed an opportunity to make a connection.

But when he turned to greet them, he found it wasn’t them.

It was Jaime and Declan.

His neck went hot, and his pulse rioted. “Hey.” He quickly schooled his features. “Forget your trunks? I didn’t bring any, so I can’t help you there.”

“No,” Declan said. “We’re hoping to have a beer with you.”

“I’ll have to catch up with you.” He gestured to the table. Of course, this kind of setup was the chef’s job, so he did have the time to hang out with them. He just didn’t want to.

He noticed Cole wasn’t around. He’d adopted two kids and had twins, so maybe he wanted to step away from owning the team. Booker was the only other one left. They had to know that wouldn’t happen.

“We just want to talk,” Jaime said.

He scrambled to think of an excuse, some work call he needed to make, but then, he realized he didn’t need to fake anything.

All these years later, he understood that no one had done anything wrong. He’d thought the friendship was more than it was—an immature miscalculation on his part. There was no fixing that.

“Here. Let me grab you some beers and set you up on the terrace. It’s a nice day.” He started across the expansive kitchen. “Have you been out here before?” Of course, they hadn’t. Why would they? They didn’t know Lorelei.

It wasn’t like him to get flustered.

“No,” Jaime said. “But it’s pretty cool that she owns one of the few privately owned properties inside the park.”

“And it used to be a camp, so it’s set up with all the activities.” He sounded like a fucking tour guide. At the rink or in meetings with them, he kept his composure. But alone with them, when they wanted to talk, it was different. He pulled open the refrigerator and instead of naming the choices, he gestured to it. “Help yourself.”

Once they chose their beers, he rummaged through the kitchen drawers, looking for a bottle opener. He stopped when he heard the hiss of carbonation as they twisted the tops off.

Get it together.

What’s your problem?

Instead of following him to the back door, Jaime leaned against the counter and tipped his beer. “Did your mom tell you I came to your apartment about three years ago?”

“Yeah, of course.”So, that’s what this is about? His guilty conscience?

“I tried to follow up.” Jaime swallowed, his cheeks flushed. The dude never could hide his emotions. “But I didn’t hear back from you. I need to apologize to you in person.”

“Nothing to apologize for. Come on, man. It was a long time ago. Besides, you didn’t make me come over that night, and you didn’t make me jump.”

Jaime set the beer down and pushed off the counter. “Yes, I did. You came over because I’d lost my shot to play hockey. It was a bad day for me, and you guys showed up. And that would’ve been fine, but I made the stupid decision to go BASE jumping the night before you were leaving for training camp.”

He shrugged. “My choice.”

“No.” Jaime was adamant. “I stole the choice from you. There was no other way down the mountain.”

“Look, man. It’s fine.” For some weird reason, he showed them his arms and legs. As if more than a decade later, they’d expect him to still be bruised and broken. He had no idea why he did that. “Everything’s fine.”

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