Page 121 of Cross-Checked

“Uh-huh.” I take a sip of my drink, feeling like some puzzle pieces are clicking into place. Coach Wilcott leaving the locker room early before Game 7, AJ telling me post-game that his daughter was sick, Hartmann playing like shit.He knew, and that’s why he was distracted.“You have feelings for this girl?”

“What? No. She’s my best friend.”

“You keep saying that, but Renaud’s my best friend and I sure as shit don’t look at him the way you’re looking at her. Was she the reason you were so distracted in Game 7? The fact that she was sick?”

His guilty look is all the answer I need. “How’d you know she was sick?”

“How do you think?”

“I keep forgetting you’re with AJ. That’s still so . . . weird. How you hated her so much, until . . .”

“Until I didn’t.” I still haven’t told my teammates what changed, because there’s no way to talk about our history that doesn’t involve telling them about how AJ’s ex treated her, and that’s not a path I’m going down. I’ll figure it out, eventually. Right now, things still feel new and somewhat fragile, even though she basically lives with me. Even Tabitha has moved over to my condo, and I don’t know what AJ was talking about—that’s the most friendly, loving cat I’ve ever seen. With Abby and me, at least.

“You’re staring at her again,” I warn Hartmann as I follow his gaze to where AJ now stands talking to the Wilcotts. She’s in a cream suit, the slim cut of her blazer barely showing the pearl-lined cream corset beneath. With her long wavy brown hair falling over her shoulders, she looks sexy and powerful. “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“I’d like to meet yourbest friend,Lover Boy.”

“Dude,” Hartmann says, “do not call me that in front of her or I’ll never live it down.”

“She doesn’t know your reputation?” I ask as we make our way toward the entrance of the huge auditorium.

“She does,” he says, his words practically a groan. “But just because women flock to me doesn’t mean I’mdoinganything to earn that reputation.”

I think back to earlier this spring, when it first came out that Colt and Jules were engaged, and he told me that just because I’d seen himtalkingto a lot of women didn’t mean he was actually sleeping with them. I wonder if the same applies to Hartmann? “Huh.”

As we step up to the Wilcotts, I slide my arm around AJ’s waist and press a kiss to the crown of her head. Even with those three-inch nude heels she’s wearing, I could still rest my chin on the top of her head.

“Still not quite used to this,” Coach says with an awkward laugh.

“You’ll get there,” AJ and I say at the same time, and I chuckle as I pull her tighter against my side.

All I want to do, all the time, is to be close to her. Sometimes I worry that I’m being too clingy, always needing to have some part of my body connected to hers. When I told her I was afraid she was going to get sick of my constant need to touch her, she just laughed and said, “Never.”

Hartmann introduces us to Eva, and as she extends her hand to shake ours, AJ tells her how much she loves her nail polish. I wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t said something, but it’s a matte forest green that matches her dress. Her dark hair is slicked back into a high, fluffy ponytail that bounces as she talks, and her dark eyes with long eyelashes stand out against her pale skin. Standing next to golden boy Luke, with his light brown hair and blue eyes, they strike me as total opposites. While he’s outgoing and talkative, she’s measured and reserved. She’s the dark to his light.

“I’m so sorry to hear you were sick a few weeks ago,” AJ tells her as her parents move on to chat with someone else. “You feeling better now?”

“Yeah, I was just exhausted and dehydrated,” Eva says. “The end of competition season really did me in.” Her sideways glance at Hartmann has me wondering if there’s a bit more to the story than that.

“She’s doing fine now,” Hartmann says as he brings his hand to her lower back. “But?—”

The announcement asking everyone to please take their seats interrupts us.

“Where are you guys sitting?” AJ asks them.

“Our parents have a box over there,” Eva says, nodding her head toward the side of the room, where theater-style box seats line the circular perimeter, facing the stage.

“Okay, we’re on the floor,” AJ says, “we’ll see you later then.” Taking my hand, she leads me toward the front of the auditorium.

“That was weird,” I say.

“What was?”

“You don’t think there’s something going on with those two?”

“Pretty sure they’re like siblings,” she says. “Frank talks about her like she’s his daughter. There’s a picture of her and Luke in his office from when they were toddlers.”

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