Page 58 of The Triple Play

“Let me call my dad,” I offered, pulling on a clean long-sleeved shirt and glancing over my shoulder at her. She raised an eyebrow, shifting slightly, the collar of Cole’s shirt slipping and revealing the line of her collarbone. I had to force myself to look away before I gave up on the carefully controlled restraint I was showing by being okay with her leaving this house at all.

“You can’t just call your dad when you want me to skip a shift,” she chuckled, giving me that same soft lilt to her voice that had been there since I’d tried to wash her hair for her and had apparently done it wrong. “Wait.Wait. Don’t tell me my shift being moved last night was because of you.”

I froze, a sock in hand, my eyes locking with hers again. “I… might’ve called him.”

She blinked, but then she laughed, bright and real, and it made my chest tighten the way that sound of hers always seemed to. “You’re ridiculous,” she said, her teeth raking over her lower lip, her smile untamable. “Kind of cute, though.”

“Yeah, yeah, hush,” I chuckled, my cheeks heating just a tad, her smile infectious.

She pushed herself up a little, her damp hair falling over her shoulder, that collar slipping just a little lower, and god dammit, I couldn’t stop myself from asking what I needed to ask without thinking of how to say it.

“Come on the whole trip.”

It didn’t really come out as a question, and she blinked, pausing, staring at me with a little line forming between her brows. “What?”

I took a deep breath, my mouth opening and closing as I tried to rectify the outburst that should have had a gentle lead-in. “The, uh, whole Pacific Division run,” I said, taking a step closer, the tips of my ears burning. “The guys and I were talking about it this morning before you got up. We want you to come to the whole thing, not just the first game in LA.”

I lowered myself a little, resting one knee on the bed beside her, my eyes searching hers for some kind of reaction. But she was so hard to read. “I… How long?”

“Two weeks. The whole of the West Coast, so California, Nevada, Washington, and into Canada a little.” The words were quick, tumbling out of me as I tried to explain it. “Do you have a passport? We can fly you to each one. We can try to make it as much of a vacation as we can.”

She looked up at me as she pulled her legs in, sitting cross-legged on my sheets, looking just as much like a damn angel as she did when she’d had her makeup done and hair styled. “That’s a lot, Xav,” she said softly. “And yeah, I have a passport, but?—”

“Bring your guitar,” I added, swallowing, not knowing how to shut my mouth. “You can work on your music or do whatever you want while we’re at practice. You can come to the games, we’ll get you tickets. The hotel rooms are nice as hell. I mean, shit, I’ll buy you some portable recording stuff and you can write songs with Colton snoring in the background. Just come.”

She snorted lightly, her eyes blinking a little fast. “Tempting. I’ve already got portable gear.”

I took her face in my hands. I knew I was being too much, knew I was coming on too strong, but I found it harder and harder to shove that away with her. “I’m serious, baby. You’re good for us. For me. I want you there, we all do.”

She chewed her lip, her eyes flicking between mine. “I’d have to get the time off.”

“I’ll talk to my dad.”

“Xavi—”

“I’llaskmy dad,” I corrected, my lips splitting into a grin as I realized I was wearing down her reluctance. “Nicely.”

She stared at me for another second, then sighed, her mouth twitching as she tried to stifle a smile. “Okay,” she breathed. “Yeah. I’ll come.”

Chapter22

Annie

Ipulled at my falling sock in my boots as I walked past a row of glinting shopfronts, the early afternoon sun baking the LA sidewalk, my phone warm in my hand. I wasn’t used to the dry heat atall, but I wasn’t going to complain when I at least didn’t feel like I was breathing in water while outside. Georgia was too humid.

“No, I’m not joking,” I said, grinning like an idiot. “I’mliterallyin LA right now. I can send you my location if you don’t believe me. They’re playing the Raiders tonight.”

“Hold on.What?” Zoe’s voice shrieked in my ear, and I had to move the phone away from it to save my eardrum. We hadn’t spoken in months, not with her off doing her masters in New York, and I figured now was as good a time as any to update her on my life. “I’ve been gone for, what, two months? And now you’re casually road-tripping with pro hockey players?”

“It wasn’t casual!” I laughed. “It’s been a whirlwind. I don’t even know how it happened, to be honest. It all just blew up.”

“You’re going to have to slow the hell down and explain everything to me, like,now. Who are these guys? And where the hell is Elliot?”

I stopped at the corner of the street, adjusting my purse on my shoulder and waiting for the crosswalk light. “Elliot’s gone, dumped him. He was an ass, it’s a long story. He’s still blowing me up every time my phone is switched on. But you remember my boss, right? Gabriel?”

“Yeah, obviously.”

“So, Xavi Moreau is his son. Well, adopted son, but I don’t think that really matters. He plays for the Fire, so…”

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