Page 10 of Thunderstruck
Tamlin tilts her head to one side, her blue eyes piercing in the sunlight. “Anyone who saw the way you played knows better. You gave it everything you had, but the other team was simply better.”
I hate that her response almost brings a smile out of me. My sudden departure from football has been a hot topic for the last two years, and I kind of love how the mystery of my decision drives everyone nuts. Folding my arms, I take a step closer and tilt my head to match her. “You seem to figure out everyone’s secrets, Park. Are you telling me you haven’t discovered mine?”
She laughs. “Not yet, though I have my theories.”
“Which are?”
“Your friendships, for one. Though, you could have tried to get traded to one of the NFL teams here and gotten the same result, so I don’t think that’s it.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, taking another step. “Because everyone knows how close I am to my friends.”
Tamlin purses her lips. “It’s a strange grouping you have, Evanson. How did you even find each other? An actor, a rockstar, a princess, and Derek Riley?”
A gasp pulls my attention to the side, where Carissa has been standing, though I’d blocked her from my notice. Impressive, given the way she stands out like a highlighter. “You’re friends withDerek Riley?”
Moxie laughs. “Have fun with that,” he mutters and jogs out onto the pitch, leaving me on my own with two vastly different women with equal talents at getting on my nerves.
I turn to Tamlin first. “You can theorize all you want, Park, but my reasons are my own. Unless you’re here to talk about the game and not me, I’m done talking to you.” I look at Carissa now, who has stars in her eyes. She’s already met Bonnie; Derek is also an actor and shouldn’t be any more exciting. “You may be working with the Thunder, Paxton, but you and I are not friends. So don’t bother asking. I won’t introduce you to Derek. Or Liam Connolly. Or Bonnie, for that matter. If she wants to talk to you again, she can make that happen.” My voice has gotten rougher as I’ve gone along, which means I’m probably getting ruder by the second, so I need to end this conversation and get back to my life. “Welcome to the Thunder,” I grumble and turn, heading onto the field without looking back.
That’s a lie. I do look back, but I wait long enough that I’m sure Tamlin and Carissa are on their way out. Tamlin leaves as confidently as she came in, but Carissa looks smaller than she already is, her shoulders hunched and her head down.
I curse under my breath. I just know that is going to bite me in the butt.
Chapter Four
Carissa
It was strange enoughwhen my sister started dating someone who once had an interview on my favorite late night talk show. Then I found out she’s one of the most hated and respected sports journalists in the nation, admired by her peers and despised by the athletes she ruined by exposing their seedier sides. Now I’m sitting in a literal mansion, gripping a glass of iced tea that tastes like liquid gold, and I’m staring at an actual. Freaking.Princess. Because Darcy has somehow becomefriendswith Bonnie Aiken and managed to get us invited over for brunch withherfriends the day after we get to California. And one of those friends is the Princess of Candora.
The craziest part? It’s Derek Riley’s patio I’m sitting on right now.Derek Riley. Like, the hottest man in Hollywood and quite possibly one of the most famous people in the world right now. He hasn’t made an appearance yet, but I amin his backyard. I have pinched myself multiple times because I’m not sure this is real, but every time it has hurt like crazy.
I don’t belong here. Yet here I am. What is happening?
Darcy, who has been deep in conversation with Bonnie—holding her hands, no less, because they’re apparently besties even though they both dated the same man—looks over at me for the first time in fifteen minutes and laughs. She says something to Bonnie, who smiles at me and nods, and then my big sister crosses the patio to sit in the chair next to me.
“You okay, Rizzo?”
I nod, the movement making me dizzy. “When you said we were going to brunch with one of your friends, I thought it was going to be, like, a college roommate or something.”
She laughs and lowers her voice. “Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have reached out to Bonnie, but Cole made me mad on your behalf.”
I frown. “We’re here because of Cole Evanson?” Granted, I didn’t like what he said to me either, but it’s not like I can blame him. I didn’t exactly make a great first impression. “Is he going to be here?”
“No idea. I hope so, though you have to remember that he doesn’t know I’m Tamlin, so I have to pretend I’ve never met him.”
“Right.” My frown grows deeper, though I’m so glad she looks like herself right now because she’s something familiar to keep me grounded. Blonde curls, brown eyes, easy smile. Just like me. “Your life is a lot more complicated than I realized, Darce.”
Laughing, she tucks her arm around me and squeezes. “You have no idea. You should have seen me when I first met Houston. I’m still not sure if I kept everything straight between me and Tamlin, and my poor husband thought he was being a world-class jerk by falling for both sides of me.”
“Your husband is a world-class saint for putting up with your crazy.”
“He really is.” She gets a dreamy look in her eyes, her smile turning so warm that I can practically feel it. I’m so lucky she’s here with me for another day or two, before I start my job and have to face real life again. Once she goes back to St. Louis and her perfect husband, I’ll be on myown. And I certainly won’t be drinking iced tea on Derek Riley’s patio once I am.
Her Royal Highness, who introduced herself as simply Freya before answering her phone in a language I couldn’t understand, glides across the patio and settles in the chair on my other side. I immediately sit up straighter, nearly dumping my glass into my lap in my panic because I have no idea how to act around royalty. I’m way too likely to say something stupid for me to be comfortable right now.
“Carissa,” the princess says, “I am sorry for not properly greeting you when you arrived. I always have someone who needs my attention, but I wanted to tell you that I am so happy to meet you!”
I squeak something that Ithinkis supposed to be words but definitely isn’t. I clear my throat and try again. “No apologies necessary! I’m sure you’re super busy all the time. I once dreamed about being a princess, but then I grew up and realized that’s like politics and stuff and I really don’t like politics because…” I clamp my mouth shut. I ramble when I’m nervous, but I don’t need to start rambling about the politician I knew in Pennsylvania.
