Page 100 of No Rhyme or Roughing
When I didn’t respond, Jules perched on the edge of Rowan’s bed. “Wait, is it? A girl? Really, bro? After Sam, we all figured you’d?—”
Rowan shoved him hard.
Jules recovered, coughing slightly. “—move on quickly and fall in love again, obviously.” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “Wait, this isn’t because Sam and Sullie are getting married in a couple weeks, is it?”
“No, it’s not that,” I said truthfully. I held no ill will toward them anymore. I’d only clung to Sam because I feared what life without her would look like. Now, I knew.
It looked like Sydney.
Laughter and risks. Friendship and fantastic sex. And I’d messed it all up by catching feelings for a woman who refused to feel any.
Teddy sat beside me, thoughtful for once. “Maybe things with Sydney will work out when we get back.”
Work out?She’d left me to a cold bed the morning after I confessed everything to her. I told her I loved her, and she couldn’t, wouldn’t, say the same.
“What the fuck?” Jules shook his head. “You and Teddy’s sister? I didn’t shoot my shot with her because I figured Teddy would kill any of us who smashed that.”
Teddy vibrated with anger beside me, but I reached Jules first, shoving him backward onto the bed and leaning over him. “First, she’s not athat.Second, I didn’t fucking smash her; I fell in love with her, you asshole.”
Silence blanketed the room. Finally, Rowan let out a loud breath. “That’s intense, man.”
Laughter erupted behind me. I turned to find Teddy’s entire body shaking with it.
“What?” I snapped.
“Do you remember when you used to hold her as a baby?” he asked, grinning.
I tried not to. The adult Sydney I loved couldn’t be the same kid I’d known growing up. Shehadto be different.
“She was fussy, always crying when Mom held her,” Teddy continued. “But the second you stepped in, she’d stop. Like, even then, she knew she was safer with you than anyone else.”
His smile faded, bit by bit, until his expression turned serious—more intense than I’d ever seen. “I know I told you she was going to destroy you?—”
“You said that?” Rowan shook his head in disbelief. “Damn.”
“That’s messed up, bro,” Jules added.
Teddy ignored them. “I wasn’t lying. Shediddestroy you. The serious friend I had wouldn’t have danced for our fans, tried to reconcile with his brother, or taken any sort of risks. She broke you, broke through you.
“I love my sister, but she’s always been a bit… out there. Odd. Flighty?—”
“We get it,” Rowan interrupted, a hint of protectiveness in his tone.
Teddy’s smile returned. “What if you broke her too? And now, she just needs to realize she’s still safe with you?”
What if.
CHAPTER FORTY
SYDNEY
I took the job.
It wasn’t my dream job, but maybe it was exactly what I needed right now. In the new year, I’d be working on the San Jose Sharks’ social media, choreographing dances and creating videos.
But before that, there was a wedding. Tomorrow.
The team was returning from the road today after nearly two weeks of silence from Ryder. Two weeks of missing him. Two weeks of realizing I’d screwed everything up.
