Page 90 of No Rhyme or Roughing
“No.” His laughter faded, replaced by a pitying look. “But I do feel bad for you. The destroyer of worlds.” He sighed, his expression turning serious. “I’ve watched my sister live her life detached from everyone. She’ll be the first to tell you she isn’t capable of falling in love. I hate that for her, but our parents did some serious damage. Makes me want to wring their necks, but it’s too late now.”
He rubbed a hand across his face. “I saw you after Sam, how you could barely manage a sliver of happiness. I’ve seen some of that coming back in recent weeks, so I hate that I have to warn you. Guard yourself. Sydney isn’t someone who stays in one place for long.”
I wanted to argue, to tell him he was wrong. Sydney was different now.Wewere different.
But I stayed quiet because he’d just voiced my deepest fear.
Sydney wouldn’t stay.
And she’d take my newfound peace with her when she left.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
SYDNEY
The morning after the party, the house was a wreck, but at least it was quiet. My stomach growled as I woke up, reminding me I’d barely eaten anything the night before. My nerves were on high alert, accompanied by a throbbing headache.
How much had I drunk after Teddy walked in on me and Ryder?
I’d avoided both of them for the rest of the evening, sticking with Sam, Shai, and Jameson instead. It felt good to be around people who didn’t expect anything from me. They weren’t looking at me like they wanted me to get over my issues and love them or asking me to be different.
I headed downstairs in search of food, following the smell of bacon. My first thought was that Rowan must be up, but it wasn’t him standing at the stove.
Teddy looked like he could barely stay upright as he poked at the bacon in the skillet. I walked up behind him, peering over his arm. “You’re burning it.”
“I know.” He sounded half-asleep. “But I wanted something greasy, and Rowan doesn’t buy anything unhealthy except bacon.”
I took the tongs from him and started flipping the overly crispy pieces. “Ever think you should be a big boy and do your own shopping?”
“He enjoys doing it,” Teddy mumbled, trudging to the table and dropping into a chair. “If he wasn’t around, I’d probably need to hire an assistant.”
That made me laugh. “An assistant for a minor league hockey player? Right.”
He folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on them. “Perks of having a guilt-ridden dad who shoveled money into our trust funds. You’d know this if you ever used yours.”
“I want nothing from him,” I said firmly. Plating the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate, I brought it to the table. The silence from our parents since Thanksgiving was deafening, but I didn’t want to dwell on that. “Eat. You look like you need it.”
“Last night got a little wild,” he said, popping a piece of bacon into his mouth and leaning back in his chair, studying me.
I avoided his gaze. “Was I just really drunk, or did Jules and Vasiliev do the entire dance routine in the living room?”
“Sans shirts,” Teddy confirmed with a laugh. “I don’t really know how or why, but it seemed perfectly normal.”
“Nothing about this house is normal.”
I lowered myself into the chair across from him and picked up a piece of bacon, nibbling on it. My appetite was fading.
Teddy’s smile didn’t waver. That was his thing—brushing uncomfortable truths aside, being nice to everyone, never getting upset. “Yet, you’re still here.”
“You guys needed me,” I said defensively. “To save the team.”
“That we did.” He scratched his stubbly jaw. “Is that the only reason you haven’t looked for a new job?”
I wanted to tell him about San Jose and the other opportunities flooding my inbox, but something held me back. “Of course. What other reason is there?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe whatever it was I walked in on last night.”
“Yeah. That.”
