“Weren’t you just telling me to loosen up?” he murmurs in my ear. “How about you?”
I’m silent, mulling that over. I haven’t had much of a social life lately. Going on a fun trip is so tempting.
I look around at the group. I don’t know any of them. It could be awful. Or it could be super fun. “I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”
“Snorkeling,” Easton says. “Sailing.”
“Sunset Catamaran cruise,” Lilly adds with a dreamy expression.
That does sound nice.
“Snorkeling with dolphins!” Sara says.
Oh my God. I love dolphins.
“Cliff jumping!” Nadia says.
“Speak for yourself,” Kate says to her with a grin. “I’m not jumping off any cliffs.”
“How about the quadding?” Hunter asks her.
“I’ll do that!”
They’re killing me.
“What do you do for a living?” Kate asks me. “Can’t you take vacation?”
“Um, yes, I could. I…I’m a musician. But not professional. Mostly I look after my younger sister.”
“Oh.” Kate’s eyes are bright with curiosity. She seems very professional. Very “polished career woman.” Which I am not.
Awkward.
Owen squeezes my upper arm. I lean into him a little, relishing the wordless encouragement.
“What kind of music?” she asks.
“Folk. I play guitar and sing a little.”
Owen makes a strangled noise.
“Cool.”
“How about you?” I ask, deflecting attention from me.
“I’m a sports agent,” she says. “I don’t rep any of these guys, but I have other hockey player clients.”
“Oh, wow.” That’s amazing.
I learn that Sara is Sara Carrington. “Oh my gosh! My sister loves your podcasts!” I tell her.
Sara beams. “Oh, nice, thank you!”
“She’ll die when I tell her I met you!”
“Maybe I can meet her too, sometime.”
“So who are the all stars gonna be?” Josh asks.
“Gunner, for sure,” Easton replies. He squints. “Cookie has a great shot, this year.”
They all look at Owen.
“Cookie?” I ask.
“Yeah, that’s my nickname.”
I grin. “Can I call you Cookie?”
“No.”
Laughter bubbles up inside me. “I’ll call you O. For short.”
He shakes his head, lips twitching. “JBo has a good shot, too.”
“Maybe Bergie,” Igor says.
“How do they decide who’s an all star?” I ask.
“Fans vote for one player from each division, and that guy becomes a team captain,” Owen explains. “Then the league picks another forty players. There has to be at least one player from each team.
I nod. “Huh.”
They debate the all star picks with some good natured trash talk that makes me laugh.
These people are welcoming me into their group like I’m going to be around for a while. I love it. I’ve never really had that before.
But guilt pokes at me with a sharp stick. I knew this was a bad idea.
I’ve been thinking about ending this crazy charade, in fairness to Owen, and now I wish I had. Sort of. Being drawn into this squad is so tempting. They’re all close to my age, fun and energetic. But that’s not what this is about.
Now I’m even more conflicted about what to do.
* * *
OWEN
* * *
Emerie and I are out for dinner. I picked her up at home, getting dirty looks from Mr. D, which I have to admit made my nuts shrivel. So far I still have a job, but after what happened on Monday, I’m even more uneasy about that.
That night at the Horse, she fit right in with everyone. I know it’s pretend, but damn, it was kind of nice having her there with me, flirting a little, laughing with my friends. They really seemed to like her, and why not? She’s kind, funny, smart.
I haven’t told them who she is.
I was blindsided when I found out the owner of the team is her stepfather. So I should tell them. At first, it didn’t seem that big a deal, since we were only doing this for a while and it wasn’t real. But now she’s met them, and they like her, and she fits right in, and they even invited her on the trip. I’d hate for them to go all stiff and weird on her. So I haven’t said anything.
“How did the busking go this week?”
“Good.” She gives me a surprised but happy smile. “Nobody told me to leave because I suck, so that’s always a good thing.”
I frown. “Does that happen often?”
“No. It’s not exactly predictable, though. Buskers get robbed, attacked, yelled at.”
“Jesus Christ.” I’m gripped with unexpected panic.
She pats my arm across the table. “I’ve only been robbed once.”
“What?”
“And once I got punched in the head. But I wasn’t hurt.”
I think I’m about to hyperventilate. I take a slow, deep breath.
“I’m sorry about the All Star Game,” she says, clearly changing the subject to distract me. “Who did they pick?”
It works. My gut cramps and I drop my gaze. “From our team, they picked Gunner of course. And JBo and Bergie.”
“Are you disappointed?”
“Nah.” I lift one shoulder, still avoiding her eyes. “It’s not that big a deal.”
“I’m sorry. The others seemed to think you had a good chance.”
“JBo and Bergie are both great players. They totally deserve it.”
She tilts her head, her eyes soft. “I think you’re better than both of them.”
She knows next to nothing about hockey, but even so, her saying that eases the cold knot in my chest. “Thanks. But on the bright side, it means I can go on the trip. Are you going to come?”
She sits up straight and her mouth tightens. “Dammit, I want to. Vince invited Roman for dinner last night.”
I scowl. “What?”
“Yeah.” She rolls her eyes. “I had no idea. When he walked in, I thought of making a run for it, but Cat was there. Which was totally not fair of them. She didn’t know what was going on. I was so pissed.”
My jaw tightens. “Shit.”
“Right? Now I really want to go on this trip. That’ll show them.”
I nod slowly. “Then do it.”
She bites her lip. “I’m still worried about leaving Cat.”
“She’s a big girl. And you have people to help.”
“I do.” She still looks conflicted.
“How would the trip work with your busking?”
“What do you mean? It’s not like I have a boss I report to.”
I chuckle. “I know. But do you need the money?”
She blinks. “No. Vince gives me an allowance, for Cat and me. It’s very generous.”
“Oh. I thought…I don’t know what I thought.”
“I don’t do it for the money.” She meets my eyes. “I do it because I love to play and sing. Actually…I give most of the money away.”