After I ended the call, I shifted my weight and turned to face Bailey.
She touched my arm, studying me with concern. “How are you feeling about that?”
“It could be worse.” I shrugged. I could have been dropped from my contract altogether, so this was a win. “And it means more time with you.”
If not for James, I probably would have been devastated. But I could keep playing high-level hockey, and I could still live with Dallas and Ty next year. And best of all—I’d be here with her.
“Still,” she said, “it’s okay to be disappointed. I wouldn’t take it personally if you were.”
“Maybe a little, but I’m good, I promise.”
Bailey scanned my face and sucked in a breath like she was going to speak. Instead, she slowly let the air out and gave me a soft smile. She didn’t believe me.
“Promise, James. When have I ever hidden how I felt?”
She laughed. “Fair point.”
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER 61
OceanofPDF.com
THE MOON
Chase
Just as I’d suspected, we beat Dallas and Siobhan to his parents’ place. We had time to pick up takeout and eat said takeout once we got to the cabin. I even had time to eat Bailey for dessert and get her into the hot tub after.
Naked.
With, of course, the caveat that Ward would text me when they were fifteen minutes out so we had time to get decent.
Steam from the water rose in the cool night air, and stars blanketed the sky above us, far more vibrant than in the city. The colored light in the hot tub changed in a slow, continuous pattern, tinting the water all the shades of the rainbow and back again. It was silent aside from the jets of the hot tub bubbling.
Bailey nestled against my chest, and we fell into an easy, comfortable silence. I was relaxed beyond belief…until today’s date hit me. I’d been so absorbed in hockey, the tape scandal, and all my own shit from the past week that I hadn’t connected the dots.
Shifting, I set my amber bottle of beer in the drink holder beside me. “Weren’t you supposed to hear about the internship this week?”
True to my brand, the words slipped out before I could think them through, and regret hit me square in the face immediately after. Was it a mistake to bring it up now, when the moment was so perfect otherwise? In this case, I guessed that no news was bad news and Bailey didn’t want to tell me.
“Um, I did hear, actually.” Bailey reached over and turned down the jets. She peered up at me, her eyes dancing in the twilight. “I got it.”
Cool relief washed over me. Fucking finally, we had something to celebrate for a change.
“James, that’s incredible.” I kissed her temple, smelling the hint of chlorine from the water on her skin. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She gave a one-shoulder shrug and tucked a stray strand of hair back into her bun. “I found out this afternoon. I was waiting until after the game to tell you. But then Stewart called, and it didn’t seem like the right time in light of the news he gave you, so…”
“Are you kidding?” I tilted her chin up so we were eye to eye. “I always want to hear your good news. Though I knew you’d get it.”
Bailey broke away from my gaze and ducked her head. She was so much more modest than she should have been. If I could slice off a chunk of my ego and give it to her, we’d both be set. But I’d settle for pumping her tires any chance I got.
“Yeah, they were sold when I pitched my article about toxic masculinity in team sports. They want to run it as a front-page feature on the site.”
My chest swelled with an irrational sense of pride then, even though I’d done nothing more than cheer her on and be her occasional sounding board.
“That’s awesome.”
“Yup.” She grinned. “They want it by the end of next week. I should start working on it soon, but I figured we both needed the weekend off.”
“At a minimum.” A month off—together—would have been even better. Maybe this summer.
“Can I interview you as a source?” Bailey took a sip of her beer, watching me from the corner of her eye. I tried not to get distracted by the way her lush lips looked wrapped around the glass bottle. And failed.
“Absolutely not.”
Her face fell. “Really?”
“Kidding.” I put my hand on her thigh beneath the water and stroked my thumb over her soft skin. “I’ll make all the guys on the team tell you anything you want to know too.”
She arched a blond brow, clearly fighting to keep a straight face. “Not sure coercion is the best way to get sources, Carter.”
“Psh, no one needs to know.”
From beside my drink, my cell phone lit up with an update from Ward. At least his trademark terrible timing hadn’t struck again.
“They’re twenty minutes away,” I said. “Want to get out and hit the shower?” We’d been in for a while, anyway, and the heat was going to my head. But all the knots in my muscles had finally melted away.
“Sure.”
Once I’d hauled myself out of the water, I grabbed two thick white towels from the nearby chair and handed one to her. Bailey climbed out and wrapped it around her chest. The heat had caused her cheeks to flush so deeply it was visible even in the dim glow from the tub’s light. The sight of her like that paralyzed me in awe, and all I could do was stare. How did I get so lucky?
“What?” Her lips curled into a half smile.
Busted.
“You’re just beautiful, that’s all.”
After we got cleaned up, we played several rounds of Cards Against Humanity with Ward and Siobhan, where he defended his reigning title as Worst Loser Ever.
“You guys have no taste,” he grumbled, putting the cards away.
From behind him, Shiv rolled her eyes. She padded into the kitchen and returned moments later with a bottle of champagne in hand.
Dallas glanced up. “Where’d you find that?”
“Wine fridge,” she said. “Is Stewart going to be mad if we open it?”
“Nah, they have parties here all the time, and people bring more booze than they could ever drink.” He opened his palm, gesturing for her to pass it to him. “Just let me make sure it’s not crazy expensive.” He scanned the label, brow furrowed. “We’re good. Go nuts.”
“What are we celebrating?” Bailey asked, following her into the kitchen. She retrieved four champagne glasses from a high cabinet.
To be fair, we were all half-cut and probably didn’t need the extra alcohol. But YOLO.
“You never need an excuse for champagne.” Shiv pointed to her with the bottle. “But you did get the scholarship, which is a big deal, right?”
“Need help with that, Shiv?” Dallas asked, eyeing her warily. I drained the last of my beer, weighing the odds of this going wrong.
“I’m an old pro.”
Somehow, that didn’t inspire a lot of confidence in me. Loved Shiv, but she was four drinks deep and built like Tinkerbell.
Shiv cut away the foil from around the neck of the bottle, then grabbed a white kitchen towel and pulled on the cork.
“Are you sur—” At the same time Dallas asked, her hand slipped, and the cork shot out of the bottle, sailing clear across the room. With a crash, it shattered a turquoise pendant light over the island.