All I ever wanted was for her to be happy.
“Of course I will,” I tell her, my voice thick. “You didn’t even need to ask.”
She shrugs, smiling. Her cheeks are pink. “I know. It’s just going to be a big day and I need you there.”
My heart clenches with love. “Come here,” I say, and Hayden and Alexei move so we can slide out of the booth.
She tackles me in a big hug, almost tripping over her dress, and I laugh into her hair, squeezing her as hard as she’s squeezing me. Since we were little, that’s how we’ve hugged each other. As tight as we can.
“Love you,” she whispers into my hair.
“Love you, too.”
We sit back down, and Rory’s hand traces the top of my shoulders. He’s watching me with a little smile, and my skin goes warm. He saw all of that. I’m not used to him seeing me all hugging and loving. I glance away, embarrassed.
Across the table, Pippa gives Jamie a meaningful look. He clears his throat and turns to Rory. “I need a best man.”
Rory’s hand stills on my shoulder. “Yeah, you probably do.”
Jamie’s eyebrows lift. “You up for it?”
A beat passes. “Only if you’re sure.” There’s a hesitant note to his words.
It feels like he doesn’t think he deserves this. My heart aches.
“I’m sure.” Jamie gives him a nod. “I want you to do it.”
Rory relaxes, and his fingers go back to brushing long, distracting strokes over my skin. “You know I’m in.”
Jamie sits back. “Good.”
“Yeah. Good.” I catch the side of Rory’s smile.
There’s a pause where no one says anything before Pippa gestures between them with exasperation. “Hug each other.”
Rory chuckles and Jamie actually smiles as we all move out of the booth. They stand and give each other a masculine, backslapping hug. When Rory drops back down beside me, it’s me who’s watching him with a little smile. He shoots me a wink before shifting closer, and his hand lands on the part of my shoulder that meets my neck. A second later, his fingers toy with the neckline of my dress, sending shivers and tingles down my back.
The guys start talking about their upcoming game, but I’m half listening, focused on the tickling sensation of his fingers on me and thinking about the fun we had earlier, bounding up the stairs and laughing like kids. He was so different from the flat, unimpressed version of Rory I see on the ice. He was lit up, glowing from within.
I want to see that version of Rory Miller again.
CHAPTER 21
HAZEL
When we leave the bar, it’s chilly and damp outside like it’s been raining. I shiver in the night air, and Rory loops an arm around my shoulders, pulling me against him. He’s warm, and he smells unfairly delicious.
“We don’t need to pretend out here,” I remind him, but I’m not moving away.
“You’re cold,” he says, like that settles it.
We walk in silence, listening to the sounds of the city around us. Music spills out of bars and restaurants. A car horn honks. Two drunk girls stumble, clutching each other and laughing hysterically, and Rory leads me around them with a smile. A group of guys passes, and their eyes go wide at Rory. That’s Rory Miller, one of them says.
“That was fun tonight,” he says, grin turning smug and feral. “Hartley, McKinnon’s face when you hit him?” He shakes his head, glancing down at me in admiration. “So pissed.”
I snicker. “I knew he’d hate that. He was always like that. Always needed to be the best. Needed to one-up everyone.”
An ugly thought bleeds through my mind.
“Did you know?” My voice is quiet as we walk. “Back in high school, what Connor was doing?”
“No.” His eyes flare, pinning me. “Hazel. I didn’t know.”
Earlier, I called him Rory. It slipped out, but it felt so natural. Now he’s calling me Hazel, and I love the way he says my name, even when I’m scrambling for ways not to like him. The sound of my name in his deep voice makes me want to hear it again.
He shakes his head, eyes still on me, and his tone is firm. “If I ever heard him say that shit, you’d be the first to know.” His mouth slants. “If I had sensed any trouble in paradise, I would have taken my shot.”
My stomach flutters. Strangely enough, I believe him.
Fuck. That’s bad.
Finally, we reach my apartment. Under the maple tree out front, I search in my bag for my keys. “Thanks for walking me home.”