by Stacy Lane
“By the way, we kinda already know so there’s no point in lying,” Cam adds.
“She told you?” I fold my arms, the only one of us who can maintain a serious expression at this point.
“Ohh! There is something to tell!” Cam’s voice echoes through the trees.
“How did I not see it?”
“Well, you’re not a very observant person, to begin with.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Brooks, it took you forever to realize you were in love with Jo.”
“Damn. I didn’t know this was love.”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait.” I hold up both hands in front of me. “I am not in love. I spent two weeks with Chelsea. And only one of those involved us…spending more time together.”
“Boom! You may dub me King of Diversion.” Cam uses his hands to place an imaginative crown on his head.
“I am very close to tying and gagging the two of you and dropping you in the ocean,” I say while pinching the bridge of my nose, feeling a sudden headache coming on.
“Cam, you didn’t divert shit. He confessed.”
“I led the conversation adrift, which distracted him enough to spill the beans.”
“Did you catch us on the yacht?” I ask, wanting to steer their conversation “adrift” from this stupid talk.
“On my yacht!” Brooks yells.
“It wasn’t your yacht,” I reply.
“I didn’t see any rigorous activity, but you both kept swapping sex eyes,” Cam emphasizes by pointing two fingers at his eyes and then flipping them on mine.
“Cam, you said there weren’t any details,” Brooks fusses. “Just a hunch you wanted to poke at when he got here.”
“Nice,” I add with sarcasm.
“I’ve had this hunch for a looong time. Back when Chelsea was married.”
“That’s a little scandalous for Alex,” Brooks replies, disbelieving.
“I didn’t say he acted on it. But I think he finally did the night of the gala.”
“Man, I must be unobservant.” Brooks sometimes has conversations only he can interpret.
Rolling my eyes, I say, “The wine.”
That night, at the table, Cam spilled his wine all over his date’s lap.
“Yep. Diversion.” Cam’s eyes widen with mischief and hilarity, wagging his eyebrows.
I walk away.
“Hey. Wait. You didn’t tell us anything.” Brooks jogs to catch up.
“Nothing to tell. We hooked up a couple times, in your penthouse, and then she left.”
“She didn’t leave by choice,” Cam corrects me.
“And you moved out first,” Brooks feels the need to add.
No, she didn’t leave by choice.
Chelsea wasn’t just in another state, she was forced to leave the country.
Two months ago, I let my control slip. Chelsea’s conniving ex-husband pulled a move to show her he had the upper hand. I wanted to fight back for her. I was prepared to play dirty and pulled his contract, looking for loopholes. I was looking for anything to give me that upper hand.
But that’s not what Chelsea wants. She wants to be free of him. She was never meant to live in Tampa for long. With her family is where she wanted to end up.
Nothing smacks a person harder than the truth of reality.
And it’s not like she called me to explain what happened. I never heard from her.
“So the hookup,” Brooks says. “Just a fling and now it’s over?”
“Yep.”
“I bet they start it up again while they’re on the island,” Cam comments, talking as if I’m not two feet in front of him.
I slow. “She’s here then?”
They nod like eager little puppies.
I take that in, preparing for the moment I see that dazzling smile that always knocks some wind out of me.
Cam may be onto something. It’s only for three days.
No. That wouldn’t be smart. Three days and then she’s back to Canada forever.
We step onto the large deck covering the width of the big bungalow home. Doors are open, white, breezy curtains swaying back and forth.
“Shit,” Cam curses. Brooks and I stop before we make it inside.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Dad.” Cam had the same look on his face when he found out Santa wasn’t real. “He was behind the whole thing when Brooks and Jo met. It was his idea and scheming that led you and Chelsea to wind up living together. Either he’s extremely bored, or he has magical matchmaking powers like he believes he does.”
Brooks grins. I laugh because that’s just ridiculous.
It was a coincidence that Jo was in the seat next to Dad’s that first game, and it was his usual pushy self that came up with the idea of rooming two people together. Nothing magical about it.
“Get to working on those grandbabies,” Cam snaps, brushing past us. “Because I do not want to be set up with anyone if it’s by his doing. I’ll be married within a year.”
I shoot Brooks a look before following Cam. “That weight’s falling on your shoulders, Brooksy.”
“I’m not arguing with that. Jo! Naked shower time!”
CHAPTER 17
CHELSEA
TINGLES RUN DOWN the back of my arms as if being stroked by a lover’s touch.
I spent these last sixty days bereft of that unique awareness rushing through me. I begged for those butterflies to happen with anyone else who may have looked my way.
Alex never even had to look. I felt him before I saw him.
And for the record, I was refusing to see him.
Brooks’s shout confirmed he arrived. I’d been here for three days already, and that took a lot of pep talk to prepare for that meeting. Then he didn’t show up. The deep disappointment showed me it was for the best.
Had I not been booted out of America, I would have been a wreck trying to deal with Alex from there on out, post-coital fling. I wasn’t given enough time to work out what I would have said or how I would have acted around him, and that’s probably for the best too.
But two weeks together and two months apart and he still caused a reaction out of me.
That doesn’t add up!
And now I’m back.
When we fly out of the Bahamas, I’m going home to Tampa.
Two months ago I didn’t know where I belonged. Florida felt like it was Vic’s new home and I had never settled. Then I was forced to return to Vancouver, and that will always be my home with my family, but it no longer felt right. My friends and my new career gave me everything I had been missing and in turn, became the place where I wanted to stay.
For a little while at least. My new work visa wouldn’t give me forever, but I had time to figure out what came next.
The morning Alex closed on his house my sister called. Seemed Vic was pulling at the final string he had on me. The visa I obtained when he got traded to the Fury was issued as his dependent. He contacted his lawyer who contacted some other glee-sucking creatures and—voila!—my visa was revoked.
My ex-husband succeeded in taking away something important to me.
The joke’s on him. The moment my feet hit home soil I rebuilt the backbone he chipped and broke apart.
We filed the divorce before a judge, and I walked out smiling. I applied for a new visa, never again to be someone’s dependent, and by next week I’ll be where Vic thought he could throw me out of.
Cam’s willing to give me the waitress job at Triplets even though I missed my original start date with the visa problems. Hopefully, I won’t need it. Cheryl’s friend still wanted to hire me to redesign her living room. Kate, the Fury’s captain’s wife, called and asked if I could pencil her in for three rooms inside her home.
I was determined to make life after a divorce become the best second chance I never thought I would be given.
As for Alex, I heard nothing from him after I left. Guess that fling was really just that.
The flurries of anti
cipation tumbling in my stomach would say otherwise.
He’s saying hello to all the others. I’m focusing hard on the cheese Jo put me in charge of cutting. I don’t want to look up for fear of chopping off a finger.
Because Alex is totally a gory, bloody, injury worthy type of hot distraction.
I would know. We used each other for just that purpose.
Still, something felt unfinished.
I’m living for the present. And presently, I’m setting down the knife because the tingles are increasing and Alex just said my name.
“Chelsea.”
He stopped across from me. Mirror sunglasses hooked in the collar of his white tee.
A shadow of growth darkens his jaw.
If this is his off-season look, then it looks really good on him.
“Hey, roomie,” I smile with a sigh that I hope he can’t interpret.
His mouth tilts up, but just barely. “Long time.”
“How’s the new house?”
Alex stares an extra moment before answering with pretense. “Big. Lots of rooms. And windows.”
This is why I put the knife down. He knows I remember our window adventure.
I lift my gaze beyond where he stands in front of me. No one is paying attention enough to hear our conversation, but Cam and Brooks are casting their shifty eyes over here.
I’m reminded of the yacht, where the intrigue of no one knowing made it more fun.
Our secret fling was fun, but keeping my feelings hidden might not be as easy as before.
I drop my gaze. Securing that I don’t look at him anymore, I pick up the knife and continue to cut. Jo was putting together a charcuterie board. Anything kitchen related was not my specialty, but I can slice up cheese.
“That’s great, Alex. Sorry I never got to see it.”
“Sorry you were put through more crap from Vic.”
I shrug one shoulder. “It’s done now. He’s before…you know.”
“Before. What’s your after?”
“Me.”
“So you’re happy?” he asks.
Something in his voice tears me away from the yellow block of cheddar. “I am.”
“That’s all that matters.” He smiles, showing teeth and bringing out small dimples I’ve never seen before. “You look good, sunshine.”
Sonofabiscuiteater. He just had to make it personal and intimate within the first five minutes of seeing each other again.
“I’m moving back,” I blurt out. “To Tampa. I have some work lined up and my own apartment this time.”
Alex’s eyes remain alert, never blinking.
“Done with the cheese?” Jo steps up behind the counter with me. Alex and I hold onto each others gaze. “Chels?”
Alex walks around the counter, grabbing ahold of my hand. He leads me away from the group that’s fallen quiet.
“That was quick,” Cam mumbles.
We step onto the back deck, down the steps, and onto the walkway. Straight ahead would take us to the boat. The boardwalk breaks off to the right before entering through the trees and leads to the beach.
Alex goes right.
There’s no denying our friends will draw conclusions after the way he towed me out. He used to be so worried about anyone catching us.
The sound of rushing waves grows louder as we get further away from the house.
Alex is walking for both of us, which is a good thing because I keep staring at our hands. Palm to palm, fingers enclosing my hand to his. We didn’t do this before. We didn’t use to hold hands.
I’ve been on this quaint island for three days, both dreading and begging Alex to show up. I spent two months back home finalizing the divorce and going through the process for a new visa. I watched Playoff hockey with my dad. Had a much needed shopping spree with my sisters. I tried and tried to keep my mind occupied, but I was always brought back to Alex.
From the moment I unpacked my bags and hung up the gown I wore to the gala, to a couple weeks ago when I researched the guys expecting to go first round in the draft. He ruined spaghetti. All I wanted was a good reason like we had to let it grow cold. And I smiled. Real, genuine smiles that fixed me and brought me happiness and caused me to feel that light Alex said I had.
Sunshine.
I went on two blind dates set up by my sisters. They were both disasters. One kept joking and trying to make me laugh. It made me think of Alex and how I teased that he should joke more. Which I wanted to see even now. That guy I went on a date with didn’t have the laughter to broodiness ratio as Alex has.
That one guy also told terrible jokes. The second guy asked if I minded stopping by his place before going to the movie after dinner because he always took massive craps after eating. Massive craps were his exact words.
At the edge of the clearing, Alex steps off the boardwalk. My flip flops sink into the white sand, warm and grainy against my toes.
“Alex,” I call his name when he keeps walking.
“No one told me you were moving back.”
“I didn’t tell Jo and Taytum until I got here. Alex, where are we going?” He was leading me further away from the path than any of us had gone. Boulders of rock were in the distance. It was basically a dead end.
“I don’t know. I just want privacy.”
“This is pretty private. Everyone is at the house.”
He stops when the tall rocks block us from going any further.
Clear turquoise water careens onto the shoreline. Alex seems lost in his head, so I walk toward the ocean that is calling my name. Sliding the flip flops off my feet, I sift through fluffy sand until it’s dampened between my toes. The end of the rock slopes lower near the water, but it’s still taller than I am. Ankle deep, shallow waves run out, then back in. I lean against the sharp and jagged boulder.
Five feet away, hands gripped on his hips, Alex watches me with that calculating stare that’s so naturally his.
“The divorce is settled?” he asks.
“It is. Even got my name changed back.” That was a decision I chose right away. Trying to establish myself as a business woman, I wanted to be known by my own name. “I took your advice, by the way. Talked with my sisters about my marriage. I didn’t realize how much I needed someone to listen and share things with. Addy, she’s the second oldest, went through something similar a long time ago.”
Each of my sisters was different all throughout my childhood. Mel was the mother figure, Addy was the rebel who talked to me about things most preteens probably shouldn’t hear, and Lill was the closest in age to me who treated me how I thought most sisters would. When I was younger, they had a lot to say, each of them with different points of view about my marrying Vic so young. What I loved most about my family is that they didn’t hold the divorce over my head like an I-told-you-so.
Addy was once in a relationship with someone who would demonize every action or word spoken. It was hard listening to her tell me what she went through because Addy has always seemed so strong and willful. She shared her experience that shed light on mine. As much as they all wanted to kill my ex, Addy also guided me to understand that I shouldn’t hate Vic for his weaknesses. That would only hold me back when I deserved nothing but to rise.
Divorce was not a failure. My marriage did not fall apart because I changed.
I just learned.
“The night of the gala,” I go on, holding his stare under the burning sun. “When I told you things, about Vic’s ways of controlling me, I had never told anyone that. People had their guesses, and they were right, but I didn’t tell anyone how low he made me feel. So even though you didn’t want to be involved, you were. Because something about you, Alex, is safe to me.”
He locks onto my eyes and doesn’t let go. I can feel his energy like a whirlwind, ready to suck me in. It’s near impossible not to close the space between us.
Alex is safety. He looks at me, and I can see the person I want to be through his eyes. Vibrant and shiny. Trusting and loyal. A
ll qualities I have within but felt like they were a fault when I let someone walk all over me. But we’re all made up of flaws, I was pretty happy with mine.
Alex steps into the water, pressing his chest to mine. The rough surface of the rocks sharpens into my back as he towers over me, leaning his head down to rest against my forehead. Our bodies rise and fall as temptation becomes too much.
I missed him. I missed the feel of him, the sound of his husky voice, and the reaction he could wind up inside me with a look.
“I wish things were different,” he murmurs, breath kissing me when I’m dying for his lips. “I’m happy you’re moving on, that you’re moving back to Tampa, but my work stuff hasn’t changed. Your divorce is new, and I’m his boss and…”
“We have to know when to say stop.”
“Yeah,” he sighs with exhaustion.
Alex runs his lips over mine, but never closes in, never fully kisses me. He lifts both hands into my thick and crazy hair that’s been more unruly than ever in this island humidity.
Alex still has reservations about Vic being his player and me being Vic’s ex-wife. Alex’s new career is not something I take lightly so I won’t argue with his wishes. If I told Alex how I felt it would put him in a terrible spot.
Because how I feel is that allowing Vic to be the reason we are apart is like giving him another piece of control over me. And I refuse to let him lord over my choices any longer.
“We should head back before everyone figures us out.” I hate the suggestion immediately. I’m overly warm in the best of ways. The sun is scorching my skin, but a fire has been lit in my core, the flames rising higher and higher.
Alex runs his thumbs under my jaw, lifting my face up to his. Even in all this bright light, his eyes can grow dark with hooded desire like I’ve never seen.
“My brothers know. They’ve probably told everyone else by now.”
“What? How?”
“It’s a triplet thing.” Alex shakes his head like that’s an aggravation he’ll never escape. “I can’t hide anything from them.”
He winces, regret and pain cutting across his eyes.
