Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Screw that. I need to know what’s going on.
I toss the covers aside and swing my legs out of bed. I’m naked and I feel exceedingly vulnerable, so I take a quick detour to the palatial bathroom, grab a robe, and tie it as I head to the living room.
Dev stands by the window, his palm pressed against the glass, and stares at the sparkling Canadian city as the sun rises.
He’s so serious as he listens to the call. Is someone hurt? His parents? My worries spiral into full-blown fears.
“Yeah, just send me the info,” he says, his voice even but resigned. “Of course I’ll go.”
Okay. No one’s hurt. That’s a huge relief.
“No problem. And hey, it’s all good.” His tone brightens like he’s trying to convince the person on the other end of the line that he’s truly cool with this change.
He ends the call, then lets out a long sigh, kind of mournful and kind of frustrated. He scrubs a hand across the back of his neck, shaking his head before he chucks the phone at the nearby couch like he’s annoyed with the device for bringing bad news.
Dev startles when he turns and sees me, then, seeming chagrined, says, “Didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“What’s going on?” I tug the belt tighter as I join him in the living room, swallowing down my worries.
He comes around to the couch, pats the cushion. I join him, my stomach churning.
“That was Garrett,” he says.
My heart twists and then jackhammers. I’m not worried my brother’s figured us out. That’s easy enough to handle. But if my brother’s calling Dev, and Dev has to handle something right away, and it’s nearly training camp…
“Were you traded?” I ask, my heart pounding with fear. “Is that why you have to go back early? Are they trading you before the season? Where are they trading you?”
I picture Dev leaving town. Playing somewhere else. I cycle through teams that might need a world-class goalie. “New York? Miami? St. Louis?”
My voice hits the sky. I’m freezing, horror-struck, and he knows it.
I don’t want him to go. I need him to stay.
He chuckles softly, then drags his thumb down my jawline. “No, baby. I’m not being traded. But it didn’t go unnoticed how you sounded just now.” Like he’s just discovered a wooden chest with hidden treasure, he tilts his head my way. “You don’t want me to go.”
Said with wonder. Said with total delight too.
The way he looks at me is disarming. It warms my heart. Fills it up. Completely terrifies me. “Of course I don’t want you to go,” I say, like it’s no big deal.
When it is a big deal.
And he knows it.
He lifts a brow, then taps his temple. “I’m filing that away in the good things drawer.”
I grab his arm, frustrated. “Dev! Just tell me what’s going on? I’m dying to know.”
“Sanchez posted some pics of the game yesterday. Which is fine. We knew he was doing that. Apparently, with the ‘Dev Save’ thing going viral…” He shrugs, looking embarrassed to be at the center of a trend. “The pics took off, too, and became the next thing in the whole ‘Dev Save’ saga. And this local camp in San Francisco that Jessie’s husband runs wants me to stop by.”
“Oh,” I say, processing this news. “The Sea Dog’s owner’s husband.”
“Cade’s a sports agent too. A buddy of Garrett’s. He gave him a call. And…”
I fill in the dots. “The owner and the owner’s husband asked your agent. Of course you need to do it,” I say before reality hits me. My shoulders sag. “It’s today, right?”
He winces, then nods. “This afternoon.” He sighs heavily. “I can say no though. I can say I can’t cut the trip short.” But then he hesitates. “It’s just I feel like it’d be really shitty to G-man then, you know?”
I get it. “I understand completely. It’s important that you do this stuff for you.”
“It is,” Dev says. That’s the bigger issue. Not so much that my brother asked for his help, but that Dev wants to do it. That’s who he is—a man who shows up. “But I told him I’d check with you.”
I love that Dev’s asking. He’s including me. “You should go,” I say, meaning it, so he feels free to get on that plane.
Dev looks unconvinced. “But it’s our last day.”
“Go,” I add, more brightly. “And have fun.”
The longer I hold onto these guys, the harder it’ll be to say goodbye tomorrow. There’s just one little problem. Ledger and me—do we stay behind?
I hadn’t thought about that till just now.
Footsteps pad across the carpet, then Ledger’s standing in the doorway, dressed in black boxer briefs and a scowl. “What kind of animals are you? Up at this hour?”
“I need to take off,” Dev says, explaining the details quickly.