“Oh, right. Um, tomorrow’s a bit of a clusterf—” She grimaces. “I have a thing in the afternoon I don’t think I can get out of. I’ll text you, okay?”

“Sure. Okay.” It’s the least-committal response she can give, and I don’t like it.

They walk down the hall together, whispering to each other, with Lainey looking over her shoulder, before they disappear around the corner.

I head back to the party, pausing as I pass the room that was full of kids a while ago. Now it’s full of wives and girlfriends. Violet is at the front of the room, clicking on a PowerPoint presentation—of what looks like shirtless male celebrities.

She points across the room. “No peens allowed. Not even hot, young, broody ones.”

The entire room turns to look at me.

“Move along, Winslow. Your girlfriend isn’t in here, and if she was, I’d still send you packing.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Violet smirks. “You keep telling yourself that.” Then she addresses the women sitting in the front row. “I present you with exhibit A. The broody, antisocial, injured hockey player with lots to prove. I give him a month—two, tops—before he has a girlfriend in our ranks.”

A murmur of agreement comes from the women in the room.

She makes a shooing motion. “Off you go so we can start placing bets.”

I’m not sure if she’s serious about placing bets or not, but I do as she asks and then run into Lainey on the way back to the party.

“Did Stevie leave?”

She tips her head to the side. Her long dark hair hangs in a braid over her left shoulder. She regards me with deep chocolate eyes. She’s exactly the opposite of Stevie, dark to her light. Lean and willowy to her athletic build. “She did.”

“She’ll be okay getting there on her own?” Honestly, I’m looking for a reason to bail on this party, and Stevie is a good reason to get out of here.

“We live three houses down. She’ll be fine.”

“Oh. Okay.” Of course Rook does. Always up Waters’s ass.

“RJ worries about her. She has a tough exterior, but her heart is soft, and she’s been through a lot in the last few years. It’s not easy living in the shadow of someone you love, especially when it’s not by choice. Just something to keep in mind.” She pats me on the shoulder and heads down the hall, toward the roomful of women.

CHAPTER 16

EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION

Stevie

Lainey intentionally orchestrated pickup so I would have to go to Alex’s house. I tried to sneak in and out as quickly as possible, mostly to avoid my brother, which I’ve been doing all freaking day because I’m still pissed off at him—hence Lainey being the one to organize Kody’s pickup.

Of course, RJ was on me the second I walked through the door. And he only added to my irritation and my embarrassment by introducing me to his teammates as his baby sister, with his arm around my shoulder, while he glare-smiled at most of them. It was ridiculously uncomfortable. Also, babies don’t have boobs or master’s degrees, thank you very much.

Thankfully, I had a valid reason to bail. And then I ran into Bishop. Who was wearing dress pants and a polo. I didn’t realize that clothing combination could make my lady parts so excited. He also smelled really, really good. It only reinforced my irritation with my brother over the fact that he’d planted those stupid seeds of doubt in my head.

Which don’t seem to apply to Bishop. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would go to that much trouble to piss someone off.

“Why are boys so complicated?” I ask Kody as I change him into his sleeper back at RJ’s house.

He babbles at me, random words sprinkled in with nonsense, his expression serious as if he’s truly giving me advice. Once he’s changed, I give him his nighttime snack and read him a story before I put him to bed. It’s past his bedtime, so he goes down without a fight.

I turn on his monitor and head back downstairs to chill out. The fridge is full of my favorite foods accompanied by a note in RJ’s rushed scrawl to help myself to whatever I want. I pour myself a glass of his expensive, organic, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, grab a snack, and flop down in front of the TV. I spend a good twenty minutes flipping mindlessly through channels, but my mind keeps wandering to Bishop and the fact that he’s only a few houses away from me right now, hanging out with his teammates and their wives and girlfriends. I wonder if he’s miserable there. He’s not big on crowds or small talk, and he has no tact. I smile, thinking about how he might accidentally stick his foot in his mouth with one of his excessively honest comments.

Joey was never good in those situations. The few times he met my brother’s teammates, he fanboyed so hard it was mortifying.

As if Joey can sense me thinking about him from across the city, his name flashes on my phone. Tomorrow I have to deal with him, and I’m not excited about that at all. Before I can check the message, the alarm system gives off a warning beep, and the front door opens and closes.

“It’s just me!” Lainey calls out softly from down the hall. She appears a moment later in the kitchen. “Is Kody down?”

“Sure is.”

“Did he give you any trouble?” Lainey shrugs out of her jacket and drapes it over one of the chairs lining the kitchen island.