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“You mean besides the fact that Dare is hot for him?”
I sent my other best friend, Dreamboat, a death glare. “I am not ‘hot’ for the asshole.”
They both laughed as I realized what I’d said. “You know what I mean.”
Dreamboat put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. The ugly fucker was right down beautiful and everyone seemed to want him. That’s how he got his call sign in BUDs. Anytime we’d go to a bar, Brent had to fight them off with a stick. “Lay it on us.”
Ben returned with their beers and placed them on the table, along with the nachos I’d ordered. “Burgers will be out soon.”
We thanked him and dove into the appetizer. I told them about the assignment and Greer’s preposterous proposition.
“It doesn’t sound like a bad gig. I mean, I know you have a history with the guy, but it’s just a wedding.”
“Wait,” Phantom said, wiping his mouth with his napkin. “For your own sanity, I think you need to find a way to get past what happened between the two of you. That was years ago.”
I leveled him with one raised brow. “Thanks, Dr. Phil. I’ll get right on that.”
Dreamboat laughed. “It would be a whole lot easier if you’d just tell us exactly what the fuck happened. You act like a scorned lover or something.”
Bile rose in my throat, and I reached for my beer. I don’t know why I’d never told them the whole story about what happened. They were my best friends. We’d literally trusted each other with our lives while in the service. But no one knew everything about what happened between Greer and me. And out of sheer embarrassment, I preferred to keep it that way.
“Noooo.” Dreamboat dragged out the word as the realization that I’d given myself away set in. “You were doing Greer Rowan? He’s so much older than you, but he’s hot. All that salt and pepper hair. I bet he’d be a good daddy.”
My face screwed up as if I were in pain. “Fuck, no. Shut it. Ain’t nobody looking for a daddy.”
Phantom laughed. “Your Texas is showing.”
I flipped him off and ran a hand over my face. I knew I was going to have to tell them the rest of the story, but it was embarrassing as fuck. I tried to scrub that memory from my head a long time ago, but every time I saw Greer, it came bounding back. Obviously, I was shit at hiding my emotions, and I didn’t want to admit the man still had me tied in knots every time he looked at me.
“Just tell us,” Phantom said. “We’re not going to tell anyone. You know that.”
“Sharing is caring,” Dreamboat teased.
His time was coming. “You just wait until the commander gets back, pretty boy.”
He grimaced, but that was a tale for another time.
But I knew Phantom was right. I needed to let all this go, and maybe getting their perspective on it would help. So I finished my beer and dove headfirst into the deep end of the pool with my story about Greer Rowan.
That night as I tossed and turned in bed, I thought about how, of all the places in the world, I ended up back in the same city with Greer. I could easily own a penthouse of my own, but I’d be lonely as fuck. At least living with the self proclaimed man-whore meant I wasn’t alone all the time and his prowling provided some entertainment.
Moving back to Chicago had always been an option. Carter would love it, especially if I took my brother up on his offer about the NHL. But leaving my friends behind would be a difficult choice. They were my brothers, but I couldn’t take the continual stabbing pain every time I saw Greer. My only defense was to be a complete and total asshole to him and wear a scowl twenty-four-seven was getting more difficult to keep up. I knew I appeared to have a permanent chip on my shoulder, but the reality was I had a hole in my heart. One that refused to heal with every moment I spent with him.
“What the fuck am I doing?” I ran my hands through my hair. I had to find some closure with him. And maybe in time I would let him explain.
But every time the world slowed down, my thoughts drifted to Greer and what had happened. I hated everything about him. Hated the way he made me feel when he looked at me with those kind, light hazel eyes. Hated that my stupid pride wouldn’t allow me to hear him out because I knew it was going to hurt when he said it had been a mistake. And most of all, I hated the way my chest tightened every time I thought about him and what might have been.
I was an idiot for falling in love with him to begin with, but I was helpless when it came to his charm. My heart wanted Greer and hadn’t let go. I just wished it—and my dick—would get the message that we didn’t love him anymore.
Flipping back the sheet, I ran my hand over the hard fucker. There was no use in suffering, so I stroked myself and allowed my brain to drift into my fantasies about the man I hated to love. And when I came all over myself, it was his name on my lips.
“Fuck you, Greer Rowan, just fuck you.”
CHAPTER 5
GREER
I stretched out on the chaise lounge, taking in the late May sunset from my penthouse. I’d spent the biggest part of the day with the legal staff negotiating player contracts. We had to consider the NFL salary cap while the coaching staff and my GM assessed our needs before heading into the season.
