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“So you liked my idea of a fake relationship?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No. I hate it, actually. But something snapped in me when your brother was asking. You need help keeping your ex at bay, and I don’t want people to think the only reason I came to Vegas was to play with my brothers. So maybe it’ll work. For now.”
“Isn’t the only reason you came to Vegas to play with your brothers?” I ask a little stupidly.
“Well…yeah. But if I’m in a relationship with someone local, it’ll take a little of the heat off the bullshit nepotism rumors flying around that I didn’t get the trade on my merits but on my connections.” He shakes his head to switch back to the matter at hand. “We have a lot of logistics to figure out first.”
“Do we?” I ask, my voice a little higher than I mean for it to be. “Or could we just…you know, like, get to know each other and actually date?”
He blows out a breath and turns back to the window, and I wish I had a window into his thoughts to see what he’s really thinking right now.
But I don’t.
Obviously.
“I don’t know, Ava,” he says, his voice raspy and low. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea. I guess after you said all that stuff before, I get why you didn’t give me the whole truth. And the omission is a big deal, but not so big I can’t get past it.”
“Then what’s holding you back?” I ask softly.
“You’re little Ava Maxwell.” He shrugs. “You’re my best friend’s little sister.”
I swear to God, if he calls me little one more time, I’m going to lose it.
The word pushes me to my feet. I take a few strides to close the gap between us, but I stop short of actually touching him while he still faces the view out the window instead of me. My eyes are on him, and I see his flick over to me in the reflection.
“First of all, I’m not so little anymore. I was big enough to catch your eye at the bar the night you wanted me for nothing more than sex, and you got it. And if we’re telling the truth here since you’re so fucking big on honesty, you wanted it again until you found out who I was.” I toss in the f-word to emphasize the fact that I’m not that seven-year-old girl anymore. “And second…if Beck doesn’t like it, so what? He’ll get over it.” I realize how flippant I sound, and we both know the truth. He won’t just get over it.
He's not just an overprotective brother. When I was eight, he became a father to me. He played football in high school with Grayson, and they bonded on the field. But when practice was over, he was the one making sure my homework was done. He was the one making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for my brothers and me while our mother couldn’t force herself to get out of bed even with the cocktail of pills the doctors had her on.
We both know he’s so much more than just an overprotective brother.
“Agree to disagree on your brother. Regardless, you and me? Not a good idea.” He’s quiet as he shifts his gaze back out the window.
I don’t want to keep pushing. I don’t want to sound desperate. But I have to know. “Why?”
He finally turns around to face me. “I’m afraid I’ll only hurt you in the end.” His voice is raw and filled with sincerity.
“The very fact that you don’t want to tells me you won’t.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t know that. There are no guarantees other than the fact that I have never had someone I’d call my girlfriend. Hookups, sure. One nights? Lots of ’em. Benefits all over the damn place. But the last woman who even came close to that line was Daphne, and I did everything I could to keep her at arm’s length. I’ll do that to you, too, before we ever even give this a chance.”
“So the fact that you’re sure you’ll fail is going to keep you from trying?” I ask.
“I think it might. On top of the fact that you just got out of a long-distance relationship and I know you don’t want to jump right into another one.”
My brows pinch together. “This isn’t long-distance. You’re moving to Vegas, remember?”
“What about traveling to half our games? What about when we go to training camp in California?” He presses his lips together, and I get the very real sense that he’s setting us up for failure without even giving us a chance.
He has lots of excuses why this won’t work.
But I have one big one why it will…and that’s the fact that I want it to.
I just have to figure out how to get him on the same page as me.
He’s the loud one? I’ll be louder.
He’s the funny one? I’ll be funnier.
