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And then curiosity got the best of me when Bash and Mac fell asleep. I looked up the news coverage from when we were entering the building. The news outlet had hired an expert who tore apart every bit of body language he could pull from a literal five second video of me freezing.
He had the audacity to suggest Bash and Mac were holding me against my will. There were people out there in horrible situations, truly in the danger they were speculating about me. Turning that energy toward me and my perfectly healthy, consensual relationship was horrendous.
Reading those had been a big mistake. I couldn’t undo it, but I could protect my guys from it for at least a little while.
“I know what I want for my birthday,” I blurted the second Bash walked into the room with a tray of food.
Chapter Thirteen
Mac
“Are you going to be okay if your family isn’t one hundred percent in our corner?”
“Of course.”
Bash frowned and crossed his arms. “What if they criticize something?”
Em shook her head. “They won’t.”
“But if they do—”
“I’m not twelve anymore. I’m not going to run off or anything if someone’s mean to me.” She tossed a grape in her mouth and I had to adjust myself when she popped it between her teeth. “Plus, we’re perfect. This is the best our relationship has ever been. The closest we’ve ever been. What’s there to criticize?”
She smiled at me and I grinned back, finding her logic perfectly rational. I knew they weren’t close to their families after Em’s brother Rob died, but I hadn’t really heard anything bad about them beyond that.
It would be a perfectly fun week. Something I needed badly after last night’s loss. Once I said goodbye to my teammates for our sort of deserved break, I had my phone off all morning, and it was so damn nice. A few days cut off from the rest of the world sounded like heaven.
At the end of the week, we had a trip with the Evergreens to a forest retreat that promised to help us reconnect and recoup as a team for a few days. All in all, this summer would be the best of my life.
I glanced at Bardot, expecting him to share my smile. He wasn’t smiling. He wasn't frowning. His eyes were wide, his jaw slacked just enough to pull his face long without opening his mouth, his brows knitted together. He was worried. Not even grumbly or cranky. Pure worry wrenched his face and my stomach sank.
The lake house couldn’t be that bad. Surely.
Twenty miles outside of Vancouver, my mood improved radically. We were singing eighties songs at the top of our lungs as Bash drove through winding, forested roads that brought us closer and closer to the lake.
It was hard to be angry when I was with the two of them. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about losing the finals. There was next year—if I was signed on again. It wasn’t worth it to bother Coach or any of the management about that right then, either. If I was renewed, I was renewed. If not, I would have to figure it out.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Em said, stretching up to shut the radio off.
“In this economy?” I scoffed.
“Yes,” she said, narrowing her eyes.
“I have no thoughts.” I folded my arms across my chest and smiled.
She wasn’t convinced. “Bash?”
“On it.” Bash guided the car to a pull-off with a view overlooking a clear cutting.
Em got out of the car and the two of us shared a look in the rearview mirror before following her.
“I love it out here.” Em spread her arms wide, and I joined her, catching a little breeze beneath my hands.
I pulled her close to me, slipping inside her jacket. She leaned against me, arching her warm back against my hands.
She studied my face, her big blue eyes so tender and so caring, I thought I would cry. “What’s on your mind, Savage?”
I chuckled and exhaled hard. “I’ve had the future on my mind a lot lately.”
