Page 130 of Slapshot Bride

I feel free. And strangely… chosen.

By the man beside me. The one I was never meant to fall for.

27

RILEY

My Brother's Best Friend

Ichange three times.

Easton stands in the bedroom doorway with his arms folded and watches me do it, and by the third round, he has stopped pretending he isn’t enjoying himself.

“That one,” he says.

“You said that about the last one.”

“I meant it about the last one too.”

I pull the emerald dress over my head anyway, the one from Valentina’s, because tonight feels like a night for such a beautiful evening dress.

My brother is going to meet him.

Mason.

The moment we got home from my parents’ place, I called Mason to set up a dinner with him. Easton was happy to meet him too, and I was excited.

The two men in my life who have supported me so much finally get to meet each other. And we can do it publicly. No more hiding.

Mason has wanted this for years—not this exactly, not a hockey player and a scandal, but this, me sitting across a table from him with someone who makes me sound like myself.

He offered to book the restaurant himself the second I mentioned the dinner. He texted me the reservation screenshot with four exclamation points the night before, which, for Mason, is basically a parade.

“I’ll go with this,” I announce and walk past Easton to the full-length mirror.

I love the dress and how it fits my body. I styled my hair in a messy bun with curls, and wore the gold jewelry Easton handed to me last night.

“For tomorrow,” he'd said. “First impressions. Gotta make him think I'm the perfect man for the job.”

He'd winked, and my stomach had coiled into tight knots. My heart, though, had done something entirely different.

It had skipped.

If only he knew… that he was doing more than a perfect job.

God, if only this could be real…

Easton appears behind me, and I see his reflection in the mirror.

He’s dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and dress shoes. He looks clean and so good, I could eat him.

His hands land on my waist, and his lips go to my neck. A giggle bursts out of me.

“Forgive me, sweetheart. I can’t help myself.” He nuzzles my neck and drags in a deep breath. “Mmm… fuck, you smell so good. You’re beautiful, Riley.”

My cheeks heat up. “You look good too. So good…” I confess.

“Yeah?” Our eyes meet in the mirror, and before I can nod, his lips are trailing a wet path down my neck, then licking their way up towards the sensitive flesh of my ear. I throw my head back and bite back a moan.