Page 64 of Tempest

“What have you heard, exactly?” I ask, following the women out the door.

“That goalies are a little weird. Lehtinen is a handful but a sweetheart, and it’s hot when y’all fight.”

“Who told her that last bit?” I ask Odette as I open the car door for her.

“Probably Willa,” she lies.

The guys instantly fall at Britton’s feet when we get to the small bowling alley that Fane and Willa’s partner has rented out for us. Britton expresses her gratitude to them, saying how much she misses going out to normal places without being swarmed by fans and people who hope to catch her doing something worthy of going viral.

She’s still being crowded by Oliver, Axel, and Hugo, but she doesn’t seem annoyed by it. I think she’s enjoying the attention of my teammates as they play against each other on one lane.

Odette and I have been playing with Cillian and Isla, none of us taking it nearly as seriously as the rest of the group. Isla says she won’t even play with her sister anymore because she’s that good and it’s taken all the fun out of it. But Willa’s boyfriends seem to be as competitive as she is.

“We haven’t seen Tori the past couple of games,” Isla says. “How’s she doing?”

“Great,” I answer. “Loving school and living on her own. She’s been busy, though, trying to get caught up on a project before her mom gets to town for Thanksgiving.”

“Caroline’s coming here?” Isla asks, and Odette’s head turns away as if she’s watching the other bowlers.

“Yeah, bringing her boyfriend to meet Tori.”

“You think she’ll like him?” Cillian asks.

“I do. I met him on the last trip to New York and there isn’t anything not to like about the guy. He’s basically head over heels for Caroline, so that’s good.”

“Excuse me,” Odette says. “I need the restroom.”

She walks off, and Cillian winces.

“Did we fuck up?” he asks.

“Nah, just some unresolved issues. I’ll go check on her.” I leave the couple and wait in the hallway for her.

We can’t keep dancing around the situation. Whether she wants to talk about it or not, we need to, if this relationship is going to progress. Even as just friends. I can’t pretend like the past didn’t happen. That I didn’t hurt her or have a wife for decades.

I don’t want Odette to relive the past, but she needs to face it. I need her to face it.

She’s startled to see me when she exits the restroom, her face still a few shades paler than I’d like it to be. She stops, and I crowd her, placing my hands on the wall behind her, one on either side of her head so I can lean in low and close.

“I’ll never do anything to hurt you again, Ode. I promise that with my whole chest. Whatever you need to do to move forward with me in your life, you do it. You want to rage at me? Hit me? I’ll take every bit of what you dish out,” I say, rubbing my nose against hers when she tries to look down. “What I won’t do is continue to play as if the past twenty years didn’t happen. I know it’s upsetting for you to hear me talk about her. I can’t help that any more than I can help how much it kills me to know you’re still seeing Preston. Or how it fucking guts me to think that you might still be having sex with him.”

She does look away then, a clear confirmation that she is. I take a step back, squatting while I rake my hands through my hair a few times.

This isn’t the right place for this conversation. It’s not what tonight is supposed to be about for my team.

I blow out a long breath, then stand back up, staring her down.

“I deserve that, I guess,” I grit out, pulling my shoulders back and craning my neck until it pops, relieving a miniscule amount of tension.

“It’s not about you,” she says.

“Isn’t it, though?”

“Fuck off, Gavin. As if you and Caroline didn’t have sex all this time. As if I owe you anything…we aren’t dating. We’re barely friends.”

“It’s more than friendship and you know it,” I say. “Is he married?”

She blinks, surprised at my question.

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