Page 30 of Wrong Score

I turn toward the mirror and take in how I look in the first dress I'm trying on so far. I like it, but it's not giving me the vibe I want. Maybe it's childish, but I know that Drew and his fiancé are invited and though I still don't hold a candle for our relationship since it ended three years ago, the last thing I want him to think is that I'm not doing well and that dumping me was the right move on his part.

"That's not what I heard. I heard that at every game, Bex was always looking for you—asking players, if they had seen you—eye fucking you every chance he got—dragging his feet to get on the bus until he physically saw you onboard."

Did he really do all of that?

Tessa doesn’t travel with the team so she must have heard this from Lake.

"Rowan! Are you seriously holding out on us?" I hear Brynn say, and then her door opens.

I open my door too and walk out in the first dress.

Tessa looks at the dress I'm wearing and gives an unsure twist to her lips. "I'm not sure about that one," she says.

"Yeah, me either," I say, and I glance down the hall of changing rooms to see that the saleswoman is staring at me in the dress and seems deep in thought—making her own opinion of the dress on me as well, only she keeps it to herself.

Then Tessa and I both glance over at Brynn and shake our heads. It's not form fitting enough and she already mentioned in our group text earlier this week that she wants a Jessica Rabbit look to make Seven drop to his knees.

I think the man already does.

Brynn and I both turn back and head into our dressing rooms to pull off our dresses and try another one.

"I don't know where you're getting your information from but—"

"From Lake. He said he saw it all with his own eyes, so don't bother denying that something happened," Tessa says.

Damn it. I can't exactly call out her fiancé as a liar.

"Wait, something happened between you and Bex on the plane?" Brynn asks.

The sound of hangers clinking together in her room tells me that she is moving on to another dress.

I consider my options in the safety of my changing room without the prying eyes of Tessa Tomlin. The way I see it, I only have two choices: either I lie to my friends even though there wasalmostan eyewitness to the moment between Bex and me, or I come clean about the kiss he and I shared on an aircraft and seek out advice. Though the last advice from Keely, Autumn, and then Jordan was to meet him on his turf to get some perspective and let him see that I'm trying. Some good that did me. But Tessa is a human lie detector, so there's no point in lying.

I grab another dress off its hanger and step inside, pulling the soft, silky gown up over my hips.

This dress is a sleek mermaid flare in black satin, and it's glorious but almost too refined and sophisticated. I want to be noticed, not blend in with the scenery. It's not the one but Tessa will probably still expect to see it.

I open my door

Tessa takes notice of the dress, giving it a once over, but shakes her head.

"Pretty but not quite right."

"I agree."

I turn back and head for the changing room, unzipping the second dress and sliding it off my body.

“So? What happened?” she asks. "Don't think you're getting out of this conversation, Ro."

"Okay, fine, we kissed," I admit, hanging the black dress back on the hanger. "But it was an accident, and we quickly agreed never to discuss it again."

Brynn gasps on the other side of the changing room. "You kissed!?" she yells loud enough for everyone in the shop to hear.

"I knew it! Spill. Now." Tessa giggles in triumph.

"It was nothing. He thinks that I have some dirt on Reeve or Keely, and he pulled me aside to threaten me off his team. I slipped during turbulence, and he caught me. He kissed me—it was barely a peck." A little lie won't hurt. They got the story they wanted anyway.

"He knows about Keely's dad?" Brynn asks.

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