Page 27 of If You Need Me

“Dallas, Hemi said your parents are coming to the charity game tomorrow. I can’t wait to meet them,” Rix says.

“Same.” Dred regards me curiously. “I still can’t believe you and Hemi are dating. I feel like she owns your ass.”

“That’s not inaccurate,” I concede.

She pats my arm. “It’s okay to be a beta off the ice.”

Rix looks up from her phone. “I thinkgolden retrieveris a more apt term for Dallas.”

“Thanks?”

We step into the elevator and wave goodbye to Rix and Dred as the doors slide shut.

“Are all the girls getting together?” I ask without thinking. I should know this already if Willy is with them.

Hollis gives me a strange look, and Ash surreptitiously kicks my ankle.

“They’re giving Hemi a hand at the arena this morning,” Roman says helpfully.

“Right. Of course. I don’t know where my head is.” I give mine a shake.

“You have a lot going on right now.” Ash claps me on the shoulder.

Roman rubs the stubble on his chin. “As much as I didn’t see this coming, I kind of saw this coming.”

I give him a quizzical look. “How do you mean?”

Hollis coughs into his hand.

The elevator doors open, and a couple steps inside. Their eyes flare in recognition. They side-eye each other, and their faces go red, but they don’t say anything about the Terror.

Roman talks about the weather.

They stammer out an awe-filled response.

My phone dings with another notification from Dr. Sheep’s Ass and Brooklyn, which mentions something about all the poor single folks missing out on a love like theirs.Gag me. I swear, if they didn’t think Wills was my girlfriend, they’d find a way to ruin her weekend. That’s one positive to come out of this mess.

Thankfully, we reach our floor before it can get awkward, and the couple doesn’t follow us off. Tristan meets us at the door to the gym and ushers us in. We’re the only people here now, as the commuters and diehard morning-workout people are long gone. Everyone fans out to their location of choice.

“Okay, back to the comment you made, Roman. What do you mean you saw this coming? What are you, the Love Detective?” I scoff. He’s solving all the mysteries of the heart except when his best friend is in love with his daughter, apparently. In my fantasy world, Willy’s hatred is a mask for her complete infatuation with me.

Roman looks around the weight room. “Raise your hand if you knew Dallas had a hard-on for Hemi.”

All the guys raise their hands.

I cross my arms. “You couldn’tallknow that.”

“Dude.” Flip watches his reflection in the mirror wall as he does alternating hammer curls. “She gives you the most fucked-up promos in the history of the universe, and you never say no. There is no one else on the team who does half as much bizarre church charity stuff as you.”

“The church stuff is mostly for Granny. And her friends and their friends.” This is true, but also, Willy always accompanies me, so it’s a double win. I get to spend time with my granny and give back to the community—like every other member of my family does every single day with their jobs—andI get Willy’s undivided attention.

“Okay, but she always goes with you, no matter what,” Flip counters. “I’m sure part of that is so you don’t do or say something to cause her a headache, but that can’t be the only reason. If that were true, she’d live in my condo, in my spare bedroom.”

“What other reason would there be?” I wish I could be cooler about this, but I don’t want to be alone in my obsession.

“She attends all this nonsense so she can spend time with you,” Hollis says.

“The same way you started coming to the diner so you could spend time with my daughter,” Roman notes.

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