Page 17 of Win Big

I peer over the railing to see three female faces tipped up to look at me. Lacey, Taylor, and Everly.

Lacey grins. “Nope, you sure can’t.”

“You better take that inside,” I warn them. “I don’t want to know what you and Théo do. He’s my boss.”

She laughs.

“What are you doing outside anyway?” I ask. “It’s cold.”

“Um. We just stepped out for a minute. We’ll go in. Come on down and join us, if you want.”

“Okay. I need to change, though. Just got home.”

I shouldn’t go down there. Everly is there.

Who am I kidding?She’swhy I want to go down there.

I strip off my suit as I hobble into the bedroom. I grab a pair of worn jeans draped over the chair in the corner and step into them, and pull a clean, long-sleeved tee from a drawer. Then I pick up my beer, shove my feet into a pair of leather flip-flops, and head next door.

The women are back in the living room, glasses of wine in hand, visibly tipsy.

“Girls’ night?” I ask, taking a seat in an armchair.

“Yes.” Lacey’s cross-legged on the couch. “JP’s on a road trip, and Théo was at the game tonight, so we got together. Are you limping?”

“Yeah.” I shrug. “Took a puck to the ankle. I’m okay.”

“Good game,” Taylor adds. “We had to switch back and forth between the Condors and the Eagles.”

“Did the Eagles win?” I lift my beer to my lips, trying not to look at Everly.

“Yes! Four–nothing. JP got a goal and an assist.”

“If he fought, he had a Gordie Howe hat trick.”

“No fighting.” She shakes her head.

“Thank God,” Everly says.

I grin, now looking at her. Christ. She’s so fucking beautiful. She may be drinking wine and dressed casually in ankle-length jeans and a loose sweater, but she still looks perfectly put together, her dark hair all shiny with long bangs in a sexy swoop across her eyes, her lips a pale pink. “Are we going to debate fighting in hockey again?”

“Let’s not go there,” she says with a wry smile. “I think we covered that one.”

“Well, we’re sure as hell not going to discuss pegging.”

I watch in amusement as all three women turn red and don’t meet my eyes.

“Was it blocking that shot near the end of the game when you got hurt?” Lacey asks.

“Yeah. It hurts, but I’ll be okay.” I grimace. “Thought it was going higher.”

“That’s crazy,” Taylor says. “Why do you do that?”

“To stop the other team from scoring,” Everly answers. She eyes me. “But it is crazy.”

I shrug. “Just doing my job.”

“Have you talked to Théo about that?”

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