Page 13 of My Stupid Heart

“Then opened up her own gym.”Susannah lifted her wineglass in the air toward Sienna in a toast.“Charge those billionaires a butt-load of money to use your Pilates machines.”

“Gotta pay my mortgage somehow,” Sienna said, returning the wineglass lift.

So far, all the women he’d met seemed genuine and down-to-earth.They were also extremely supportive and uplifting of each other.

The next woman he met was Rosalie, a black woman with long braids and a heart-shaped face.She’d been Sasha’s fourth grade teacher, but she and Molly just connected on a personal level and became friends.She also seemed authentic and didn’t have Ryker seeing any red flags.

“And that leaves Olivia and Kate,” Molly said, pointing to the last two women who shared the loveseat.They had sour expressions on their pretty faces.Both were brunettes with voluminous waves that cascaded down past their shoulders.Olivia had brown eyes and Kate had hazel.“Their daughters—Sailor and Camden—played soccer with Sasha.”

The women smiled tightly at Ryker and nodded, murmuring small greetings.

“A shame Sasha’s not playing anymore, hmm?”Ryker asked, directing his question to the two soccer moms.“Are your daughters still playing?”

“Yes,” Olivia said curtly, before sipping her white wine.“Camden has been moved up to first-string since Sasha left.”

“They haven’t won a game since she left, though,” Kate added.“Sailor is devastated.”

They tried to keep their composure, and for the most part, did a decent job, but Ryker was trained to detect even the slightest shifts in behaviors and the women both slid their gazes to Molly and curled their lips into sneers.

“Why did Sasha quit?”Evelyn asked, glancing at her phone, then back to Molly.

Molly hesitated for a second before shrugging her slender shoulders.“She wants to focus on dance.She was feeling overwhelmed by how much soccer practice was cutting into dance and homework.Kids need some downtime, too.”

Ryker wasn’t looking at Molly, though.He was watching Olivia’s and Kate’s reactions.Their brows lifted, they exchanged looks and shook their heads.It was all so covert, that unless you were paying close attention, you’d miss it.But he caught it.

“That wasn’t the only reason, though, was it?”Kate asked.

“I think I’m ready to call it a night,” Susannah announced, standing up and draining her wine glass.“I think we should all call it a night.”She hit Kate and Olivia with a look that said, “Drop it, or else.”And the two antagonistic women were smart enough to abide and close their mouths.

“It was nice to meet everyone,” Ryker said, standing up and getting out of their way when the women headed to the kitchen to collect their dishes.“Can I make myself a second plate of all the food before you take it home?”

Everyone—even Olivia and Kate—nodded.He loaded up his plate with deliciousness, then watched as Molly said goodbye to her friends.

She closed the door behind the last to leave—Susannah—and blew out an exhausted breath.“Sorry about that.”Wandering into the kitchen, she drained the rest of the rosé into her glass.

“About what?”

“About … all … that.”She waved her hand toward the living room.“Olivia and Kate are … they’re nice.They really are.I just think they might be a little salty—or their daughters are—about Sasha leaving the team.It’s a lose-lose situation, really.When Sasha was on the team, Camden played less, but at least the team won.Now, with Sasha gone, Camden is obviously playing more, but the team has no hope of winning the upcoming tournament, let alone making the playoffs.I used to hear their griping about how much Adrian favored Sasha and that it was unfair how much more play-time she got than Sailor or Camden.Now, I hear about how, with her gone, the team sucks.Nobody wins here.”

“Do any of them know about Adrian?Because you said that when parents asked him why Sasha quit, that he told them all to ask you.”

“Only Susannah.I don’t really want a lot of people knowing.It’s nobody’s business.Jackson Hole is a small town with a lot of rich women who consume more gossip than they do calories in a day.And yeah, nearly everyone asked me, but I deflected and said the same thing I told the women tonight.That she was feeling overworked and overwhelmed and wants to focus on dancing.Which isn’t a lie.”

He smirked at that.He knew how awful a liar Molly was.Her face went beet-red, and she got nauseous.If the lie was too big, she vomited.It was how Sasha found out there was no Santa Claus when she was four.

“Something tells me Kate and Olivia don’t believe that’s the only reason.”

“Too bad.That’s the only reason they’re going to get.Adrian and I kept our relationship very private—at my request.I wanted to keep it quiet in the event it went south.Which it did.”She took a healthy sip of her rosé, exhaled and planted her hand on the island.“My number one priority is Sasha.Always Sasha.I need to protect her.”

“Of course.That’s all of our main priority.”He moved closer to her, close enough to smell that intoxicating almond and gardenia scent.He hesitated a moment before taking the plunge and tucking a strand of wayward hair behind her ear.That prompted her to lift her gaze up to his.

All he wanted to do at that moment was kiss her.

Take her in his arms and never let her go.

But she was Brendan’s wife and anytime he thought about making a move, Brendan’s face would flash into his mind and he stopped himself.It felt like a betrayal.A betrayal of the heart.A betrayal to his brother.To his best friend.

He’d suffer in silence for the rest of his life before he ever betrayed a friend.

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