Page 100 of Best Kept Secret
I startle from where I’m watching Robbie getting red lipstick carefully applied to his lips by an adorable five-year-old who can’t stop giggling. Glancing at Dallas as he sidles up next to me, I’m forced to bite back a laugh; his hair is in pigtails like fucking Boo offMonsters, Inc., he has pink lipstick everywherebuthis lips, and he’s wearing a long pearl necklace wrapped around his neck. As I look at the guys around me from the team, it seems I got off easy with only purple nail polish, a few glittery hair slides, and a face mask that smelled like cake.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” I face forward again, looking out at a bunch of big, tough hockey guys as they’re given makeovers by a bunch of cute kids.
“You usually love this shit,” Dallas says.
He’s right. I usually do love this shit. I live for this shit. Visiting kids, especially kids having a bad time in hospital, is one of my favorite things about being a professional athlete. But today, my mind is elsewhere, working overtime with how the hell—in less than a few hours, by the way—I’m supposed to tellthe hulking giant next to me that, not only am I hooking up with his sister, but that I am head over heels in love with her.
Millie invited Dallas and Emily over tonight to hang out, under the guise that it’d be just the three of them, and I wouldn’t be there. I’m going to be there. We’re going to sit down like adults. And we’re going to tell Dallas that we are, officially, in love.
“Yeah.” I shrug a shoulder. “Just tired.”
“You hear Millie got a new job?”
I rub my chin, still staring at Robbie and the little girl in charge of his makeover. “Yeah, she mentioned something.”
“She’s going to tell us about it tonight when we come over for dinner,” he continues. “Where’re you going tonight?” He nudges me with a chuckle. “Hot date?”
A muscle in my jaw ticks but I ignore it, instead offering a dry laugh. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Hey, man.” It’s his serious tone that causes me to look at him, meeting his eyes, and when I do, I see a flash of uncertainty, something that almost resembles worry.
My brows tug together.
“If Millie’s outstayed her welcome, just tell me,” he says on a resigned sigh. “I feel like there’s some awkwardness between us, and the only thing I can drum it down to is Millie.”
Oh, fuck. A thick swallow works its way down my throat. I shake my head, but before I can speak, he continues.
“This is what I was worried about. My sister coming between me and my teammates. It’s why I’ve never wanted her hooking up with anyone on the team.”
I grit my teeth.Coming between me and my teammates.Hooking up with anyone on the team. The thought alone makes my fucking skin crawl, because firstly, Millie and I aren’thooking up,we’re in love, and secondly, Dallas Shaw was not so long ago the biggest fucking man whore; the least he could do is not talk about his sisterhooking upwith anyone like it’s some unforgivable, deplorable act.
Dallas continues. “But the problem is, it’s happening anyways. Millie living with you is coming between us, and I don’t like it.” He sighs. “Look, I’ll talk to her about finding a place of her own.”
I swear to God, the last thing I want to do right now is cause a scene in the children’s cancer ward at the hospital, but telling him the truth is on the tip of my tongue. Thankfully, before I can say something I know I’ll regret because Millie and I made a deal that we’ll tell him together, my phone rings. And as I pull the device from the pocket of my jeans, my heart sinks into the pit of my gut.
Treetops.
“I gotta take this,” I mutter to Dallas, turning and finding the quietest nook, answering the call quickly.
“Hi, Logan. My name is Sharon Jones, and I’m calling from Treetops. I’m the accounting manager.”
“Oh, hey.” My racing heart eases a touch, assuming my mom is okay. But why the fuck is the Treetops accounting manager calling me. “How can I help?”
“I was calling to discuss your mother’s account, and perhaps arrange a payment plan.”
Moving farther into the corner, I’m forced to stick a finger into my ear when someone behind me does something that makes the kids go nuts. “I’m sorry, what was that? I think I misheard you.”
“Your mother’s account,” the woman, Sharon, says. “When an account falls ninety days past due, we need to work out an arrangement to catch up.”
I shake my head, confused as shit. “Her insurance pays.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Sharon says. “However, the monthly gap hasn’t been paid since… January third.”
I rack my brain with what the woman is telling me, blinking hard. “It’s um, I think my dad normally, um, pays that…” My stomach rolls as realization settles like a brick in my chest.
“Yes, it was being debited from an account we have on file,but the payments have been declined or rejected. Unfortunately, I-I’m not privy to that information.” Sharon continues. “We have your father on file as the next of kin and the responsible person on the account, but he’s been…difficultto get in contact with.”
My molars grind together painfully, and panic surges through me. I reach up and rub at the tension knotting in the back of my neck. “Okay. Um, let me talk to my manager, and I can get the ongoing payment sorted. And in the meantime, just send me an invoice with what’s due right now and I can send through payment straight away.”
