Page 86 of Best Man
Niko was only more confused. “Then why did you tell me to not fool around with Paulina in the first place?”
“Because ‘fool around’ was the key phrase there. I didn’t want my best man to pump and dump the bride’s sister and break her heart in the process. You’re my best friend and if you did that, Pipes would probably always hold a grudge against you—and honestly, it’d be hard formeto forgive you for that, too.”
Niko gulped.
“So all I was saying was, don’t play mind games with little sis and don’t break her heart. Because like I told you, Paulie’s a good girl and she deserves a good man. Obviously, I wouldn’t be mad if you fell in love with her and asked her to move to Dallas.” He paused. “Do Kevin and Laurie know about you two, by the way?”
Niko nodded. “I was at the farm last week.”
“No shit? What for?”
“We figured her parents should know the truth why she was moving to Dallas. And I wanted to be there, so Paulina and I could tell them together, so they could see I am serious about her.”
“Good man. How’d they take it?”
“Laurie was thrilled for Paulina. Kevin?” Niko trailed off. “Maybe not so much. He got real quiet. I think he hates me. He’s hated me since the moment he met me at the wedding.”
“Nah. Kev’s a real good guy. Just a little protective of his daughters.”
“I’m just glad he didn’t chase me off his farm with a shotgun.”
Jax chuckled. “Honestly, he was the same way with me at first. But he’ll open up to you in time.” Jax paused, loading the importance of what he said next. “Especially if you treat Paulie right.”
“I will.”
“You better,” Jax said, a firmness in his voice. “Because, remember, Paulie’s my sister-in-law now, too. It won’t just be Kev coming to fuck you up if you break her heart. I’ll be right by his side.”
Niko laughed. “I’m telling you, I won’t treat her wrong. If anything, she almost brokemyheart after the wedding. I had to talk her into giving me a chance.”
Jax threw his head back and laughed. “No shit?”
“I tell you, I’m crazy about this girl, Big Rig. I love her.”
“I can tell.” Jax winked. “So uh. When are you guys going to break the news to Pipes? I’m not supposed to keep this a secret from her, am I?”
“No, not a secret. Paulina is going to call Piper today and tell her. She was waiting for me to tell you first.”
“Great. Because I don’t keep secrets from my lady. Get what I’m saying?”
Niko understood what Jax was implying. One ugly reality of pro sports was that the lifestyle afforded plenty of opportunities to cheat—and some athletes were scumbags who couldn’t keep their dicks in their pants on the road. Those cheating assholes put the rest of their teammates in a bad spot, though, because no one wanted to get involved in another guy’s relationship—that always ended poorly, on and off the ice—yet everyone felt terrible for the girl getting cheated on, especially when their wives and girlfriends were all such close friends. Long story short, cheating athletes drove wedges between the other teammates and their wives, and their shitty behavior killed the team morale.
Thankfully, the Devils didn’t have any guys like that on the roster. The team’s leadership core—Dane, Hathaway, Reavo—would never allow it, especially after an infidelity scandal gutted the team six years ago and forced Hath into a premature retirement.
“Trust me, you won’t have to keep any secrets,” Niko said. “Paulina is a special girl, Jax. I’m telling you, she’s the one.”
“Exactly what I wanted to hear,” Jax said with a smile and a nod. “We’re all good, bro.”
28
Paulina
With only two weeks to go until the big day—the move to Dallas—Paulina worked the booth at the Saturday farmer’s market. All morning long, a parade of market regulars had visited her booth to wish her luck in the future and say their goodbyes. But with noon now only minutes away, the late morning crowd began to thin. With a heavy heart, Paulina realized she’d worked her last day at the market, and a wave of sentimentality swept over her. She began to pack up, like she’d done so many times, except this was thelasttime.
Her phone, stashed in the back pocket of her jeans, trilled with a text message and offered her a distraction. Her heart began to race—she knew, thanks to Sasha’s updates, that he was currently having lunch with Jax and planning to confess to him that they were dating. And while PaulinaexpectedJax to be cool about them dating, the possibility of her brother-in-law potentially having a problem with it was enough to make her worry. The plan, after all, was for Paulina to live with Piper and Jax in their condo. But what if Jax and Sasha had beef? Would that be a problem? It’d certainly make dating Sasha harder. What if, in the worst-case scenario, Piper didn’t want Paulina living with them anymore? After all, she’dwarned Paulina not to date him. Whoknewhow rocky things could get, moving forward?
But relief filled her heart when she opened Sasha’s text message.
“We’re good,”he wrote. She was hoping for more details, but the thumbs-up emoji helped put her mind at ease.
