Page 94 of Double Pucked

But with them, I’ve found so much more than sweet revenge. I’ve found a Golden Retriever and a grump who like me just the way I am.

Maybe, just maybe, I can put myself out there at the end of the night.

34

HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER

Ryker

As the wedding winds down, Ivy waves me aside. She tugs me along the corridor and into the alcove again, then stares at me, like she can see inside my soul.

“You’re in love with her,” she declares.

What the hell? Shecansee inside my soul.

“No,” I say, bristling.

Ivy rolls her eyes but says nothing.

“I’m not,” I add.

She scoffs.

“Seriously.”

She smirks. “You just denied it three times.”

“Because you said it,” I point out, annoyed, but not with her. Annoyed with myself for being so transparent even when I’ve tried to show nothing.

She pokes my chest. “You big lug.”

I narrow my eyes, hating that I’m cellophane with her. “Why are you talking to me about this here?”

“Because it’s so obvious.”

I blow out a harsh breath, then I defend myself. “I danced with her, and Chase danced with you. So how did you realize it?”

She flashes me an impish grin, like only a little sister can. “I figured it out the same way Grandma did.”

“And how’s that?”

“By knowing you. This is how you were when you met that—”

“Don’t say her name,” I hiss.

But Ivy goes quiet for a long beat. “Actually, no. You’re not like you were with Selena. This is different.”

I can’t leave that word hanging by itself. I have to know what she thinks isdifferent.

“In what way?” I don’t bother to mask the desperation in my tone. I feel desperate for Trina.

“This is kind of hook, line, and sinker. And I’m pretty sure Chase is all in with her too.” There’s no judgment in her voice. No condemnation over the unusual nature of this arrangement. Just a simple question comes next. “So what are you going to do?”

That’s the rub.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. “There’s nothing to do.”

“Because of the three of you?”

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