Power Play (Nashville Assassins: Next Generation Book 2) Read online

  “Yeah, sorry. Okay, your next round is on me.”

  Posey drops her hands. “Can I have a shot of vodka? Or three?”

  “Yup.”

  I look over at Posey and grin. “Can I get in on that?”

  “Yeah, as long as we never speak of this again.”

  I scoff. “Nope, I want the story.”

  Once the shots are on the bar, Stella apologizes once more, but Posey is completely over her. We throw them back quickly, and she makes this sound that gets me harder than a frozen puck. I look over at her, wiping my mouth. “Can’t handle your vodka?”

  “I can handle anything, thank you.” She wipes her mouth and exhales. “The story is—I made a jackass of myself and proclaimed my love for a guy who liked her and not me.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Oh, it was awful,” she groans, shaking her head. “We all grew up together, Aiden’s family and mine, so it was a tough pill to swallow, and I’ve been ignoring her.”

  “For good reason.”

  “Exactly,” she says as she picks up her hand. “Can I beat you real fast so we can eat and soak up this vodka?”

  I shake my head. “Nope, ’cause I’m about to beat you.”

  Her eyes flash with excitement. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  But she beats me.

  She even does a little dance when she lays down her hand, beaming from ear to ear.

  “I let you win,” I proclaim, and she laughs, her eyes dancing.

  “You’re a liar.”

  “Maybe,” I say, taking a huge bite of her nachos. “So, who was the guy?”

  “But I already changed the subject. Why are we back here?”

  I laugh. “Oh no. I want to know.”

  She shakes her head, leaning back to as she crosses her legs. She reaches for her beer, taking a long pull before meeting my gaze. “Our billet boy for three years. I thought he felt something for me. He did not, but in all reality, I romanticized the situation.”

  “Well, from what I gather, I sense it may have seemed like a relationship. I don’t think you can get the wrong idea based on what Stella said.”

  She shrugs. “But he was sleeping with her, and I ignored that.”

  I make a face. “Jesus, I can’t see you doing that.”

  “I wanted so badly for him to be with me.”

  “So, you allowed him to sleep with you and her?”

  She makes a face, and then she dissolves in laughter. “No! Wait.” More laughter. “We weren’t having sex. We shared a bed. Like cuddled and shit. But he was fucking her.”

  I laugh. “Okay, I didn’t see you as the type to share.”

  She scoffs. “Not even kind of.”

  She bites her lip as I take a pull of my beer. “My fiancée cheated on me.”

  “What a cunt.”

  I choke on my beer. “Right?”

  “Or, no! A cum dumpster! My sister said that to me, and I about pissed myself,” she laughs, and I grin.

  “That’s a good one.”

  “Exactly. I don’t understand that. Why cheat? If you don’t like the other person anymore, leave.”

  “Absolutely. We had no kids, so it made no sense why she kept hold of me. She was with him for six months before she dumped me, I think.”

  “What the hell? People fucking suck.”

  “They do.” I hold my beer out to her. She taps hers to mine, and we both take a long pull. The vodka is coursing through my body, and I’m feeling mighty talkative. “So why can’t you eat carbs?”

  Her brows come together. “Huh?”

  “Aiden said you couldn’t eat carbs at home.”

  She nods, a smile pulling at her lips. “My mom thinks they give us cancer.”

  I chuckle. “What? For real?”

  “Yes, it’s awful, which is why I’m spending entirely too much time and money at this place. I need fries, nachos, and wine. I can’t survive on no carbs.”

  “I hear that,” I say, nodding. “So, you live with your parents?”

  “I do. Pathetic, huh? But I owe them money, so I’m paying them back. Though, I don’t see myself moving out yet because we’re about to be traveling a lot. It wouldn’t make sense to get a place to pay for and not live in.”

  “That’s true. I bought a house for me and the ex, and she left. So now it’s Wes’s and my bachelor pad.”

  “That sounds awesome.”

  I shrug as I glance over at her. “I guess. It’s hard living in a house you bought for someone else.”

  She makes a face. “I didn’t think of it that way.”

  I nod. “Sucks.”

  “Yeah, but at least you can eat carbs.”

  I point my beer to her. “This is true.” I shrug. “I have an extra room if you want it.”

  What in the ever-loving fuck did I just say?

  Pretty girls make you stupid.

  She widens her eyes. “I don’t feel that’s appropriate, and I’m pretty sure my dad would come after you, even if it was innocent.”

  I chuckle. But one thing is for sure, it wouldn’t be innocent. Not even in the slightest. If she’s in my house, she’s under me. Or on top of me. One of the two, or both—shit, she’s gorgeous.

  “You sure? We have carbs at my house.”

  She snorts. “Believe me, I can be lured. But it’s highly inappropriate, Hoenes.”

  Her eyes meet mine, and the fire in them has me not giving two fucks about being appropriate. “Is it?”

  She licks her lips. “I think it might be.”

  Oh fuck, I’m gonna kiss her. But before I can, she looks away. She reaches for a helping of nachos before finishing her beer. I’m tempted to grab her by her jaw and direct her attention back to me, but I hesitate. Is she blowing me off? I feel something. I think she feels it too, but I’m unsure.

  Fuck, there is only one way to find out.

  “We should get out of here.”

  Okay, we’re going that route. Ballsy, Hoenes.

  She looks over at me, her brow perked, but then she glances at her phone. “Oh. Oh yeah, I guess you’re right. It is late, and I have a meeting before morning skate.” She gets up quickly, almost falling over herself before throwing a twenty on the bar. Before I can do the same, she gives me a look. “You aren’t drunk, are you? You can drive?”

  “Yeah, I can.” Sorry, Wes. Your spot is taken.

  “Great. I just want to make sure you get home okay.”

  Wait. “Huh—”

  “So, yeah. I guess I’ll see you in the morning. Thanks for this. It was fun.”

  And then she walks off.

  Doesn’t even look back at me.

  I blink once and then twice before I drop my head to the bar.

  She blew me off. Again. Maybe it is time to take a hint.

  Or completely ignore it once more and try again.

  Am I pathetic?

  Chapter Ten

  Boon

  I can’t keep from tossing and turning.

  I drank more vodka. Nothing.

  I masturbated. Nothing

  I drank a little more, and still, I can’t sleep.

  Nothing I do can keep me from thinking of her. A normal person would take the rejection and move on, but apparently I can’t. I don’t do failure well. I can’t stop thinking that maybe I wasn’t forward enough. Maybe I should have just kissed her. Maybe I should have just told her I wanted to take her to my place, feed her carbs, and fuck her brains out. I feel like she would have taken me up on my offer.

  But maybe I’m delusional. Maybe now I’m romanticizing the situation. She told me twice it was inappropriate, but I wouldn’t listen. I’m making this more than it is, and now I’m lying here alone, feeling stupid and hating life.

  I glance at the clock, and it’s close to two. I have to get up in five hours and go to the rink for morning skate. I don’t even know how I am supposed to face her and not show that I’m hurt by her rejection. If it is rejection. Jesus, I’m still romantic