Wild Tendy (IceCats Book 2) Read online

  When I reach for my keys, Callie looks back at me. “Aren’t you gonna wait for the game to be over?”

  I want to, but I don’t want her to know I want to. She’ll think I like Nico. Then she’ll want me to date him, get married, have babies, and be rich. Since I don’t want to tell her the truth or open a can of Nico worms, I shake my head. “No, the sooner I get out, the sooner I can come home.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Or you can stay out and have fun.”

  I wave her off. “No, I’ve got things to do in the morning.” My excuse for everything. “Plus, I have to prep for the subs on Monday. You saw how long it took to prep for today.”

  Boy, was it some work. I made over a hundred subs and side trays with all the fixings. It was awesome, but the pay was even better.

  “I’ll help you. Just stay out. Have fun. Go home with someone.”

  My jaw actually drops as my phone dings, letting me know my Uber is here. “With who, Callie? Any Joe Schmo I meet?”

  She shrugs, looking a whole lot of guilty before she says, “Whoever catches your eye. Just have fun. Let loose.”

  I put on my crossover bag and shake my head at her. “You’re gonna give me an ulcer at the thought of sending you to college.”

  She snorts. “Don’t worry. I’ll make good choices and some bad.”

  “The bad are what worry me,” I call to her before saying goodbye and heading out the door. Once I’m downstairs, I lock everything up and head out to the car. I can’t help but look up at the apartment window, the TV light filling the room my sister sits in. I shake my head. That girl is crazy. I have no desire to go home with some Joe Schmo. But Nico Merryweather…that’s a whole different story.

  Not that it would ever happen.

  The pub is packed when I arrive. I soon realize it’s because the game was on. Apparently I’m so in the dark about the IceCats that I didn’t even know people actually gathered to watch them. Thankfully, once the game is over, the pub starts to clear out, but there is still a buzz going on. Pretty sure it’s from how hot Jaylin is. Her skin is the color of milk chocolate, while her ebony hair falls straight along her shoulders. She has the perfect caramel eyes that are framed by dramatic lashes. Her lips are so thick I envy them. She’s in a tight yellow skirt and a black crop top containing her huge boobs, and it’s easy to say I’m jealous of my friend. She’s utterly fantastic, and all the guys are checking her out. Hell, I’m checking her out.

  “Did you go up a size?” I ask, tipping my head toward her boobs.

  “Yes, I told you that. Porn star titties is what I am going for.”

  We snort with laughter as I shake my head. “I’m so jealous.”

  “Get them done. It’s so easy.”

  “I can’t,” I say on an exhale. “I’m saving back up for Callie’s, and then maybe I’ll do mine.”

  While we were close in high school and all through college, it wasn’t time that morphed our friendship into a sisterhood. It was the pain we went through. After I lost my mom from breast cancer, not six weeks later, Jaylin was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. And then I found out I had the gene for the same cancer my mom had. Jaylin and I went through the double mastectomy surgery together. We lay in bed together, watched movies, and mended with Callie at our feet. Cancer may tear apart some things, but it does bring other things together. Jaylin and I are closer because of it.

  “You’ve been saying that for years,” she scolds me, and I nod.

  “I promise I will,” I say. I wait for her to mention that I’ve said that a time or two, but thankfully, she doesn’t. Instead, we both take sips of our wine. When she looks over at me, I smile. “Anyone new?”

  She shrugs. “You know how it is. Guys suck. Or at least the dudes I’ve been meeting.”

  “Get off Tinder,” I say dryly.

  She laughs. “I don’t have time to go looking for a guy—”

  “Then get a dating profile. Stop with the hookups.”

  She shoots me a look. “You need a hookup for sure.”

  “Please,” I say, waving her off. “Why don’t you have your mom set you up?”

  She snorts. “’Cause I am in no way, shape, or form ready for a Christian man. I need a bad boy. Someone who will make my mom pray for me more than she already does.”

  That sends us both into a fit of laughter. “I don’t know why you drive her crazy.”

  “Because it’s fun. She wants to put me in this perfect little box. Successful lawyer, seven kids, good, godly man, and a huge house. Instead, I’m sleeping around, and I skip church more than I should.” Her face is bright with happiness as she laughs from the soul. While I wish she’d calm down, I get it. She could have died from the cancer, and because of it, she’s living life to the fullest.

  It makes me envy her more.

  She’s living, and I’m hiding. It’s pathetic and the real reason why I wiggle out of seeing her. She makes me feel a certain kind of way. Like I’m missing out on life, when all I’m trying to do is make sure Callie is taken care of. She’s my main priority; I’ll get to me later. Unless I die a horrid death, and then it will be for nothing. That’s a truly depressing thought.

  “You’re a mess,” I tease, and she flashes me a grin. “I envy you, though,” I admit, and soon, her smile falls.

  “Callie is doing great, Veev. You don’t have to—”

  “I know,” I say simply, stopping her. “You’ve said this a few times.”

  “She’s almost seventeen. She’s not a baby. She doesn’t need you up her ass.”

  I laugh ruefully. “Did she ever?”

  We share a small smile. Callie has always been self-sufficient. She hardly ever cried when she was a baby, and she was always just larger-than-life. I don’t know if it’s because there is such a huge age gap between us or what, but like Jaylin said, Callie isn’t a baby. She’s almost an adult. “I just want to keep my promise.”

  Jaylin smiles before covering my hand with hers. “Aviva, you’ve kept that promise tenfold. Your mom is looking down on us, and she is beaming from ear to ear. You are the reason Callie is so perfect. You’re the reason the sub shop is thriving. You’ve done it all. Now take some time for yourself.”

  I lace our fingers together and cover our hands with my other. Jaylin is my best friend, the one person who knows me inside out. The one who has seen me break down and has helped me back up. I can tell her anything. And I don’t know why, but I want to tell her about Nico.

  “There is this guy.”

  Her eyes light up as she scoots to the edge of the barstool.

  I hold up my hand to keep her from squealing. “Relax. I doubt anything will happen!”

  “No, something will. You have never spoken about a guy!”

  I shrug, looking away as my face fills with a grin.

  “And I’ve never seen you smile like that. Tell me everything!”

  It must be the alcohol, because I feel goofy. “It’s the guy I hit with my car.”

  Her lashes almost pop off from how wide her eyes go. “No way. The hot red-sports-car guy?”

  I laugh, nodding before taking a swig. “At first, he tripped me out by asking me out. I thought he was just being nice—”

  “No. He thinks you’re hot!”

  I roll my eyes. “I guess, because he’s been coming around the shop. He’s been helping Callie with her homework, and he got me a job with the IceCats, making subs for game days.”

  She blinks twice, and I’m pretty certain her lashes will come off this time. “Wait.”

  “What?”

  “The guy you hit was Nico Merryweather.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Nico Merryweather, as in the star goalie of the IceCats?”

  I bite into my lip. “Yes?”

  She blinks once. Then twice. And finally, she starts laughing hysterically. I’m beyond confused as I watch her laugh. “Want to let me in on what is so funny?”

  She looks up at me from where she is bent over laugh