Chapter 3

Cheyenne

The hockey gamehad been a blast, and I was so excited for Harper that the Phantoms had won. She'd been stressed before and during the game, because there was so much on the line for her, and all I could do was be there for her.

We were at her place now, relaxing with a few bottles of champagne and a group of close friends. Except for Damien. He and Stevie had flown into L.A. just this morning and she'd asked if she could come to the game. Stevie was one of my best friends in the world, we'd been through a lot together, so it was hard to say no unless I was willing to tell her how much I hated her fiancé. Since that never went well, I'd bitten my tongue and asked Harper if they could join us.

"We're thinking of having the wedding in St. Tropez in the spring," Stevie said once we were all settled in the great room. "I've already picked out a Vera Wang gown."

She was moving fast this time, and Harper and I exchanged a look.

"I can't wait for you to be my wife," Damien said, running a hand on her thigh as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Aw, baby-kins, that's so sweet." They started to kiss, and I had to turn away.

I wasn't a prude, and I spent a good portion of my life half-naked, but something about him rubbed me the wrong way.

Instead, I tried to surreptitiously gaze over at Ivan.

He was gorgeous.

Tall, broad-shouldered, with blue eyes and dark blond hair.

Every time we were in the same room together, I had to remind myself that I had a plan. One that didn't include a hunky hockey player boyfriend. But it was so damn hard to resist him in person. Which was probably why I avoided his texts too. I always got butterflies in my stomach when I thought about him, and I couldn't afford that. My life was just too chaotic for most men, and I didn't want my love life to turn out like Stevie's.

"You're going to be in our wedding party, right, Chey?" Damien asked, his dark eyes gleaming. "My buddy Jim already called dibs on you guys walking together."

Stevie looked startled for a moment but then nodded. "You'll like Jim. He's fun."

"You'll have to give me dates," was all I said. "You know I'm booked into next summer."

"I know," Stevie nodded, meeting my gaze almost apologetically. "We'll talk about dates soon."

I got up to refill my glass of champagne, walking into the kitchen with Harper on my tail.

"That was awkward," she whispered. "What the fuck is happening?"

"She's going to make a huge mistake and I don't know that there's anything we can do to stop it."

"All you can do is support her and be her friend. If she's in love, she's not going to listen."

"I know." I refilled my glass and took a sip.

"Is that Damien guy a douche or is it just me?" Gabe asked quietly, coming into the kitchen and joining us.

"Shh." Harper nudged him. "But yes. He is."

"Are we having a private party in the kitchen?" Ivan asked, joining us.

And there went the butterflies.

How did he always do this to me?

"Nope. Just getting more champagne." I held out the bottle to him. "Refill?"

"Absolutely." He smiled at me, holding out his glass so I could fill it. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been traveling like crazy," I said, shaking my head.

"And now it's my turn to travel," he replied, his blue eyes finding mine.

How did he get better looking every time I saw him?

It made it really hard to stay just friends.

If we didn't have so many mutual friends, I would've jumped his bones in a heartbeat.

"Yeah, you'll be busy with hockey now," I said. "By the way, you looked great out there tonight. I don't know much about hockey, but I've been watching games on YouTube and learning all I can so I can support you guys."

"That's nice," he said. "Feel free to ask if you have any questions."

"I appreciate that. I feel dumb sometimes. It took me weeks to figure out how to follow the puck, and even then, I still lose sight of it. Especially if the resolution isn't great."

"If you want, I can send you links to stuff I have saved for research purposes. It's all high resolution so it'll be easier for you to see. Just please don't share with anyone because it's property of the teams who sent them to me."

"Oh, that would be amazing. Thank you. And no, I wouldn't share. I just want to learn. This is important to Harper, so I'm trying to be there for her."

"You're a good friend," he said, smiling over his glass of champagne.

"I do my best." I gazed toward the living room. "Sometimes, there's nothing you can do."

He nodded as if he understood. "No. Sometimes you can only stand close by to help catch them when they fall."

"It's still hard to watch people you care about do dumb shit, though."

"It is. But she's an adult."

"Sometimes. Other times, she's a hormonal teenager with the mood swings to show for it."

He chuckled. "We all have moments as hormonal teens, right?"

"I guess we do." I'd just finished my glass and was about to refill it once more when Stevie and Damien came into the kitchen.

"There you are!" Stevie grinned at me. "We're going to take off but are you going to Saylor's gallery opening on Friday night?"

Saylor Bonetti was a model friend of ours who'd recently decided to leave modeling and open an art gallery. The opening was the day after tomorrow, and it was one of the reasons I'd come back to L.A. instead of heading to New York, where I'd be shooting next week.

"Of course," I said, nodding. "I came back to L.A. this week so I could go to the game tonight and the opening Friday. I leave for New York Monday morning."

"Well, Jim needs a date," Damien interjected, "so it'll be the perfect opportunity for you two to spend some time together." He rubbed his hands together. "I smell a future romance brewing!"

He smelled romance?

What did that even mean?

I nearly gagged just thinking about it.

"Oh, uh…" I faltered. I hated shit like this. There was zero chance I was going to spend an evening with one of Damien's friends. "I don't think?—"

"Oh, sorry, man, but she already has a date," Ivan said, sliding an arm around my waist.

I froze but then leaned into his side when I caught the look on Damien's face. There was no doubt he was annoyed, and I was incredibly grateful to Ivan for jumping in like this because I had to tread carefully. My friendship with Stevie was important to me, and though she had terrible taste in men, she'd been a good friend over the years. Someone who genuinely didn't want anything from me.

"But—" Stevie began.

"I'm sure there will be lots of other opportunities to meet Jim," I said quickly, interrupting her before she could ask anything specific. Like how long we'd been dating or some other thing I didn't have an answer for.

"I guess that's true." She reached out and hugged me. "I'll see you Friday then."

"See you then."

"Thank you for inviting us to the game," she said softly. "I'll tell Harper too."

"You're welcome."

"Good to meet you," Ivan said, holding out his hand to Damien.

Damien shook it without much enthusiasm but at least he was polite.

We refilled our glasses once more before heading back toward the great room.

"Why the fuck is she marrying him?" Ivan demanded as soon as Stevie and Damien had left.

"I wish I knew," I said, shaking my head. "But I owe you a big one for rescuing me like that. Thank you. And you don't have to actually go to the opening if you don't want to. In fact, I may just show up, take some pictures for Saylor to post on socials, and then jet."

"I'm happy to go," he said. "I love art."

"Thank you." I squeezed his arm. "I mean it. It's becoming harder and harder to keep my feelings about Damien to myself, but Stevie is the type who'll do the opposite of what you tell her to do. If you tell her you think her boyfriend is a manipulative asshole who's using her, she'll elope tomorrow just to prove me wrong."

He grimaced. "That's not good."

"She's a great girl, she really is, but she has some trauma in her past. She just wants to find a guy who'll love her. Unfortunately, she keeps meeting the wrong ones."

"Well, maybe we can work together to show her she can do better."

I smiled. "That's a sweet thought."

"So…Friday night?"

"I guess it's a date." I paused. "But not a date-date. Ivan, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. You're a great guy, and I appreciate you saving me from Damien's friends, but I'm not in a position?—"

"Hey." He put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm good. Going as friends is fine. Eight months of the year I'm on the road and busy with hockey, so there's no pressure on my end."

When was the last time I'd been out with a guy with no pressure?

"Thank you," I said softly. "And I'm looking forward to hanging out."

"Me too."

"I don't think I can stand watching this play out with Stevie and Damien," Harper said, joining us. "It's painful to spend time with him. How does she not see it?"

"I don't know," I said. "I think part of it is that she's so caught up in the excitement of planning the wedding, she's not paying attention to the red flags."

"Well, not my circus, not my monkeys," Harper said with a laugh. "All we can do is gently nudge her in the right direction. If she refuses to see it, then it is what it is."

"Hey, do you want to come to my friend's gallery opening Friday night?" I asked her. "It's going to be fun. And maybe if you and Gabe are there, along with Ivan and me, we can get her to see that one of these men is not like the others."

"I don't know what we're talking about," Jensen's girlfriend, Bailey Walker, called out. "But I'm down for it."

"Art gallery opening Friday night," I told her. "All of you are welcome. Just let me know and I'll get you on the list."

"That sounds fun," Autumn put in. "We'll have to see if the nanny can stay late."

"Oh, now I'm looking forward to it!" I said. I'd wanted to go until I found out Damien would be there, but this made his presence more palatable. Not to mention spending time with Ivan again.

We'd hung out a few times over the summer, but usually with Gabe and Harper, and he was fun, if not a little more laid back than I was used to. It was a nice change, though, from the guys who were all over me all the time. I liked to have fun but had no interest in relationships right now. I was only twenty-four and wanted to make all the money I could before I retired.

I also wanted to have fun, and guys seemed to think I needed to marry them to be happy. They didn't understand that I was perfectly content on my own. Yes, I wanted a family someday, but I had a very specific plan.

Work, make money, and party now.

Retire, settle down, maybe have a couple of babies after I turn thirty.

It was simple.

Well, it was supposed to be.

Sometimes, like when I spent the evening with a hunky hockey player, it was the opposite of simple.

And I had no idea what to do about that.