Chapter 16

sixteen

MADDOX

Another day of training, and I'm more exhausted from my teammates' endless meddling than I am from the intense workout. All three of my friends spent the day brainstorming ways I could win Isla over. A few of them were decent, but most of them were ridiculous.

Griffin's favorite suggestion was to rent a horse and ride it to her apartment while carrying three dozen red roses with a Bluetooth speaker playing In Your Eyes hooked to the saddle à la Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything. But with a Prince Charming twist. When I told him I didn't know how to ride a horse, he just shrugged and said, " How hard can it be? "

I still think it's a lost cause, and I'm trying not to dwell on it as I watch ESPN on my comfy couch and drink a beer. I need to relax. To think about anything other than Isla Harding and her fiery eyes and kissable lips.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I grin when my younger sister, Mira's name flashes across the screen. It's been a few weeks since we've talked, and I miss her. Maybe I can convince her to ditch Chicago for a weekend and visit me. It'll only get harder to make it work once the season kicks off. I press the accept button, put it on speaker, and start to say hello when my sister interrupts me.

"I can't believe you have a new girlfriend and you didn't tell me," she says in lieu of a greeting.

I choke on my beer. "Sorry, what?"

"Seriously, Maddy? Don't play dumb with me. I'm your sister, for god's sake. You know I'll always find someone to spill the tea if you don't." She makes a tsk -ing sound. "And she's so gorgeous. Why would you keep her a secret?"

My heart pounds. This wouldn't be the first time some random woman on the internet made claims we were an item, but those women have never fooled my sister. The last thing I need—the very last thing—is for the media to catch wind of this and give a delusional fan a platform to lie about me. I won't be subjected to that again. I try to keep my voice calm and even, even as my head starts spinning.

"Mira, what are you talking about? Who's claiming to be my girlfriend?"

She sighs, and I can imagine her rolling her eyes. "The hot redhead you're making heart-eyes at. You two look ah-mazing together."

Hot redhead? She has to be talking about Isla, right? But why would Isla post anything claiming to be my girlfriend? I'm fairly certain she doesn't even like me. "Where did you see this picture?"

"Instagram. Probably wouldn't have seen it if one of her friends didn't tag you in a comment. She didn't even add a hashtag or anything, so it didn't ping the Google alert I have set up with your name."

The tension in my chest eases. I need to see this post for myself before I flip out. After all, I told her she could take a selfie with me to make her ex jealous. That's probably all this is. "What's her username?"

"Maddox Graves. You don't even know your own girlfriend's Instagram handle? Jesus. Be a better boyfriend."

"Mira," I growl. "She's not my girlfriend. Username. Now."

She rattles it off, and I type it into the app's search function. A black-and-white photo of a smiling Isla pops up in a little circle alongside her handle. My stupid heart speeds up as I tap on it, bringing up her feed.

Sure enough, the last photo she posted is one of us. She smiles brightly while I look at her, a faint grin on my lips. I read the caption— Dinner with this guy. Thanks for an unforgettable night, Maddox.— and bark out a laugh. Clever woman. She made it sound like we had some steamy night of passion when in reality, it was unforgettably awful, not unforgettably wonderful. Win for her, and it covers my ass.

"Well?" my sister prompts, her voice ringing with impatience. "Care to explain? After one of her friends tagged you, it blew up. Everyone's speculating about you two. And about her."

Shit. I doubt Isla will like that, and I'd bet that lack of a tag was intentional. The only person she wanted to see that photo was her ex, so she could make him eat shit. I wonder if she's realized two thousand people have already heart-ed it? I scan the comments, grateful that most of them seem kind and curious, but cringe when I see a few from jealous women speculating all sorts of unkind things about Isla.

"Her friends bid on a date with me in this stupid silent auction the Rogues set up. I treated her like shit because I thought she must have been a gold-digging jersey chaser, but actually, she recently went through a bad breakup. Her friends were trying to get her out of her shell. She was unimpressed with my behavior and left before the reporter who was supposed to interview us got to the restaurant. So I bribed her to finish dinner with me. Taking a photo she could use to make her ex jealous was part of the deal."

My sister is silent for only a moment before she's cracking up. She's nearly wheezing, she's laughing so hard. "Oh. My. God. She's the GOAT. She totally threw shade only you would recognize while making her ex read it the opposite way. Please tell me you turned it around by the end of the night and did some serious groveling so you can take her out again."

I clear my throat. "I may have run into her at a bar with the boys the following weekend and they may have dragged her to our booth to hang out. But I don't think there's any potential there, Mir. She's not my biggest fan."

"Well, make her a fan. I want to meet her."

"Right. Sure. I'll get right on that."

"You better hope Mom doesn't see this."

Dammit. Mom. Despite our father walking out on her shortly after Mira was born and leaving her to raise two kids without help or financial support, despite my abysmal track record with women and assertions that I will never date again, Mom still harbors a not-so-secret hope that I'll find the one . She says I've got too much love in my heart not to share it with a good woman.

I think she just wants grandbabies to snuggle since Mira and I are a little too big for that, these days.

"Does mom have a Google alert set up for me too?"

Mira snorts. "Yeah right. As if she'd know how to do something like that."

"Okay good. If she hears about it, please tell her I'm not dating Isla."

"Isla, huh? That's a pretty name."

"Yep."

"She's beautiful. Is she cool?"

"Yeah, she's cool." And gorgeous, funny, and full of fire. And she smells like roses and bergamot. And I've stuck my foot in my mouth every single time I've spoken to her.

Mira laughs. "You like her."

"What?" How in the hell did she get that out of Yeah, she's cool?

"Oh, come on, Maddy-Poo. You act like I don't know you. Are you going to see her again?"

I sigh, then tell her all about our agreement to speak at her school. Mira listens as I recount the night at Skin and Tonic. About my disastrous text message telling her the guys would love if she came to a game. Mira nearly pisses herself, she laughs so hard about that. Still, like the guys, she tells me to stop being an idiot and make a move. I tell her I'll think about it, then change the topic.

"It's been a while since you've visited. Think you can squeeze some time in for a brother-weekend before the season starts?"

Mira hums. "I'm not sure. Jared and I are taking a trip out to California for a couple of weeks. I've got some contacts out there I'd like to pitch in person. But in my downtime, we'll take a few surfing lessons, drink margaritas on the beach, and fuck all night long in our little rental."

"Je-sus." I groan. "I don't need to know that crap, Mi-Mi."

"Sorry." She practically sings the word, so I know she's not sorry. Not in the slightest. "But I can plan a trip during the season. We'll schedule it around some home games or something. Then maybe I can meet Isla, because I'm sure you'll be an item by then."

I chuckle. My sister, the eternal optimist. It works for her, and it's helped her get her business off the ground. Because as optimistic as Mira is, she's just as driven and single-minded. Nothing gets in between her and her goals. We're a lot alike in that regard. My goals are just more literal than hers. And they involve pucks and nets. " Yeah , I'm sure we will be. Now, tell me about this guy. Is he good to you? Because if he's not, I'll bring the boys to Chicago and we'll take turns kicking his ass."

"You're so dramatic. He's good to me. I wouldn't have moved in with him if he wasn't. Do you think I'd put up with anything less?"

She wouldn't. Our mom made damn sure of that. "Of course not. But I'd be a pretty shit brother if I didn't offer some vague threat of violence."

"You're ridiculous."

"I know. You love me anyway."

"I guess. So when are you going to ask Isla out?"

Isla's beautiful face stares at me through the phone screen. God, she's stunning. And she felt so good in my arms when I carried her out to the car that night at the bar. But I screwed it all up. She couldn't possibly want anything to do with me, right? But we haven't discussed the assembly, and the silent auction dinner for the team is coming up. Coach said they invited all the winners. I wonder if she's planning to go.

Even if she doesn't want to go out with me, we'll need to talk. I'll just try my hardest not to continue my streak of jamming my foot into my mouth. Because, even though I doubt I stand a chance in hell, I can't stop thinking about her. And clearly, everyone in my life is going to ride my ass until I give it a shot.

The sooner Isla tells me she's not interested, the sooner things can go back to normal.

"Isla won't want to go out with me," I tell my sister. "Even with groveling."

"You never know until you try."

"Sure, Mi-Mi. You just want to see me humiliated."

She's silent for a moment. I expect her to toss a joke back my way, but she doesn't. Instead, her voice is serious when she says, "No, Maddy, I don't. I think you've been humiliated enough, don't you? I want to see you happy."

Well, shit. What can I say to that? I suck in a deep breath, nodding even though my sister can't see it, and make a decision. "I'll shoot my shot. Just don't hold your breath."

My sister releases a little high-pitched squeal. "I believe in you."

I'm glad someone does. Hopefully, for now, that's enough.