21. Hayden

CHAPTER 21

HAYDEN

"Nice t-shirt," Miller comments as I load my bag into the overhead bin on the plane.

"Thanks." This t-shirt is now my most prized possession. "Darcy gave it to me."

His eyebrows go up with interest as I drop into my seat. "I take it Valentine's Day went well?"

My exhale is heavy as I think about what a mess I made of things.

Miller chuckles. "That bad, huh? Alright, tell the expert what's wrong so we can fix it."

I let out a dry laugh of disbelief. "Expert? You're joking, right? Hazel hated you until, like, last week."

"Darcy didn't like the flowers?"

"She liked them." I fold my arms over my chest and stare out the window. "She liked the bracelet I got her, too."

Miller whistles. "A bracelet, too?" His grin stretches ear to ear. "Now you're thinking. What's the problem?"

"We, uh," I spare a glance at him, "cuddled."

"Cuddled?" he repeats loudly, and the guys around us look over .

"Shut the fuck up," I hiss. "Someone will hear."

"My bad. Wouldn't want someone to know you and Darcy cuddled out of wedlock."

"We were cuddling as friends. It didn't mean anything."

It sounds so fucking stupid out loud.

He stares at me for a long moment and bursts out laughing. "Cuddling as friends?"

"It's a thing."

It's not a thing. I needed to touch her, and it blew up in my face when she made it clear that nothing would ever come of it. That my body turned her on but nothing was ever, ever going to happen between us.

It didn't mean anything , she said. That's me. A pretty face and a good fuck. Even Darcy, who knows me better than anyone, can see that.

And yet, for some reason, I tucked the framed photo of us into my bag to bring on my road trip. I like torturing myself, I guess.

Or maybe I'll just miss her.

Miller looks over the seats. "Hey, Streicher, do you want to cuddle later? As friends?"

A few rows away, Streicher gives him a surly glare.

Miller turns back to me with delight shining in his eyes. "Sorry, you were saying?"

I pull the brim of my baseball hat low on my forehead and sink into my seat, the unspoken signal for I'm taking a nap; don't bother me , but Miller flicks my hat up.

"Owens." His smile dims a few notches as he searches my expression. "What are you doing?"

In my mind, I see Darcy's petrified expression when the engagement ring appeared on her plate at dinner. "Nothing. She's not ready for a relationship."

"So help her be ready. Show her what it could be like. "

My throat knots with worry. "The last guy tried that, remember? And she freaked out."

Miller hums, thinking.

If she didn't want long term with Kit, every woman's dream guy, how's she going to feel after my shiny newness wears off?

Ward appears in the aisle and hands us each a folder. "Gentlemen."

"Coach."

He moves on, and I flip through the game packet—folders with our travel itinerary, room assignments, game schedule, and notes on each game. A Polaroid slips between the pages.

A surprised laugh bursts out of me at the picture of that stupid fucking gnome tucked into my bed, head on my pillow, wearing an eye mask.

On the back, Darcy's writing reads Good luck! I'll be watching your games (and sleeping in your bed). - Daniel

She must have done this when I was at practice or something. I can't stop smiling. My thoughts stray to the video I took of Darcy last night while being serenaded.

I pull my phone out. Daniel better not jerk off in my bed while I'm gone , I text Darcy.

Her response is immediate. Where's he supposed to do it? He has needs.

My grin broadens, and all the weird feelings from last night and this morning melt away. On the patio like a normal person.

She responds with a GIF of Jim Carrey gagging, and I beam at my phone, pop an earbud in, and pull up the video of her from last night, looking mortified while serenaded.

The morning coffees because she knows I'm useless before caffeine, the t-shirt from our favorite book series, our dumb shared jokes like the creepy gnome—my life is better when we're living together.

I always say Kit's my best friend, but he's not. It's Darcy .

I'm not dumb enough to continue denying my feelings for her, but I won't act on them and mess up the best thing that's ever happened to me.