Attached to You (Carolina Rebels 4)

“You’re crazy.” But it makes me smile, so he wins.

“How are you doing today?”

I shrug. “Fine. My dad stopped by. He wanted my mother’s diaries back. I happily gave them to him.” I look over and rest my chin on the edge of the tub. “Should I be fine? I mean, she died a week ago and in some ways, it feels like she’s still alive and breathing down my neck.”

“Everyone’s different, darlin’,” he replies softly.

“I kinda miss her.”

“Kinda?” He grins.

“I mean, I do.”

He laughs. “Either way, it’s normal. Have you had dinner yet?” When I shake my head, he starts to stand. “I’ll cook us something then. Enjoy your bath.”

He surprises me by leaving me all alone in my bath, but I don’t mind. My heart is still warm from knowing that he drove all the way over here to check on me when I didn’t answer my phone. And now he’s cooking for me?

Steal my heart and keep it, Brayden.

Give me my heart back, Brayden! I decided to let Brayden choose where I sit at the game. He placed me in with the spouses of his teammates. The moment I walked into the box, it hit me that the last time I saw these people, they discovered I was sleeping with two teammates. I wanted to turn and walk back out, but the pregnant lady comes over and drags me to sit with her. Apparently, there are two pregnant ladies, but the one who comes to me is Sylvia.

“Karaoke girl, I’ve been dying to talk to you.”

“I haven’t,” one woman says dryly.

Sylvia waves her off. “That’s Sydney; she’s good friends with Zane. You were never introduced to the rest of the girls, were you?” Before I can answer, she points. “That’s Lizzy, Meredith, Sydney, and Theresa. Those two girls there are mine: Stephanie and Stella. That little girl is Ian and Sydney’s; her name is Savannah.”

I wave at them, though Sydney keeps cutting glares at me. This may be more uncomfortable than I was counting on.

“Tell me. What exactly happened between the three of you?”

“Excuse me, but how is that any of your business?”

Her eyes widen like no one has ever asked her that before while the other girls giggle. Sylvia glances at them. “I liked it better when the newbies are dumbfounded and eventually tell me.”

Meredith laughs at her, but to me, she says, “She’s nosy; she can’t help it. She likes to know things, that’s all.”

“I’m sure you know enough.” My eyes fall back to Sydney.

“We know Z’s side,” Sylvia replies.

“What more is there to know then?” I don’t think Zane, or Z as they call him, would lie or anything about us.

“About you and Brayden.”

Just when I think I’m saved because of the singing of the national anthem, the game starts and Sylvia brings it up again. I don’t want to share, and I can’t imagine that Brayden would want me to either. “Can you explain the game to me? And help me find Brayden?”

Sylvia frowns. “I reckon.”

She points to Brayden. It’s helpful because at this point, I didn’t even know his last name. Hard to find him when I don’t know that. I also discover that he’s the captain of the team. The game sounds easy the way Sylvia explains it, but I’ll be damned if I can actually follow the action on the ice. I do like the close-ups of Brayden on the jumbotron, though. He looks pissed off the entire time. That’s one of my favorite Braydens.

He scores a goal, but unlike one of his teammates who scored one earlier, he does not celebrate. His teammates crowd around him, pat him on the back and on the helmet, but they smile and he doesn’t. That seems to fit Brayden.

Sydney gets up and moves to the seat next to me. “What are you doing here?” she asks. “Do you really think you should be here after what you did to Zane?”

I frown. “After what I did to him? I didn’t do anything.”

Her jaw drops a little. After a moment, she moves back to her seat. I’ll take a wild guess and say that she doesn’t like me. What exactly did Zane tell them? Brayden did say he was unhappy about this whole mess, so maybe he said some things while he was pissed?