Wright that Got Away (Wright)

When it came to Campbell Abbey, my heart couldn’t handle it.

Piper parked, and I grabbed my soccer bag from the back. We trekked across the pavement to the fields beyond. I could see that half the team was already warming up. And to my surprise, as we got closer, I noticed Campbell sitting in the stands. My heart thumped at that sight. I had no idea why he was here now. Not to mention, with the entire band.

Piper and Jennifer did a double take at that.

“Oh my God,” Jennifer whispered, like the fangirl she was. “The band is here.”

“No Michael though,” Piper said.

She was right. No Michael. Interesting. Had he not flown in with the rest of the band?

I could have jumped up there to ask. Campbell’s eyes met mine, and he smiled down at me. But I jerked my head away from him and hurried past to the fields. Smooth, Blaire.

“Hey, Blaire!” Honey cried as I got closer.

She was standing next to the other forward and our newest member, Eve.

“Blaire,” Eve said. Eve was gorgeous with black hair and green eyes and a big chest, currently covered by The Tacos soccer uniform.

“Hey, y’all.”

I narrowed my eyes at Honey’s outfit. She was wearing black biker shorts and a floral crop top that looked familiar. In fact, it looked like the shirt that had come in last week for me from a sustainable energy designer that I supported.

“Is that my shirt?”

Honey glanced down at herself and laughed. “Oh my God, is it?”

“Yeah, I think it is.”

“My bad, Blaire. I must have snagged it on accident. You don’t mind, do you?” Her eyes were wide with concern.

I dropped my soccer bag and shook my head. “No, it’s fine. Just bring it back tomorrow.”

“Sure,” she said easily.

Eve glanced between us as Jen and Piper caught up with us.

“Hey, Eve,” Piper said with a smile.

Eve was a big reason that Piper’s winery had been saved. She always seemed hesitant around us girls, as if she expected us to hate her. That was probably because of her reputation as being a man stealer, but I’d known her a few months, and she didn’t seem remotely interested in going after anyone’s boyfriend. It seemed like some bullshit label that she’d internalized. We didn’t deal with any of that slut shaming here.

“Hi, Piper.” She nodded at Jen. “I heard you were moving out.”

Jennifer brightened. “Yes, tomorrow!”

“Lucky. I was just evicted.”

We all blinked at her.

“What?” Piper gasped.

“I was staying at a Sinclair Realty property,” she said, as if that made all the difference.

And considering she had been in a brief relationship with Mr. Sinclair, it was all starting to make sense. They’d ended their fling, and he’d gotten rid of her in every way that he could.

“That’s terrible. I’m sorry. We have an extra room this weekend if you want to move in.”

Eve’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Yeah. You should take Jen’s spot,” Piper agreed.

“You can’t be serious.”

“And why not?” Piper asked.

“I…I don’t play well with others,” she said in air quotes. “How could you want me to live with you after what you know about me?”

Piper put her hands on her hips. “You saved my winery. You never put the moves on Hollin, and he used to put the moves on everyone.”

“Yeah, but…”

“I don’t think there is a but,” I said encouragingly. “If you have a better option, then go for it, but we’d love to have you.”

Eve flushed. She considered it a moment and then nodded her head. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that. Thank you.”

“Sweet. I’ll get all the lease information for you. Should be easy. When do you want to move in?”

“This weekend, if I can.”

“Done,” Piper said.

I left them to work out the details. After pulling on my cleats and shin guards, I jogged out onto the field. Nora waved me over, and we ran a few drills to get warmed up.

“What’s Campbell doing here?” I asked her.

She arched an eyebrow at me. “You tell me.”

“Oh boy, you too?”

“Hey, I like you, and I like having my brother back home. I can’t complain.”

Then, her eyes drifted to the sidelines, and she cursed.

“What?”

I followed her gaze and found August and Tamara striding toward the field.

“Fuck,” I muttered. “What are they doing here?”

When Nora had been dating August, he’d been on our team. We’d replaced him with Eve after the fallout of Nora finding him making out with her best friend. Thankfully, Tamara had quit her job at Wright Vineyard. So, Nora hadn’t had to deal with her since that had all gone down.

“I have no idea.”

We jogged over to the sidelines, but August wasn’t heading that way. He was walking toward the other team. That was when we both realized he was wearing the avocado green of the opposing team.

“He switched teams?” I asked in shock.

Hollin came to stand next to us. “I’ll kill him.”