“Wow.”
“Yeah, so then, that leaves Jace. He’s cool, hot, of course, but he’s kinda sleazy like Jude. Or at least, that’s the rumor. Not sure if it’s true.”
I smirk. “I’m good with sleazy, Kena. It isn’t like this is forever. One and done.”
“Yeah, that’s how my sister does life. I want forever, though.”
“Good luck with that,” I say, and then I pause when I realize she knows way too much about the Sinclair brothers. “How do you know all this? You don’t, like, want a chance with Jace, do you? ’Cause I’ll back off.”
She shakes her head, laughter bubbling from her throat. “I’m not Jace Sinclair’s type for one, and for two, Jayden used to date my sister. Well, not date, screw, until they decided to part ways. And that’s how I got all the info.”
“Not Jace, though?”
“No. I don’t know anyone who has actually been with him or dated him here. This is only his second year. And last year, he was kinda dating some chick from out of state.
That confuses me. “I pegged him as a player.”
She shrugs as she nods. “Maybe, but you can really trust the rumor mill around here. According to anyone you talk to, everyone sleeps with everyone around here.”
“True,” I agree. “But that’s cool. Maybe he isn’t a full-out player so I won’t have to go get tested in a month.”
She laughs. “I didn’t peg you as a player.”
“I’m not, but maybe I’ll become one.” I’m not one hundred percent committed to the idea, but I can’t hate on it. Get pleasure and never depend on anyone to love you? Sounds like the life I want. It gets tiring begging for love, and I refuse to do it any longer.
But Mekena doesn’t agree. “No, you don’t want to be a ho. You’re too gorgeous to be a ho.”
I wave her off bashfully. I’m not ugly by any means, but gorgeous? Come on.
But then I think back to the way Jace looked at me, and yeah, I felt gorgeous.
For the first time ever, I felt special.
Which is insane. I mean, come on, we were in front of each other maybe five minutes. But in that time, it just was intense. I felt something. A connection.
A horny one.
“Whatever. I haven’t decided,” I say, standing up and smacking my thighs as a way to say I’m done with this conversation. But apparently Mekena isn’t.
“But you’ve decided to inspect the length of Jace Sinclair’s stick?”
I laugh. “Clever, Ms. Preston.” I applaud her. “And yes. I am invested in that task. I will report on the girth, length, and curve.”
“Good, I expect an extensive report.”
“I will be very thorough in my investigations,” I say with a wink and I try not to smile. But soon, I can’t hold it in and we both dissolve in laughter. When I lie back on the bed, my body shakes with my giggles and I can’t remember the last time I laughed this hard. Mekena is great. I really like her and she is making coming to Nashville worth it. I have a feeling we are going to be good friends, and I’ve always needed that. I never had a hard time making friends; it’s just keeping them that was an issue. Coming from a serious hockey family, one where my brothers were bred to be in the NHL, the friends I had didn’t stick around long because their families were jealous of mine.
We are the Kennedys of hockey in New Jersey.
But I don’t want to think about that. I want to be thankful for the friend I have made. Glancing over at Mekena, I smile. But before either of us can say anything now that we’ve stopped laughing, my phone dings with a text message. Bringing it out of my pocket, I see that it’s from Matty, and that surprises me. I haven’t heard from him since I left. Hell, I haven’t heard from any of my brothers.
Opening the message, I roll my eyes.
Matty: I miss you, fuckface.
Me: Usually when you tell someone you miss them, you leave off the fuckface.
Matty: Whatever, come home. Stop being dumb.