Page 27 of Ruck Me Harder

“Then I don’t see a reason two single, consenting adults can’t have coffee together.”

Glaring daggers at me, she says, “you know it’s more than that.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

But Vivienne shakes her head. “I—I can’t.”

My stomach drops. “Okay, then.”

I try to pretend like I’m not disappointed. Now that I’ve finally psyched myself into asking, I have to admit I was looking forward to spending more time with her.

Her mouth opens, but no words come out.

“See you around.” Heading over to where Brody and Cari are still flirting, her teammates having walked away, I give him a subtle shake of my head, and he frowns.

“We’re going to head out,” he announces, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “You have time to come with us?”

Cari shakes her head. “We’ve got weights this afternoon. Another time, maybe.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I echo dumbly.

My sister turns her attention to me, and I shrink under her heavy stare. She’s always had a way of knowing exactly what’s wrong. I can’t tell her about this though. Not about Vivienne.

A beat passes before Cari sighs and shakes her head again.

“I’ll catch you at home,” she finally says. “Don’t do anything dumb.”

Does she know me? Dumb is practically my middle name.

twelve

. . .

Viv

“Okay, I’m going to tell you something, and it’s kind of a secret,” I tell Cari.

Her eyes go wide and she nods like a bobblehead. “I’ll take it to the grave.”

I laugh at her earnestness. “It’s not that big of a secret. I don’t want it spread around the team. It’s just… your brother Al…”

“Please tell me you’re dating him,” Cari blurts.

Maybe doing this on our way to his hockey game was a bad idea.

I wince. “No. But, um… my friends are all dating his friends.”

She blinks at me. “What?”

“Two of my good friends are dating players on the Grizzlies,” I explain. “And another’s boyfriend is the team’s reporter. So…”

“So you and Al are perfect for each other, then!” she chirps. “You already have overlapping friend groups!”

I shake my head. “That’s why it won’t work. It’s too incestuous.”

Not to mention her other brother…

“So why are you telling me?” Cari asks. “Is it that big a deal that your friends are dating Al’s teammates?”