Page 111 of Cross Check

“Wait!” I call out. “There aren’t really cameras, right?”

“Guess you’ll find out, Everett.”

The door slams, and I head down the hall with a bottle of Chardonnay tucked against my side. There’s laughter coming from the living room, and I follow the noise until I find four women sprawled out on the couch and recliners.

“I come bearing wine,” I announce, and they all cheer.

“Grant!” Piper jumps up and hurries my way, giving me a quick hug. “The pizza just got here. Come grab a slice.”

“Sorry I’m late. Someone’s Pilates class made it difficult to get out of the shower.” I lift an eyebrow at Lexi. “What did I miss?”

“We’re talking about the hottest player in each professional league,” Emmy says.

“Who did you decide on?” I ask.

“I’m kidding. We’re talking about how we’re going to take down the patriarchy.” Her smirk is too ambiguous for me to tell which part is true. “We’re starting with the fast fashion industry, then we’ll move on to education reform.”

“If you need a spy, I’m happy being your eyes on the inside.” I sit next to Madeline on the couch, and she smiles at me. I’m glad she’s gone from Hudson’s personal chef to someone the women always include. “Just say the word.”

“That’s nice of you, Everett.” Lexi puts a slice of pepperoni on a plate and hands it my way. “Thank you for joining the cause.”

“Can I ask y’all a question? As esteemed women who interact with hockey players every day of your lives?”

“I love giving advice, just as much as I love being complimented.” Piper clasps her hands together. “What’s on your mind, Grant?”

“It involves a woman, but not in the way you think,” I say, cutting them off when all their eyes go wide. “We were talking a lot. Hanging out, which was always a good time. I… there were—are—definitely feelings on my end. None on hers; she was very adamant that we were just friends. She said she needed some space the last time we hung out, and it was totally out of the blue. I’ve given it to her, but I think I did something wrong. Something that made her perspective shift really quickly.”

“Couple possible scenarios,” Lexi says. “She has a significant other, she had a major life change, or she has feelings for you too and she didn’t know how to combat them, so she needed to take a beat.”

“Hang on. Back up.” Blood pounds in my ears. The room gets hazy. “She likes me?”

“You’ve given us no details to go off of, so it’s hard to say without knowing specifics, but Lexi could be right,” Emmy says.

“Especially because it was so sudden. She might be scared of what she feels for you, and the easiest thing to do is ignore those emotions instead of explore them,” Madeline adds.

“It’s odd that it was such a quick shift.” Piper taps her cheek. “Was there a reason why she friend-zoned you so outright? That makes me want to lean toward her having a partner.”

“There would be complications if the two of us were ever romantically involved,” I say, treading carefully. “Scrutiny, potentially losing a job. That kind of thing.”

“Wait.” Piper gasps. “Is it someone high-profile?”

“I guess you could say that.” I rub the back of my neck. The bottle of wine I brought is looking really great right now. “There is attention on her, yes, because of her job.”

“It’s the president’s daughter, isn’t it? You’re the same age. She lives in DC.” Lexi’s smile is smug. “But she has security detail with her all the time, so it makes sense why you can’t be with her publicly.”

“Is that what’s in your notebook?” Madeline asks. “Her travel schedule and all the secret places you two can meet up?”

“I love this! You’re going to be like a royal family!” Piper says.

“No. No. It’s not the president’s daughter. I don’t even know that woman’s name,” I say. “It’s someone else. She never mentioned there being anyone in the picture before. Dating wasn’t… She never seemed interested in it, I guess.”

“I go back to my original statement that she developed feelings for you, realized those feelings can’t go anywhere, panicked, decided cutting off communication was easier than addressing the attraction head-on, and now here we are,” Lexi says.

“My god.” I squint. “You got all of that from what I told you?”

“It’s really not that hard to put together,” Emmy says.

“If that’s the case, what do I do?”