Chapter Eight

Flynn

I walk over to Sloane, who has her face buried in her phone.

“Someone special?” I ask.

“Maybe, a doctor. Met him at Starbucks.” She’s always meeting men at Starbucks.

“The guys are ready to go. The night hasn’t even begun, and I feel like strangling Myles,” I say.

“Is that code for something else?” she jokes.

“That’s code for it’s going to be a long night.” I loop my arm with hers, and we walk toward the guys. “You look smoking hot tonight,” I tell her.

“I had to put in an effort. Don’t worry, I remember hottie number two is yours. Even though I’m disappointed.” She juts out her bottom lip. “I liked how overprotective he was of you last night. It was hot,” she purrs.

Oli walks over to us. “Hey, shorty. Long time no see.” He winks.

“Very funny, Oliver,” she says, and he winces. He doesn’t like it when people call him Oliver.

Oli reaches down and embraces her in a big hug, lifting her off the ground. They were always friendly to each other back in New York. When I met Sloane, I was in my dark and depressed stage after my parents died, and Oli was in bad shape, too. He was focused on playing hard for the Rangers to establish himself. When Sloane came over, she always had a way of lightening things up.

I lift my finger to stop him. “Oli, no! She’s my only friend in Chicago. Put her down.” I practically whine. So maybe hanging out with my twin does bring out the child in me.

He places her back on her feet, and she needs to straighten out her shirt, which has risen above her naval. “I’m just being nice to your friend, Flynny.” He tosses his hands up in surrender. “You gotta relax.”

I roll my eyes. In middle school, Oli and I made a pact to never date each other’s friends, so it wouldn’t put our relationship at risk. It was a sibling oath that we’ve always stuck to over the years.

Myles cuts in, reintroducing himself. “Hey, Myles Sanders. Sorry for my bad manners last night. I’m not so great when I get woken up by incredibly drunk girls in the middle of the night.” His gaze narrows on me as the words leave his mouth, then he looks back at Sloane. “It’s nice to meet you.” He grins widely, and I hate that she’s probably weak in the knees.

My brother then coughs into his hand as he watches me cringe.

“Can we get going? We have a win to celebrate.” Oli waves to the black SUV parked alongside the curb. My brother always uses a driver when he’s in the mood to drink.

The four of us pile into the back and head to the bar. There’s tension crackling throughout the car. I don’t know if it’s because of me and Myles, or the fact that my brother can’t take his eyes off Sloane long enough to make a coherent sentence.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

“Nice win tonight.” It’s Sloane who breaks the silence. She’s staring at Oli a little googly-eyed, and my brother seems just as enthralled. He and Sloane break off into an easy conversation.

Myles leans into my ear, and his breath along the sensitive skin of my neck causes goose bumps to ripple down my arm. “We need to talk. You can’t stay mad at me forever. As it is, I feel like complete and total shit about what happened.”

I’m surprised he’s apologizing like this. I don’t want to talk about the past because it’s too painful. When I look at Myles, I remember my parents. It’s hard to breathe. As much as I’m attracted to him, there are greater forces telling me he isn’t right for me. Not even as a friend.

When I don’t respond, he continues. “You and Oli have always been family to me. You’re back in town. Can’t things go back to the way they were?” he asks with a dopey, hopeful grin. His words get under my skin.

“Don’t.” I lift my hand to stop the conversation. I don’t want to talk about the good old days, no matter how immature I sound.

He shakes his head and backs off. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice him exchange a look with my brother. I wonder if Oli was playing peacemaker again and put him up to apologizing. Lucky for me the SUV gets caught in a typical downtown traffic jam meaning we are stuck together for longer than I’d like.

“Don’t do that,” he whispers again. I turn my head to look at him because I don’t have a clue what he’s talking about.

“Do what?” I furrow my brows and try not to let his close proximity affect me.

“Your brother didn’t put me up to fixing things between us. I’ve wanted this for a long time. I just know, or at least expect, you’ll push me away. Only now you can’t because you’re living next door,” he says, reminding me of my twisted fate.

Jeez.

“Don’t remind me.” I press my hand to my forehead.

“You’ve made promises you haven’t kept, too,” he says, and my breath hitches, and my gaze pulls to his, wanting further explanation. “The summer before high school, when we’d gone up to the lake to camp with your father,” he continues, and my heart feels like it has a noose around it.

Why does he have to bring up memories that burn through my soul?

“I was terrified of getting drafted to the OHL and ending up in a different town than Oli. I was afraid I’d lose you and your family.”

His words are filled with so much emotion my heart aches. “Dammit, Flynn. Look at me.” He sounds exasperated, but how can I look at him when he’s forcing me to remember a past I’ve tried hard to forget? Oli stops speaking with Sloane, and they stare at us. Myles runs a hand through his hair. “Sorry man. Go back to talking. I need your sister’s attention another minute.”

Satisfied with Myles’s explanation, my brother nods.

I can’t take my eyes off Myles. I take in the contours of his face, staring deep into his eyes. It seems like he’s sad, and something inside me clicks, reminding me how much I once cared for him. I swallow hard, not sure what to make of the emotions surging through me like a tsunami.

“Thank you. I didn’t mean to yell, but you are so stubborn.” He shakes his head, and a smile curves his lips. That small gesture again tugs at a deep memory. I’ve always been stubborn, but where Matt found it annoying, Myles used to think it was endearing.

He looks me in the eye, and I see strong emotions unfurling in the depths of his dark irises. “You said, ‘Go and conquer hockey, and we Russells will be hot on your trail.’ Do you remember that? You promised. You promised to always be in my life. You told me you had my back.”

I clench my jaw so tight, I fear it may crack, but it’s the only thing I can do to stop the tears from flowing.

“Why are you doing this now?” I ask. “You haven’t been in my life for seven years. You can’t expect me to let go of everything that happened and pick up where we left off.” My voice trails off. He isn’t playing fair. I’m a mess from the breakup with Matt, and Myles pressuring me now doesn’t help my emotional state.

The SUV stops. I need out.

Myles’s words remind me how close we once were. He came from a broken family, so he was basically like a third child for my parents. He took family trips with us.

Myles, my broken Peter Pan. Only he isn’t mine. He never truly was.