to follow the multiple convos. Instead, I sat back and let the waves of words wash over me. Eventually, Geneva and Caro wandered out onto the deck to exclaim over the view while my teammates hung back.
“Appears you missed us since you’re here,” I said with a smirk, knowing that’d get under their skin.
“Hell no,” Axel said, “but Ziggy moved himself into your room, and if I have to be around him much longer, I’ll be on death row for premeditated murder. Of course, Cave is there all the time, too. The place is a fucking pigsty.”
A horrified expression crossed Steele’s face. I could only imagine the scene he was picturing in his mind—beer bottles littering the hardwood floors, kitchen counters littered with empty frozen-food containers, and clothes thrown all over.
Steele turned to Axel. “What’s your problem? You’re never there. I’m the one that’ll have to clean up the mess.” Last I heard, Axel spent all of his time at Geneva’s house she shared with her brother and his kids.
“Ah, then things are going well with Geneva?” Dumb question, but I’d asked it, so I’d own it.
“Yeah. Really well.” Axel’s expression softened as he angled his head to get a better view of Geneva, who was currently leaning over the deck railing.
“Where’s our room?” Easton asked. “The kids can sleep on the floor. We brought sleeping bags.”
Steele and I exchanged twin expressions of even more horror. This two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage was not going to fit six adults and two kids.
“I, uh, I—” I turned to Steele, hoping he’d figure out a way to rescue me.
Steele opened his mouth, shut it, opened it again, reminding me of a fish looking through the glass of the fishbowl.
Axel and Easton erupted into raucous laughter, leaving Steele and me to scowl ferociously at these two jerks.
“There’re only two bedrooms,” Steele pointed out seriously.
More fucking laughter from the peanut gallery of two. I didn’t find this situation funny in the least, more like fucking annoying.
“And one bathroom.”
“We’ll take the bedrooms unless you two are voyeurs. You guys can sleep on the deck.”
My eyes grew bigger as I contemplated how my peaceful time in the San Juans had been turned into a flipping nightmare of epic proportions. Don’t get me wrong. They were some of my favorite people, not that I’d ever let them know that, but that didn’t mean I wanted to live in close quarters without any private spaces.
“I thought this place was bigger,” Easton remarked innocently as he swept his gaze around the cozy space that comprised the living, dining, and kitchen areas.
The idiots laughed even harder. I failed to see the humor in this situation. Axel grabbed a beer from the fridge and tossed one to Easton, who caught it in one hand.
They were both grinning as if they were proud of themselves. Steele’s frown was deeper than the channel beyond the bay outside and just as turbulent. I suspected my expression mirrored his.
Only then did I catch a conniving glance between Axel and Easton.
“Wait a minute. You assholes aren’t staying here, are you?”
“Nope, just jerking your chain,” Easton chuckled.
“You should’ve seen the stricken looks on your faces. Priceless.”
“We should’ve gotten a video,” Axel agreed with a smug grin.
Steele rolled his eyes and snagged his own beer, but he didn’t toss one to me. Instead he deserted us and joined the women on the deck, now bathed in sunlight in the afternoon sun.
A couple hours later, we were all hanging out on the deck, drinking beer, and trying to talk over each other. I’d missed these guys and hadn’t even realized it.
During a lull in the conversation, I got everyone’s attention. Except for the kids gathering rocks on the shore and Mona’s snoring, all was quiet as they directed their attention to me. The bantering faded away when they noted my serious expression.
“I’m sure you guys know this, but I have to say it out loud. I owe all of you an apology.”
They stared at me, not saying a word or reacting.
“I am so fucking sorry for losing it and ruining our playoff chances. There’s no excuse for my behavior. I’m a professional. Lanie had stood me up, and I went to the bar that night looking for a fight, and I found one. Ziggy and Cave were more than happy to back me up, but none of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t initiated it. I promise you, I’ll never endanger our team’s chances like that again. I hope you’ll all