Game Changer by Kelly Jamieson Page 0,33

bit snarky toward him at the party the other night, implying that he wasn’t interested in the family issues, but come on! He lives on the other side of the country. And they know what a professional hockey player’s schedule is like. He can’t just get on a plane and fly to L.A. for a family meeting.

I pause at one of the pools, which is closed, but I sit on a big round lounger and watch the shimmering water. What should I do tomorrow? A different pool? The beach again? Take a hike along the coast? The resort is beautiful but kind of isolated, so without a car I can’t get very far. They do have a shuttle service though. I could check out options, like maybe a whale watching tour.

I think about my day at the beach, and how fun and easy it was with Jax. How excellent he looks in a pair of board shorts. How his shoulder muscles bunched and rippled when he paddled the kayak, how his strong legs braced on the stand-up paddle board.

I was glad to see him relaxing and having fun; yesterday was clearly a rough day for him. Confronting the reality of his grandfather’s decline would be difficult for anyone to accept, but he also feels guilty about not seeing his grandpa and about doubting Chelsea’s commitment to her husband. Having his eyes opened to that was another reality check, and it was obviously hard having those long-held beliefs challenged.

I think about sharing a bed with him last night, which was totally innocent and a bit of a letdown, although I have no idea what I expected. Except the night before that, he’d masturbated and…uuuugh, what did I think was going to happen? Because nothing can happen. And I don’t want anything to happen. I’m still in love with Steve.

I think.

My phone buzzes with a text message and I unlock it to see it. Jax.

Hey where are u

At the pool. I pause and type in another message. The closest pool.

On my way.

I smile as a bubble of happiness swells in my chest. He’s back. I turn to watch the path and lift a hand to wave at him as he approaches through the dark shrubs and palm trees.

He sits next to me. “Hey.”

“Hey. How was dinner?”

“Surprisingly okay.”

“Oh, good! I was worried.”

“Yeah?” He tips his head, his handsome face in shadows from the palm trees.

Yes, Jax is handsome. Maybe I haven’t mentioned that because it just is. Not that I’m attracted to him or anything. I mean, he is attractive. But not for me. “Um, yeah, a bit. I know you were kind of stressed about it.”

“Nah.” He pauses. “Okay, maybe a little. They told me how they figured out what was going on with the money. They got a copy of the court documents. They were planning some kind of careful intervention and then Everly lost her shit and confronted her parents and Uncle Matt.” He shakes his head. “Wish I’d been there to see Everly losing her shit. That never happens.”

I smile.

“But it worked. It got them talking. The fact that we don’t know how long Grandpa has left or what kind of quality of life he’ll have also made Dad and Uncle Matt realize they needed to do something, and Chelsea…” He shakes his head. “She’s figured out a way to repay the loan.” He pauses, and I let the silence stretch on as he gathers his thoughts. “She’s apparently stepping in for Dad. I mean, Théo’s managing the team now.” His eyebrows pull together. “I wasn’t sure what I thought of that, when Grandpa hired him last summer, but apparently Chelsea trusts him. And it seems everyone else does too. He’s doing a great job.”

“That’s good, then. Right?”

“Yeah. I’m relieved that things seem to be working out, and apparently a lot of it is thanks to Chelsea.”

“I knew it!”

He grins, a slow, sexy gleam of white in the darkness. “Yes, you were right.”

My gaze lingers on his face, the air around us heating, my heart bumping.

“I haven’t done a good job of keeping in touch. It’s not that I don’t care, but…”

“You try not to care.”

He jerks back and stares at me. “What does that mean?”

Oops, have I overstepped? Welp, might as well finish. “I feel like your family is difficult and has had all these dramas and you don’t want to be involved but you can’t help it because you do care.”

He’s silent for a moment. “Maybe,” he