Gray emerged from the dressing room and Carolina quickly closed the file. “But not the groom-to-be.”
“Definitely not.”
“What are you two talking about?” Gray asked.
“Wedding dresses,” Evelyn said. “Which you can’t see.”
“Okay. But you know, I’m a pretty good judge of fashion.”
Evelyn stood. “Not in this case. You’ll just have to remain in the dark.”
Carolina stood, too. “Thanks for coming up to play dress-up.”
He kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t you know? It’s my favorite thing.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I’ll just bet it is. Which is why I appreciate it so much. But now you’re good to go until the day of the show.”
“Have you got time to have lunch with us?”
She didn’t, but she would, for her brother and for Evelyn. “Absolutely.”
She told her staff she’d be back in an hour. They acted like it was no big deal, which to them, it probably wasn’t. They all had their assigned tasks and didn’t need to be watched over. That’s why they were all awesome. To her, she felt like she had to stay on top of everything, which was probably her own OCD nature coming out.
“Come on, Carolina. The world of your fashion line won’t stop turning just because you grab a sandwich with us,” Gray said, dragging her out the door.
He was right, of course.
They went down the street and ordered sandwiches from one of her favorite delis, which made Gray ecstatic, since they were huge sandwiches. Carolina and Evelyn split a sandwich, since the deli loaded about a half pound of turkey on each one. They split a fruit salad as a side dish, too.
“How are things going with you and Drew?” Gray asked.
“Oh, just fine.” She had no idea how to have this conversation with her brother.
“So he treats you good?”
“He does.”
Gray shook his head. “I still can’t believe the two of you are a couple.”
Carolina looked at Evelyn, who just gave her a helpless look in response.
“Well, we are. Sort of. I don’t know. We’re seeing each other. For now.”
She cringed, even as the words came out of her mouth.
Gray frowned. “What the hell does that even mean?”
Evelyn laid her hand over Gray’s. “I think it means your sister would like for you to mind your own business.”
Gray’s gaze shifted from Evelyn back to Carolina. “What did I do? I just asked how things were going. It wasn’t like I was asking how good he was in bed.”
Carolina laid her head in her hands. “And it goes from bad to worse.”
“Okay, fine. I give up. I won’t ask anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” Carolina said. “It’s just . . . awkward, because the two of you are such good friends.”
“So that means there are problems between the two of you, and you think if you complain about him to me that I’ll get pissed off and go punch him out.”
Carolina laughed. “No. Well, I mean yes. That could happen. Or maybe it wouldn’t. God, I hope you wouldn’t do that. That would be so juvenile.”
Gray slanted her a look across the table.
“Okay, fine. No, there are no problems between us at the moment. We get along great. We have fun together. I can’t define what it is that’s happening between us, Gray, because, honestly, I just don’t know. We enjoy being with each other, but we’re both so heavily invested in our careers, I don’t know where it’s going. Or if it’ll last.”
“And if it doesn’t, and you two break up, you think it’ll come between Drew and me.”
“Yes. And I’d rather that doesn’t happen. I didn’t want you to know about Drew and me at all.”
Gray leaned back in his chair. “Cutting me out of that part of your life just because you think it will affect how I feel about my best friend kind of sucks, Carolina.”
She blew out a frustrated breath. “For me, too. You and I have always been really close. There wasn’t anything I couldn’t tell you.”
“Until now.”
She nodded. “Because I also know how close you and Drew have always been. My relationship with him will affect your relationship with him. And it shouldn’t.”
“You can’t change that. He’s been one of my best friends for a lot of years. But you will always and forever be my sister. Family. Nothing trumps that bond. Not even friendship.”
Gray’s words shouldn’t have made tears fill her eyes. But they did. He was right. The bond they shared had always been strong. And it always would be. How foolish of her to think anything, or anyone, would come between them.
She reached across the table and grasped his hand. “Thank you for that. But I’m a grown woman now. And if it doesn’t work out between Drew and me, just know my eyes are wide open. And I can handle it, okay?”
Gray nodded. “Okay.”
TWENTY-FIVE
TRICK PASSED THE PUCK TO SAYERS. DREW WAS IN position, and despite the elbow from the defender trying desperately to shove him out of the way, he was determined to stay in front of the defender’s goal.
So when Sayers shot the puck to him, Drew turned and took the shot.
And the goalie scooped it up in his glove.
Shit.
Sawing breath until his lungs ached, Drew skated down the ice toward his own goal. They were only down one goal and there was still time left in the third period. They could pull this game out against Philadelphia, at least tie it up and then make a comeback. All they had to do was score. They were so damn close Drew could taste it.
But in order to do that, they needed the puck at the other end of the ice. Kozlow, their best defender, shifted and went after it, slamming the Philadelphia forward against the boards. Drew wanted, needed desperately, to be in the middle of that, but he stayed in position, moving fast when Kozlow wrestled the puck away and shot it down the ice.
Trick was there to take it and make the turn and dashed, time moving too fast for Drew’s liking. He knew they were no more than a minute or two from the end of the game. If they tied, they’d go to overtime.
Drew took the pass from Trick and got an elbow to the neck from the defender. He fought for it, but another defender swooped it up and took it.
Shit. He dug in his skates and went after him, but Kozlow and Ebers were there.
It went back and forth like this for what seemed like an eternity, with the defense holding on, keeping Philadelphia from scoring, while the offense couldn’t get the damned puck into the net.
And when the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the game, it was the worst damned sound Drew had ever heard.
They’d lost by one fucking goal. He’d have rather gotten his ass kicked by a blowout than to lose by one goal. They’d been close so many times, but they just hadn’t been able to muster up enough offense to get the job done.
Again.
They had another road game before heading home, and he hoped to God they could pull out a win on that one, because things weren’t looking good for the team otherwise.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He’d gone out with the guys after the game, but none of them were in the mood to do much talking or partying. They all headed back to their rooms early.
Drew grabbed the remote to watch television, but there was really nothing on he wanted to watch.
He grabbed his phone to call Carolina, but it was late, and he didn’t want to keep her up. The clock was ticking on Fashion Week, and he knew she was probably putting in a lot of long hours.
Instead, he sent her a text message saying he was going to bed early and he’d talk to her when he got to Chicago tomorrow.
Where he had another road game.
Another opportunity.
Or another chance to lose on the road.
No. He pulled his fingers through his hair and got up off the bed, determined to think positively. He stared out the window at the snowy Philadelphia night, feeling the chill all the way through to his bones.