“Tomorrow night?” Jett proposes, apparently not wanting to waste the opportunity.
“Sure,” I reply easily. It’s not like I have any formal plans from this point forward.
CHAPTER 6
Kane
Until this moment, I never knew how small my downtown apartment is. It’s touted as being spacious, but when I’m pacing back and forth with long legs, the fact that it takes me five strides to reach end to end tells me it’s not enough room. Perhaps I should consider buying a house.
I glance down at my watch. 11:53 PM. There’s no way in hell Mollie shouldn’t be back from her date with Jett by now.
After all, she said they were just going out to dinner.
Jett had picked her up at six-thirty for reservations at seven. By my mental calculations, even a two-hour dinner means they should have been back long before now.
I could call her to find out what’s taking so long. That would be bananas, at least as far as Mollie would think. I’m not her keeper, and I know very well that I have no say-so in what Mollie does in her personal life.
I could send a casual text. Something along the lines of, “Hey… I was thinking of making a late-night banana sundae. If you were going to be home soon, I could make you one as well.”
That was casual. The fact I’m talking about ice cream makes it an effective way to offhandedly ask when she’ll be coming home. We have melting to consider.
While I hold no ill feelings toward Mollie, I’m pissed as hell Jett even asked her out. I’d wanted to call him on it as soon as I found out about their plans. We were actually on the way home from The Sneaky Saguaro when she just happened to mention, “Oh, by the way, Jett’s taking me out for dinner tomorrow night.”
Mollie didn’t even ask if it was all right. She also didn’t stop to think if I might object.
Okay, well… She shouldn’t have to do either of those things. Frankly, my opinion doesn’t matter.
Except to me, apparently.
And I have no fucking clue why I am so bent out of shape. Sure, Jett is an absolute playboy who has banged a lot of chicks. But when it comes right down to it, I trust him. As my teammate and friend, I believe he will be respectful of Mollie. He would never do anything to cross a boundary she wouldn’t be amenable to. So that can’t be my objection.
Unless Mollie is amenable to him crossing that boundary.
They could be at Jett’s place right now having sex for all I know.
And that’s the thought that makes me want to punch my fist right through the drywall. My anger at Jett gets renewed because he’s easier to blame than Mollie. He should know better than to ask my best friend out. It’s like going after a best friend’s little sister, except, well… Mollie isn’t my sister. She’s a friend.
I mean, she’s as close as a sister.
But fuck… I sure as hell don’t feel like her brother half the time. Vivid memories swamp my brain, reminding me that we had sex for God’s sake. Scorching, fabulously explosive sex that was not at all brotherly or sisterly.
Christ… I am so fucked over these feelings.
The sound of a key scraping in my front door lock catches my attention and I spin midstride toward my kitchen to face the door. Mollie has a spare key so she could come and go as she pleased.
For a moment, I consider bolting for my bedroom so she doesn’t know I’ve been waiting up for her. I glance over at where Samson lays on my couch—something I gave up trying to break him of the first day they arrived—and note his head is cocked to the side with his eyes lasered on the door to see who’s coming in. By the slow thump of his tail on the cushion, I know he suspects it’s his mom.
Decision made, I scramble over the couch and plop down beside Samson, then loop my arm over him.
The door lock clicks, and Mollie steps through. There is no backward glance to the hallway, which tells me Jett isn’t there.
Or he’s already left after giving her a thoroughly hot kiss goodnight.
I shake my head, dispelling that thought.
Mollie closes the door, then turns to face me. Samson abandons his post at my side, running over to greet her. She bends over and ruffles her fingers through his fur, cooing about what a good boy he is. She looks up with a smile. “What are you doing up?”
I certainly can’t tell her, “Oh, just pacing with worry and an overload of emotionally fraught feelings about you.”
Instead, I shrug and say, “I was just surfing my phone. Samson and I have been hanging out.”
“When was the last time Samson went out?” Mollie asks.
“I took him about an hour ago,” I reply as I push off the couch. “He should be good.”
Mollie throws me an appreciative smile before heading toward my kitchen. I follow her in, watching as she pulls a bottle of water out of my fridge. It means she drank alcohol tonight. While she doesn’t appear drunk, or even buzzed, Mollie is habitual about drinking water before she goes to bed after even a glass of wine.
After a few moments, it’s clear she’s not going to tell me about her date, so I take it upon myself to appear casually curious—not nosy. “So, how was it?”
Mollie lowers the bottle, leaning against the counter. “He’s a great guy. I like him.”
Fuck. What the hell does that even mean? Yeah, he’s a great guy. He’s a fantastic hockey player, a loyal teammate, and fun to go out and have beers with. But what does great mean to Mollie?
And more importantly, what the hell? Does that mean she likes him? My curiosity is on overdrive. “So, is there another date in the works?”
Mollie shrugs, flipping a lock of hair over her shoulder. “He said he’d call me.”
That tells me nothing.
And it’s at this moment I decide to be a horrible friend to Jett by protecting my own self-interest where Mollie is concerned. “You know he’s sort of a player, right?”
Mollie cocks an eyebrow. God, she’s fucking beautiful when she looks at me like that. It tells me she thinks I said something stupid, and it usually leads to some type of heated debate. Because I’m still annoyed by the fact she was out with Jett, I kind of feel like I’m itching for a fight.
“It’s true,” I say pointedly. “I just don’t want you to expect anything more than him wanting to get inside your pants.”
Mollie gives me a chastising look. “You don’t think much of your friend, do you?”
I take offense to that, even though I am throwing him under the bus. “On the contrary, I agree with you. Jett is a great guy. He’s just… well, sort of single-minded in his pursuit of women.”
Mollie puts a hand on her hip, stare piercing. “So, you’re saying the only reason he’s taking me out is to have sex with me?”
Now she’s getting where I’m going. I nod. “Most likely.”
To my stunned surprise, Mollie tips her head back and laughs. She smirks as if she understands me far better than I do myself. “Kane… honestly, why would you think that would bother me? It’s not like I’m looking for a deep relationship. You also know I’m not opposed to casual sex. Maybe a fling with Jett wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”
I’m usually good about keeping my emotions in check, which also includes maintaining a bland expression no matter how riled up I feel on the inside. But I cannot stop my jaw from dropping.