“Yeah, I did.”
She sounds so sure that I think I’m missing something. “Why?”
“Because when I was nine years old, you got into a fistfight with Janice Kela when she called me fat.”
My heart swells. “You weren’t fat.”
“And you didn’t deserve to be hit by some jackass you never should have married or even walked across the street for.” She leans in and kisses my forehead. “Plus, you’re my best friend. I would basically give you my right toe.”
I give her a small smile. “But I wanted the left.”
“Sorry, I need that one.” I rest my head on her shoulder as she leans her head on top of my mine. “Man, what a shitshow of a night.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s why I got so quiet at the game. I saw him on the ice, and I freaked. I should have just made you leave.”
“Wasn’t like I was listening,” I remind her, and she nods.
“Right? Jeez, so caught up in watching your dude.”
I smile as I shrug. I was.
“So, I assume you told Chandler?”
I nod. “Yeah. Kind of had to when you called Drew a ‘wife-beating bastard’ or whatever you said.”
“Eh, I don’t remember what I said, but it was something along those lines,” she laughs as she shakes her head. “What did Chandler say?”
“Not much, but he didn’t think I was weak or anything like I was worried he would.”
“Because everything you convinced yourself he would do was stupid. Chandler is way different.”
“So different.”
“And good.”
“Agreed.”
She looks over at me. “Seriously, Amelia. He’s wonderful. When we were getting the food, he leaned over to me and thanked me for having your back. He thanked me for getting you out of that situation and for being so supportive. No one has ever thanked me like that. It wasn’t an act. He was genuinely thankful. While I know that Mom or Dad or Aunt Grace would be happy, they wouldn’t pull me aside to tell me so. He’s nice.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat.
“He reminds me of Uncle James. That kind of goodness, ya know?”
I press my lips together as I nod. “Yeah.”
I already thought of Chandler like that, but the fear of the unknown freaks me out. I don’t want to be hurt again.
“You always said you wanted someone like your dad.”
A silence falls over us as I get lost in my thoughts. I am still trying to process the fact that my cousin went to jail for me, and now I need to handle the truth that Chandler does remind me of my dad. My dad was always very kind and supportive. He loved hard and made sure I knew it. I don’t think I can even recall a day when he didn’t tell me he loved me. He worshiped my mom and shaped Ryan into the man he is now. He set some really high standards for me when it comes to men.
“I don’t want to get so caught up in Chandler, though.”
She gives me a weird look. “Why not?”
“I don’t want to make the same mistakes.”
“You won’t, because he isn’t Drew.”
She says it so matter-of-factly, and I know it’s true, but it’s hard to grasp. I thought things were so great at first with Drew too, and then it went to shit. These last few months have been a fairy tale in a sense, and it terrifies me that a happily-ever-after might not be in my cards.
But what if it is?
“I always dreamed of hitting that bastard, but I never thought I’d do it.”
I shake my head. “I wish you hadn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because it makes it all messy again. We got rid of him, and now we have to deal with him in court.”
She waves me off. “Eh, it won’t make it to court. We’ll settle, or he’ll drop it. I think he was just embarrassed a girl kicked his ass.”
“You’re ruthless.”
“He’s a jackass,” she says simply, and then she sits up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home with Nico for mind-numbing sex.”
I widen my eyes. “Shelli! I thought we’d cuddle.”
She scoffs. “No, I need sex to get all this frustration out. My parents really got on my case.”
“The headline on the article is ‘Nashville Assassins Owner’s Daughter Breaks Wild Player’s Nose.’ They have a right to be upset.”
Shelli rolls her eyes as she gets off the bed. “I hardly broke it. Such fake news. Though, I may add #SlapshotShelli to my Instagram bio.”
As she grabs her shoes, I ask, “Shelli, what are you doing with Nico?”
“Having sex, I hope.”
“He likes you.”
“I like him, but nothing will come from it. I can promise you that.”
“Why not?”
“He’s not someone I’d ever marry.”
“He’s not Aiden?”
“That. That exactly.”
She looks back at me while I’m rolling my eyes. “Maybe give up on that fairy tale and hit it up with Nico instead?”
“Nope. We both know what we want. Sex—and that’s it.”