I don't think I'd ever been proven wrong about so many things in such a short period of time. Or been so happy to be wrong in the first place.

After kissing before the truck, inside the truck, and outside of the truck, Chase walked me up to my front door and leaned in, wrapping me in a big hug. I inhaled his scent, relaxing against the warmth of his embrace. Everything just felt easy with him, in a way I'd never thought possible.

He pulled back, broad hands sliding down to my waist. His eyes held mine for a beat and he gave me a smile that made my knees go weak.

"I'll call you tonight, okay?"

"Okay," I said. "And good luck this weekend."

We lingered, looking at each other on the front step. Mostly because I didn't want him to leave, but also partly because I didn't want to go inside. He frowned, expression clouding over, and he paused for a beat before he spoke.

"You know, you can stay at my place this weekend if you want."

"Without you?"

"Yeah," he said. "To get a break from your roommates, I mean. Shiv will be there alone, so..." he shrugged. "She would probably like the company."

"Actually, while you were in the shower earlier, we did make plans to get together for dinner tonight."

He raised his eyebrows. "For apartment hunting? That's awesome."

"To talk about it more, at least. Maybe make a list of places to go check out."

It was such a relief to imagine moving out that I fantasized about it all the time lately. Right now, I felt like I was relegated to my bedroom whenever Jillian and Amelia were home. I had eaten more meals at my tiny desk than I could count. Though, after our confrontation the other day, they had given me a wide berth anyway. If I was in a room, they wouldn't even enter. But the atmosphere was so chilly that I practically needed a coat and gloves inside.

In Jillian's case, she was probably treading carefully because she didn't want me to tell everyone what I knew. And maybe that was the case with Amelia, too. Seemed like everyone was complicit in their little web of lies.

"See?" His face brightened, a smile peeking through. "And then you could stick around on Sunday until I get back. It shouldn't be too late, probably just after lunch."

"That was your angle all along, wasn't it?"

"Sure was." He glanced at his watch, smile fading. "Oh shit. I really do have to go or I'll be late for practice." Leaning in, he gave me a quick peck on the lips, hands releasing my waist. "But we can talk tonight. I'll text you the door code, too."

As he jogged down the steps, I unlocked the door and pushed it open. Please don't let anyone else be home.

No such luck.

Jillian was standing in the entryway, putting on her coat just as I walked in. I slid off my shoes and brushed by her, ignoring her presence completely.

"Bailey," she said, voice tight. "Can we talk for a minute?"

My entire body tensed. I was a pretty level-headed person overall, more prone to sweeping things under the rug and forgiving too easily than fighting. I rarely lost my temper, rarely even raised my voice, but this moment was incredibly close to becoming an exception.

Turning to face her, I made every effort to keep my voice level.

"Why?"

She straightened her shoulders, throat bobbing. "About what you said the other day. You're not—you're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Her eyes scanned my face nervously.

I shrugged. "You mean, besides Chase? Because he knows all about it."

Keys in her hand, she froze on the spot and the color drained from her skin. The look on her face was so horrified it was almost comedic. Someone she hated, knowing one of her darkest secrets. Poetic justice.

"But your brother...the team." Jill gestured vaguely.

As if I would care about the team at this point.

"Yes, Derek is my brother, which is why I'm so upset. Otherwise, I wouldn't really care about what sorts of shady things you got up to, Jill."

She chewed on her bottom lip, expression turning guilty, but said nothing.

"Imagine how you would feel in my shoes," I said. "This isn't fair to him."

"It's complicated."

"So I'm told." I hung up my bag on the hook and turned, heading for the staircase. "As for telling anyone, I haven't decided yet. Maybe you should make things easier on both of us. If you put an end to this messed up situation, then I won't have to make that call."

It was an empty threat. I could never do that to Derek. But she didn't need to know that.

*

By the time I got to the Callingwood Daily office after lunch, my annoyance with Jill had faded and I was back to cloud nine over Chase again.

It really was a wild experience. I'd never felt this way before. Ever.

With Luke, it had been like I thought I should like him, because everyone did. He was good on paper—or so I thought—and had tons of girls eager to date him. Naively, I had been a little wowed that he was even interested in me.

Now, I knew that something had been missing from that the entire time. I'd never been giddy about him or filled with that intense, inescapable infatuation. It had almost been one of those "you don't know what you don't know" situations.

But I knew now, and it was amazing.

I pushed open the door, making my way over to join Zara and Noelle at the oversized round table. I could feel their eyes on me as I set my bag down, pulling out my laptop and notebook.

Zara tilted her head, examining me. "Well, isn't someone in a good mood?"

"You practically skipped in here," Noelle added in a sing-song voice.

"I would say danced," said Zara. "Or maybe pranced?"

I shrugged, but I couldn't keep the stupid happy smile off my face. Words were eluding me. My brain was hormone and happiness soup.

"Wait." Her jaw dropped. "You saw Chase again last night, didn't you? Did you guys finally...?"

I bit my lip. "Maybe."

They both squealed.

"Well, no." I held up a hand. "No sex. We just fooled around a little."

Or, you know, a lot.

Zara raised her eyebrows. "Must have been some fooling around if you're this giddy."

"Oh, it was."

"That's awesome." Noelle swatted me playfully. "Especially after what you said about Luke."

Oh my god, how many people did I tell about that? I'm never doing shots again.

"Aw, B. I'm so happy for you." Zara grinned.

Noelle nodded. "Me too."

We fell quiet for a while, working on homework and newspaper tasks.

"Speaking of good news," Zara said, squinting at her computer screen. "I have some more for you. Well, some partial good news."

"What's that?" Though, I had a hunch about what it might be.

She nodded at her laptop. "I just got an email from Liam. He wants to give up part of the sports beat. Says he'll split it with you. If you're willing, that is."

Okay, so I was partially right. I thought maybe he was throwing in the towel altogether, but I guess I could only get so lucky. I knew I should have been excited about this, but now I would probably have to actually work with him.

Ugh. And I had a feeling there would be strings.

I sighed. "What's the catch?"

Did he want me to pay him for the honor? Take credit under his name for the stories I wrote? Nothing would surprise me.

"He wants to keep covering hockey exclusively by himself."

Oh, even better. Jerk. I wasn't sure why Liam was so attached to covering hockey specifically when he was a casual fan at best.

"Of course he does." I huffed. "You should ask him what our record is right now. I bet he couldn't even tell you without pulling out his phone."

Conversely, I could give you the stats for the top ten teams off the top of my head. Who's leading in each metric, who's living up to expectations, who's disappointing this season.

Zara shrugged, giving me a sympathetic look, because she knew I was right. "Is that a yes or no?"

"You know it's a yes," I said grudgingly. "Maybe he will lose interest in hockey eventually too."

"Maybe. And I guess there is one more catch," she added.

"What's that?"

"It includes covering the basketball finals two weeks from now...in Connecticut."

I groaned. "Oh no."

In my previous life, I could have asked Amelia to borrow her car and simply returned it with a full tank. What could I do now? Chase would probably have a game, practice, or training. Sometimes he had more than one in the same day. And even if he didn't, I would feel annoying if I had to ask him to drive me somewhere so far away.

A car would have made life significantly easier, but it was pretty tough to swing that without any money. Sometimes I debated picking up another part-time job, but it was nearly impossible to balance with my heavy course load that included tons of writing. Not to mention my grade-dependent scholarships and commitments with the school paper.

Last time I tried to hold down a part-time job, my grades had suffered. Losing a scholarship would cost me a lot more than a casual job could ever bring in.

"Maybe one of us could come with," Noelle offered.

I could tell it was one of the last ways she wanted to spend a Sunday, but I appreciated the offer. And if push came to shove, I might have to take her up on it.

"Thanks," I said. "I'll let you know."

Then I glanced at the clock behind Zara and I realized what time it was. I bolted out of my chair, gathering up my things.

"Oh my gosh, I have to go. Shiv is picking me up soon."

Noelle raised her eyebrows. "Shiv?"

"Uh, Chase's roommate's girlfriend," I said. "We're apartment hunting. Long story."

*

An hour later, we were camped out in the living room with takeout Mexican food and homemade margaritas. Plus, a plan to watch every romcom on Netflix that we could find.

It felt kind of nice to have a girls' night in again; I hadn't done it since things went sideways with Amelia and Jill.

"Chase told me about the fire," I said, taking a sip of my strawberry margarita. "That's terrible. I'm glad no one was hurt."

"Yeah." Siobhan nodded, tucking her legs underneath her on the sofa and turning to face me. "Except most of my stuff was ruined because the smoke damage was so extensive. Rental insurance is covering it, but it's still a pain to replace it all. Especially when I'm trying to live out of a suitcase in Dallas's room."

"Oh, I bet he doesn't mind that part." I glanced down, picking up my chicken taco and biting into it. Heavenly. Between dinner out with Chase and takeout tonight, I was getting totally spoiled. It was a nice change from my usual broke college student fare.

She laughed, tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear. "All three of them have been good about it, actually. I think Ty is probably the least thrilled to have a girl around all the time, but he's managing. Either way, I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"Have you had the chance to look at any two-bedroom places yet?"

"I've got a list of five potentials that I thought we could look at." She hesitated. "I hope I'm not like, getting ahead of myself. If you have anything in mind, we can totally go look at those too."

I cringed, because I felt bad for not having done any research yet. "Honestly, I've haven't even had the chance to look. I was pretty swamped this past week."

Shiv gave me a look, corners of her mouth quirking. "So I heard."

"What did you hear?"

"Oh, Chase just said that you guys hung out twice. And he told me about your little skating date. I have to say, that's pretty adorable."

"It was fun," I said, cheeks warming. "Until we got busted in the middle of making out." Sharing this tidbit was probably the margarita talking.

Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, giggling. "Shut up, you did not."

"Well, almost. More like a close call, I guess." I shrugged, pausing. "Has Dallas ever taken you skating?"

"No." She shook her head emphatically. "I'm a Florida girl through and through. I don't think I would be able to stand up in skates, let alone use them. Ice is a spectator-only surface for me."

"Florida? Wow, you're pretty far from home, huh?"

"By design," she said. "The ex and all that. I wanted a buffer several states wide."

Geez. She really must have wanted to get away from the guy.

"Does he still try to contact you?" I didn't want to pry, but she brought it up so it seemed safe to broach the subject carefully.

"Sometimes." She took a bite of her enchilada, chewing and swallowing. "My social media is on total lockdown, which helps to some degree. But, a while ago, he got a hold of my phone number from a mutual friend and he kept calling over and over again in the middle of the night. You should have heard Dallas when he answered. I had to change my number the next day."

Siobhan hesitated. "I guess that's why I've sort of tried to keep Dallas at arm's length." Then she gestured to the living room. "Obviously that hasn't worked very well. I mean, I'm crazy about him. But I'm still a little gun-shy."

"I get that," I said. "Your ex almost makes Luke look good."

Luke was an asshole, to be sure. And inexplicably hell bent on messing with my life now that I had moved on. But her ex sounded next-level, like the kind that could be dangerous.

I was pretty sure the damage Luke could inflict was limited to spreading ridiculous lies and trying to annoy Chase to death. If anything, Chase was the bigger threat to him.

"I dunno, Luke still sounds pretty terrible. I heard about that text message thing." Siobhan took a tortilla chip, scooping up some guacamole.

"Right? Who does that?" I paused. "Actually, it's pretty on-brand for Luke. I think he was trying to cause trouble between me and Chase."

She grinned. "Oh, I don't think Chase is going anywhere. Not to sell him out or anything but..." she paused. "Okay, I am selling him out a little bit, but he's cute about you."

I couldn't fight back my goofy smile. "I can't believe I used to hate him."

"You did?" Shiv tilted her head questioningly.

"I thought I did, anyway." I frowned. "I'm not sure anymore." So much had changed recently that it was like up was down.

"In your defense, I know he can be a total pain in the ass on the ice." She laughed. "Dallas says he's one of those players you love if they're on your own team and hate if they're on anyone else's."

"Sounds about right," I said, standing up to put my empty plate in the kitchen. "Should we watch Love in Summer first or Accidentally Engaged?"

Siobhan shrugged. "Let's start alphabetical and work our way down?"

"Binge watching all of these under Dallas's profile is going to mess with his Netflix suggestions," I pointed out. Right now, his home screen was full of John Wick, stand-up comedy, and horror movies.

She giggled, taking another sip of her margarita.

"That's the best part. After this, they'll be notifying him about upcoming chick flicks till the end of time."

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