by Anya Nowlan
It was a mistake to have made herself so vulnerable to someone she was tasked to investigate. And if Crash and Connor could just turn their attention on and off, she could do the same.
Eddie chose that moment to stroll over, resting his huge frame on the edge of the couch.
“You guys ready for some pool?” he grinned. “Lily’s going to be joining us this time.”
“Great, a new game to beat Aiden’s ass at,” Graham said, dropping the controller he was holding.
“We’ll see about that,” Aiden grumbled in response.
Lily was none too excited at the prospect, but she had promised she would be up for a game. And hanging around here being ignored by Crash and Connor wasn’t a much better option. So she managed to drum up a smile and hopped off the couch, hands on her hips.
“Well, then what are we waiting for?” she said cheerfully.
“That’s the spirit,” Eddie chuckled as they all got up and headed downstairs.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Connor glance at them leaving, but that was the only response from either of the brothers.
With one mildly successful game of pool under her belt, and a whole lot of time spent worrying about where she stood with the twins, Lily felt like she couldn’t put on a happy face a moment longer. So she excused herself, saying she wasn’t feeling too well, and left Eddie, Graham and Aiden to their own devices.
She was feeling more tired than ever all of a sudden, the stress of the assignment and her complicated relationship with Crash and Connor getting to her. All she wanted to do was curl up under her covers until morning, and start fresh then.
Passing through the living room, she noticed Crash and Connor weren’t there. Not wanting to dwell on them anymore, she didn’t give that fact much thought as she went up to her room and closed the door behind her, sinking into her bed as soon as she got inside.
Tugging loose the tight bun in her hair, she just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, until the sound of footsteps made her snap out of it and pay attention. An odd sense of déjà vu came over her. It reminded her of how she’d heard Connor sneaking around up here the first night she was here.
She remained still in her bed, listening, until she heard a voice from behind the door. It was immediately familiar to her.
So it is you, Connor.
Getting up slowly, trying to make as little sound as possible, she crept up to the door and peeked out from the keyhole, just like she had done last time. And there he was, talking on his phone, pacing around and looking agitated.
His words were muffled and he tried to keep his tone hushed, but she could still pick up some words. And she didn’t like what she heard.
Money. Payout. Secret.
Those were the ones that stuck with her as she crouched down, horrified. Connor must have thought she would still be downstairs, shooting pool with the guys when he came up here. This was not a conversation he wanted anyone to hear, and she could see why.
Has he been the spy all along? she wondered, feeling nauseated all of the sudden. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid.
Thirty-One
Crash
Waiting around with duffel bags full of gear over their shoulders, the team stood at the front door, watching for signs of Coach Ben. He was nothing but punctual, so even a delay of a couple of minutes was out of character for him.
After another minute or two of the men shuffling on their feet and discussing whether they should go look for him, Ben rounded the corner with Wyatt in tow.
“Sorry I’m late. Lily won’t be joining us today, she’s sick,” he announced before brushing past them and out the door.
“Wait, what?” Crash mumbled, more to himself than anything.
But Graham must have heard him.
“She said she wasn’t feeling well last night, when we were playing pool,” he said, falling in step next to him.
Crash looked over to Connor, and could see his brother was as concerned as he was. Last night, they had agreed that they should wait until the end of the camp before getting further involved with Lily. Crash didn’t particularly like that plan, but it was reasonable and Connor had made some good points.
The only way they could make sure that it would actually happen was to pay as little active attention to her as they could. It was pure torture.
The only positive he could find in the whole situation right now was that Alison had agreed to wait for them to get back to Denver and then discuss everything in person. Connor had said she hadn’t sounded like his threat to go to the cops had had much effect, but maybe she just needed time for that to sink in.
Either way, they had bought themselves some time, at least.
But now, hearing that Lily was sick, all he wanted to do was blow off practice and stay to take care of her. Of course he couldn’t actually do that, so he just filed into one of the cars and spent the drive over to the rink silently staring out the window.
“She’s fine. Probably just a cold or something,” Connor whispered to him when they arrived and were climbing out of the car.
“Doesn’t make me feel a lot better.”
“Yeah, me either,” Connor replied.
“Want to head to the diner?” Adrian asked as they got dressed in the locker room.
Crash was already pulling on his jacket, his muscles warm and loose.
“I’m in. Ben really had us work up an appetite,” Graham replied.
“Good plan. What about you guys?” Eddie asked, turning towards him and Connor.
“I’m going to head back to the house,” Crash replied.
He had been thinking about Lily all through practice, and he knew he wouldn’t breathe easy until he checked on her himself. Connor must have been thinking the same thing, as he threw an arm over his shoulders.
“Me, too. This one owes me a rematch in Call of Duty,” he said.
“Your loss,” Sal shrugged, packing up his bag.
“See you later,” Graham called out.
They were all filing out of the locker room when Miles appeared from behind a corner and approached them. With the rest of the team already halfway out the door and Crash and Connor straggling behind, Miles turned to them.
“Hey. Can I have a quick word? Or are you going to join the others?”
“No, we’re not in a hurry. What’s up?” Connor asked.
Thumbing the belt loops of his pants, Miles hesitated for a second, like he wasn’t sure how to begin. The hallway around them was empty, and Crash let his duffel bag rest on the scuffed up floor.
“I wanted to ask… How long has Lily been working with you?”
That got Crash’s attention. It didn’t seem he had meant to question them in particular, just that they were the most convenient targets. But it still raised some alarms with him.
“She came along for this assignment. None of us have ever met her before, as far as I know,” Connor replied with a shrug, the picture of calm and ease. “Why?”
“No reason, really,” Miles pursed his lips. “I found it curious I’ve never heard of her before. Fiona doesn’t hire people just like that and I didn’t even hear of her taking on someone new. I tried to look her up, but I couldn’t find much. I thought you might know something.”
“Well, Fiona wouldn’t have hired her if she wasn’t qualified,” Crash chimed in, not sure where Miles was going with all this.
Why was a PR guy so interested in a coaching assistant anyway? He briefly wondered if he was maybe interested in her as a woman, but the questions he was asking were professional rather than personal, so he didn’t think that was it.
Still, the thought of someone else pursuing Lily made his bear grow restless and his fists ball up. He knew it wasn’t exactly fair, keeping his distance while expecting her to wait around for him and Connor. But he couldn’t help how he felt.
And as soon as the camp was over, he and Connor could get this whole mess with Alison dealt with, they could take their time to get to know
Lily, and everything would work out.
“You could ask her,” Connor suggested, the barest hint of annoyance creeping into his voice.
“Yeah, you’re right, of course. It’s just that Ben got so cagey when I brought her up, I thought there might be some backstory or some reason why I shouldn’t go prodding her with questions,” Miles waved a dismissive hand. “Anyways, don’t mind me, I’ll leave you alone now,” he finished with a smile.
His sudden nonchalance struck Crash as insincere, and the way Miles kept studying their faces closely made him feel like the man was expecting some sort of reaction. Staring at them for another second or two, Miles finally turned to leave, the clack of his dress shoes echoing off the walls.
“That was weird,” Crash muttered, turning to his brother.
Connor had that furrow between his brows that meant he was either thinking hard about something, or he was angry.
“It was,” he agreed. “But you know, some things he brought up do concern me.”
“Not this speech again,” Crash groaned. “Yes, we don’t know a lot about Lily. That doesn’t mean she’s shady or has ulterior motives or something. I get that what Alison is doing has affected the way you see things. It’s done the same to me. But we can’t project that on to Lily.”
Even as he was making this grand statement, though, he could feel a sense of unrest building in his chest. Why would Ben act ‘cagey’, as Miles had said, when asked about Lily? And why would Ben have been assigned an assistant like that out of the blue anyway?
He suddenly felt like he was missing a piece of the picture, and it was a feeling he didn’t like. A question popped into his mind, making his insides twist.
Is Lily who she says she is?
Thirty-Two
Lily
After lying about being sick, Lily had spent a good hour pacing around in her room. There was a reason she wanted to be left alone in the house, but as soon as everyone left, she started getting cold feet.
I’m being ridiculous. This is what I’m paid to do, she reminded herself, squaring her shoulders.
What she had heard last night had propelled her to take more direct action. At this point, she was fairly sure that Crash and Connor had played her and were selling out their own team. But she needed more proof than some overheard words. And if she could eliminate the rest of the guys in the process, even better.
So she made her way to the second floor, taking a deep breath when she stared down the hallway, dotted with doors on either side. This was where almost the whole team slept, and where they kept their personal items. And she was about to violate their privacy in the worst way.
Not that she hadn’t done similar things before. This time, though, it felt a lot ickier.
She wanted to start with Crash and Connor’s rooms, but she couldn’t bring herself to open their doors. She had slept with them in one of those rooms, for God’s sakes. Going in there to rummage through their things was something she had to build up to.
So she dipped into Sal’s room first. There were clothes and other items scattered all about, with a half-eaten apple on the table facing the window. The mess didn’t really surprise her, but she scrunched up her nose at it nonetheless.
Sal’s laptop was lying on his bed, among a pile of blankets and pillows. She opened the computer up, smiling to herself when she discovered it wasn’t password protected.
A person’s phone was usually even more of a treasure trove of information than their computer these days, with everyone glued to their iPhones. But finding the computer was the best she was going to get.
Opening up Sal’s e-mail account, she browsed through all the folders, looking for anything suspicious. She was somewhat surprised to find that most of Sal’s correspondence was with his family. His inbox was full of pictures of his nieces and nephews, and messages about him planning visits to see them.
It was downright adorable, and only served to make her feel worse about what she was doing. That didn’t mean she could stop, though.
She tried his social media accounts next, at least the ones he was still logged on to. Except for some female fans sending him semi-naked photos, she couldn’t find anything that sparked any further interest in there either.
She quickly looked through his closet, checking his pockets, before putting everything back the way she’d found it and moving on to the next room. This one was Graham’s, and it was pretty much more of the same. Checking out his tablet, it was obvious the man was addicted to Candy Crush, but that was the most incriminating thing she could find.
Aiden and Eddie’s rooms were next, and all she found out there was that Aiden seemed to be the tidiest of them all and that Eddie travelled with a huge poster of someone named Martin Brodeur.
Lily wasn’t really surprised when she stepped out of Eddie’s bedroom empty-handed. She already had her prime suspects, and it was clear to even herself that she was stalling.
God, I’m such an idiot, she thought for the hundredth time that day.
Knowing exactly what kind of double-lives people were capable of leading, she of all people should have been more suspicious from the start. In fact, she had caught the twins in a lie pretty much right after meeting them, when they couldn’t get their stories straight about calling their mom.
But they’d explained that away, and she’d believed them. Why, because they were hot, funny, and entirely too charming for their own good? Was that why she’d almost blown this entire investigation?
She couldn’t believe she had been so easily fooled by the boys’ ridiculous story about a mutual ex that couldn’t get over their break-up.
Obviously it was all a lie so they could cover up the fact they were actually in communication with whomever they were selling their information to.
Most likely they’d caught on they had messed up on the mom story, realizing they had told her conflicting things. So they came up with another fabrication to cover their tracks.
Alison probably doesn’t even exist, she thought bitterly.
All her fond memories of the brothers were quickly being tainted as she was calling into question every word they had ever said. Feeling disgusted and angry, she opened the door to Connor’s bedroom and stepped inside.
Her body responded instantly as his musky scent hit her nose. She could almost feel his hands on her body, along with Crash’s. Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she forced those thoughts away. Whatever they shared was meaningless now, anyway.
An ache started in the pit of her stomach, radiating upward. She had really thought there was something real between them, and she had even let herself think about what could be after the assignment was over. That she had even considered a future with these men hurt, especially now when there was no chance of that.
As hard as it was to admit, she still cared for them. Despite everything, what happened to them still mattered to her. To be the one that ended up exposing them felt like a betrayal, but then again, they had been lying to her, too.
What a tangled web we weave…
Choosing to focus on her anger instead of her pain, she started rummaging around the room, going as far as to check under the mattress and the undersides of the desk drawers. The way she flew around the room was almost manic. Her fingers were trembling a little when she picked up Connor’s computer and opened it up, cursing to herself when she found the screen locked.
Well, of course. He does have a lot to hide.
But in her frenzy, Lily had become careless. That became evidently clear when she suddenly heard the door behind her open. She hadn’t even heard anyone pull up to the house. Whirling around, she found two pairs of green eyes staring at her, shocked at first, then angry.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Connor boomed.
Shit.
Thirty-Three
Connor
Looking at his upturned room with Lily in the middle of it, Connor felt like someone had just pulled the rug out from under him. Crash was standi
ng, stunned, at his side, seemingly unable to speak. Connor, however, had a lot to say.
“I asked you a question,” he demanded, staring Lily down.
She, on her part, didn’t look nearly as embarrassed or apologetic as he’d liked. Crossing her arms, she stared back at him, like he had done something wrong.
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” she shot back, belligerent.
“Excuse me? I find you ransacking my room and going through my things, and you’re going to stand there and not give me an explanation?” Connor replied, almost not believing his ears.
It seemed like every suspicion and deepest doubt he’d had was coming true right in front of his eyes. Whatever Lily was doing here, it wasn’t good, and he could only begin to imagine what her plan was.
I knew I was right not to trust her, that deep, jaded part of him said, almost tauntingly.
Obviously she had been looking for something. Was she in the same boat as Alison, trying to find something incriminating to hold over their heads?
“Lily,” Crash piped up. “Tell us what’s going on.”
“You know what’s going on,” she replied, sounding exasperated. “I was the one in the dark, it seems. Well, the jig is up.”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Crash interjected, shaking his head.
Who used the word ‘jig’ anymore?
His brother looked more defeated than anything, while Connor was starting to see red. This was the woman he had seriously thought was his mate. He wasn’t even sure if he was more furious with her or himself, for letting his guard down.
“I’m calling Ben and letting him know about this. This is your last day working with the Predators, that’s for damn sure,” he growled.
To his surprise, Lily laughed at that.
“You’re going to be the one out of a job after I fill Ben in on how you two have been making money selling out your own team. What do you think he’ll care about more, me searching your rooms or you being traitors?” she scoffed.