Win Big

by Kelly Jamieson

  “I’m glad you’re here, Matthew,” I say. “We don’t often get this many of us together unless it’s a big holiday. I have something I want to say to you and Dad.”

  Théo’s eyes bulge out behind his glasses.

  “I know this wasn’t the plan,” I say to him and Asher. “I don’t really give a shit anymore. This feud is ridiculous.” I turn my focus to Dad and Matthew, who are both frowning. “We got a copy of the lawsuit. We know what happened. Dad, you need to pay that money back.”

  Mom speaks up. “Everly. This isn’t the time.”

  “When is the time, then?” I’m getting a little heated. I need to calm down. “Dad. We’re all worried about you. About your health.”

  “I’m healthy as a horse,” he growls.

  I scoot my chair closer to him to look him in the eye. “You’re forgetting things. You get confused. You know this is happening.”

  His blue eyes gaze back at me. “That’s bullshit.”

  “It’s not. You need to go to the doctor. Mom’s been trying to convince you and I’m telling you the rest of us agree. I’ll take you myself. I—” My voice breaks. “Dad. I love you. I’m worried about you.”

  His face suddenly looks tired. He pats my knee. “Evvie. Don’t worry.”

  I smile. “You should know me better than that, Dad. Worry’s what I do.”

  “So true.” He sighs. “You’ve always worried about everything. You used to run to the door when I got home from a road trip because you were worried the plane had crashed.”

  He remembers that. My bottom lip quivers.

  “I’ll go to the doctor,” he says.

  “And what about the money?”

  His eyes go distant and he frowns.

  “Everly. I told you I’m working on it,” Mom says in a gentle but firm voice.

  I lift my head to fix a stare on her. “You didn’t really, Mom. You were all kinds of vague. This has to end and this family has to heal. Money is the most meaningless thing of all to fight over. Dad could be…” I stop, my throat closing up. Now I lift my gaze to Matthew, standing watching this, his forehead furrowed. “You don’t know how long we all have here. Is this how you want things to be?”

  He flinches. His eyes slide to Dad. He swallows. “No.” He clears his throat. “Dad. We’ll talk.”

  “You’ll talk to me as well,” Mom speaks up. She reaches for Dad’s hand and holds it. “We’re a team, and you have to accept that.”

  Matthew’s eyes flicker. I glance at Asher and Théo, both watching openmouthed.

  “The only thing tougher than a hockey player is his mom,” Asher murmurs.

  “Dad,” Théo says to Matthew, “she’s right. You can trust her.”

  Matthew shoots Théo a frown. “Whose side are you on?”

  Théo stands to face his dad. “There are no sides. We’re all Wynns.”

  Matthew’s jaw tightens. Then his expression eases. “You’re right.” He turns to Chelsea and nods, then walks out.

  After a couple of beats of silence, Asher says, “Well, that escalated quickly.”

  I choke on a laugh. I meet Mom’s eyes and hers are dancing with amusement too.

  “What the hell, Ev?” Asher shakes his head.

  “What is the plan you referred to, Everly?” Mom asks sweetly.

  Oops. “It’s on a need-to-know basis.”

  She inclines her head. “Fair,” she murmurs.

  The third period is starting, so Asher hustles out.

  I try to focus on the game. I just did something totally not like me.

  And it was good.

  Chapter 25

  Wyatt

  The TV is on in Heather’s living room, some news show, as Owen and I get home from the dinosaur exhibit at the Convention Center.

  “We’re home!” I call, helping Owen with his shoes.

  “In here!” Heather answers from the kitchen.

  Owen runs to her. “Mommy! There were real live dinosaurs! One roared at me.” He pauses. “It scared me a little.”

  He’d burst into tears, but we wouldn’t tell his mom that. I didn’t make him feel ashamed or embarrassed, though. I just dried his tears and told him it was okay to be scared because those dinosaurs are pretty realistic.

  “Oh, tell me about it!” she invites.

  I follow him, but pause when I hear the name “Everly Wynn” on the TV. My head whips around and I turn into the living room.

  “…daughter of hockey legend Bob Wynn, who is the executive director of the Condors Community Foundation,” the newscaster continues. “We reached out for comment on this article, but did not get a response. We did speak to the managing director of Safe Charities America, Joseph Link, who produced this report.”

  They go to a clip of this Joseph Link dude saying, “While the Condors Foundation does successfully raise a lot of money, they scored poor marks on evaluation metrics, such as financial transparency, hoarding cash, and overspending on fundraising, based on analysis of their financial statements of the past three fiscal years.”

  Hoarding cash? My jaw damn near hits the floor. I gape at the TV.

  “In fact, some might say that the Condors Foundation is a puck hog,” he finishes with a smirk. “While professional sports teams may have strong track records in sport, when it comes to their charitable foundations, fans may want to consider donating their money to other organizations.”

  Heat rushes through my body and my hands curl into fists.

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I snarl.

  “What’s that?” Heather calls.

  This is a big TV station in Los Angeles, with a huge audience. Jesus Christ.

  I drop my ass down onto the ottoman. They’ve gone to another news story, but fuck, my mind is still racing with what I just heard.

  Heather comes into the room. “Are you okay? Did the dinosaurs exhaust you?” she teases.

  I shake my head, not looking up at her. I stare at the floor, thinking about Everly. Obviously, she’s heard about this, if news reporters are contacting her to ask for comments.

  She must be devastated.

  I think about how hard she works, the long hours she puts in, the effort she makes to reach out to other potential partners the Foundation can both give money to and obtain donation money from. She has connections in this city like nobody else, and such a winning way about her that she has no trouble getting donors to write big checks or give their time to participate in fundraising events. I know the banquet raised a ton of money.

  There’s no way the Foundation is hoarding money.

  “Wyatt?” Heather sits too.

  Everly tries so hard to be perfect. Now I know why. After hearing the story about that asswipe Gage Gregoire, and how upset her parents were, I get it. She made a teenage mistake and rebelled a little. Who among us hasn’t? She regrets what she did and never wants to let her parents down again. She also doesn’t want to be the center of any negative attention ever again.

  This must be crushing her.

  “Wyatt? What’s wrong?”

  I look up at Heather.

  Her face changes, her smile fading.

  “Everly,” I croak out.

  She nods.

  “There was just a thing…on TV…” I wave my hand. “She’s kind of in trouble.”

  Heather’s lips tremble. But she lifts her chin and holds my gaze. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

  I can’t stop the word. It’s physically impossible. “Yes.” I pause. “I need to go…” I stand.

  She stands too. Her eyes glossy, she says, “I’m sorry, Wyatt, if I’ve wrecked things for us. I’ll understand if you don’t want to come by anymore.”

  I don’t know what to say. We haven’t talked any more about us being a family. In
my head, it makes sense. But my goddamn heart is hurting over Everly. It’d be great if I could just forget her, but I can’t. I don’t think I ever will. And spending the rest of my life with someone who’s not her…I don’t know if I can do that, much as I want to be there for my friend’s family. I wanted to be someone who could be relied on, someone honorable and responsible. And I was terrified I could never be that guy. I’m still terrified, but I want to try. Marrying Heather isn’t the way to do it, though.

  “I don’t want to lose contact with Owen.”

  She flinches a little, but nods again. “I understand.”

  “I’m sorry, Heather.”

  She wipes her cheek. “Don’t apologize for falling in love. I won’t apologize to you for that. You’re a good man—honorable and loyal. You’ve always been there for us. I probably should have just kept how I feel about you to myself.” Her shaky smile is rueful. “If you love her…if you have a chance at a happy ever after…go for it. You deserve it.”

  I’m in awe of her generosity. I know how much love hurts. I hate it that she’s hurting. I never wanted that to happen. But I never wanted to fall in love with Everly either, and it happened.

  “Hank would appreciate everything you’ve done for us,” she continues. “He really would have, Wyatt. I know you feel guilty about what happened. But I also know Hank doesn’t blame you.”

  My throat closes up.

  “I don’t blame you,” she adds quietly. “You don’t owe us anything. I wish you would get over that.”

  Christ. My face tightens, pressure building behind my eyes.

  “I also know he wouldn’t want you to sacrifice your whole life for us.”

  I let that sink in. Emotion fills my chest. Hank’s not here. But yeah…I think she’s right.

  I move to her, set my hands on her shoulders, and kiss her forehead. “You’re a good person,” I choke out. “And a great mom.” I turn away, clearing my throat. “Hey, Owen, buddy! I have to go. Come say goodbye.”

  He bounces in, a cracker in his hand. “I thought you were staying to eat.”

  “I can’t after all. But I’ll see you soon.” I give him a big hug.

  I jog out to my vehicle and jump in. It’s late Saturday afternoon. Everly should be home.

  I don’t know if there’s a happy ending for us, like Heather said. But I do know I have to go to her. I have to be there for her, dealing with something like this.

  I imagine her having one of her panic attacks, dizzy and nauseous, all alone. What can I do for her? She liked the back rub. And she likes Slurpees…

  I choose my route so I drive by the 7-Eleven near Everly’s place. I wheel in there and fill up a giant Slurpee cup with lemonade slush.

  With my phone in one hand and the Slurpee in the other, I ring Everly’s doorbell.

  I shift from one foot to the other as I wait for her to answer. Maybe she’s not home after all. Maybe she’s at the office in some kind of PR meeting, trying to deal with this shit.

  The door opens.

  She stares at me.

  Christ, she’s beautiful. Her dark hair is all shiny, her face glowing. She’s wearing a pair of cropped leggings and a long, loose sweatshirt, her feet bare.

  “Wyatt.” She blinks those gorgeous long eyelashes. “What…are you doing here?”

  “I was worried about you,” I blurt out. “I saw the news.”

  “Oh.”

  “I brought you this.” I hand her the Slurpee.

  She drops her gaze to it, reaches out to take it, then looks back at me. The corners of her mouth lift. “In case I’m having a panic attack?”

  “Yeah.” I chomp down on my bottom lip. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Pissed, but fine. Come in.”

  I follow her into her living room. Her laptop is open on the coffee table, some papers next to it. She sits on the couch. “So you heard the news.”

  “Yeah.” I sit too. “What’s that all about? I only caught part of the story.”

  “This organization has been doing reviews of all charities associated with professional sports. Audits. They’ve come up with criteria they’re measuring us on.” She blows out a breath. “We didn’t get a good score.”

  “Yeah, I got that. But what the hell do they know? You work so hard! You raise a lot of money and the Foundation does good things with it.”

  She smiles, her eyes soft. “Thank you. Yes. We do. But the truth is…we could do better.”

  “That’s bullshit.”

  She pouts her bottom lip out a little, still smiling. “I appreciate your confidence in me.”

  “Of course I’m confident in you! I love you.”

  Everything goes still and silent. Our eyes meet. And hold. The connection stretches out. The moment is charged…smoldering.

  Everly’s eyes widen and she opens her mouth as if to speak. Then shuts it. Tries again. “You do?”

  I exhale slowly. “I do.” It slipped out, but what the hell. Might as well be honest.

  “I love you too,” she whispers.

  Christ. The frozen puck in my gut disappears, relief flowing through my veins like I just mainlined cocaine. (Not that I know what that’s like.) I slide off the seat of the couch onto my knees in front of her and clasp her hands.

  “What about Heather?” Her voice tremors. “And Owen?”

  “I told you, I don’t love Heather. She’s a friend. I feel a responsibility toward her.”

  “But she loves you.”

  I nod, my face tight. “I never wanted to hurt her. But…she understands. She said if there’s a chance of a happy ending with you, I should go for it.” I pause. “And I’m totally resisting the dirty joke about a happy ending.”

  Her eyes widen, then she drops her head forward, shoulders shaking. “You’re terrible.”

  “Yes. I am.”

  She lifts her head and moves it from side to side it, lips twitching. “I want to say Heather’s a good person, but I’m still a little…bitter. Jealous.”

  I shake my head vigorously, tightening my grip on her hands. “Don’t be jealous. I’ve been honest with her. She knows how I feel about you. I won’t see her ever again if that’s what you want.” I would hate that and I would feel so fucking guilty, but I’d do it if Everly wanted.

  She closes her eyes fleetingly. “No. That’s not what I want. You’re an amazing man, Wyatt, to look after them like that. I’m just glad you’re not giving up your whole life for them. Because your friend Hank wouldn’t want that. I didn’t know him, but I’m sure of that.”

  “Heather said that too.”

  “Damn. I don’t want to like her.”

  I smile and lift her hand to kiss it.

  “I was worried about that,” she admits. “You said you didn’t love her, but I thought you were seriously thinking of marrying her.”

  “I never really was. I kept telling myself it made sense, and I should do it for Hank. But I knew I couldn’t.”

  “I was also pissed at you.” Her tone sharpens, although she’s still smiling. “For thinking of doing that.” She tips her head. “Were you angry at me about what happened with Gage? You seemed…angry. I know you said it wasn’t my fault, but I’d understand if it, um, turns your stomach.”

  “Fuck.” I close my eyes and press her hand to my mouth. “If it turns my stomach it’s because of him. Not you. Don’t ever think that, princess. I fucking hate that you went through that. But making mistakes is part of growing up.” I pause. “Maybe we never outgrow that, though.”

  “I hate it that you went through what you did too. That must have been so awful.” She touches my face. “I understand why you feel guilty, but you did what you could. It wasn’t your fault.”

  I nod, my eyes stinging in the corners. “I tell myself that all the time. I know it
wasn’t. But yet, I don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling responsible.”

  “I love how you’ve helped Heather and Owen. You’re a good man.” She stares into my eyes.

  Jesus, I’m going to cry again. The kindness and understanding and love in her eyes is shredding me. I never expected to find love like this, and that was okay; I didn’t need it. Didn’t deserve it. But Everly does, and if it will make her happy, I’ll do whatever I can to be worthy of her.

  “You’re really okay?” I ask hoarsely.

  “Yeah. I have a plan.”

  “Of course you do.”

  “That jerk Link insulted us. The audit may say we could do better, but that was absolutely unprofessional to accuse us of hoarding money, and to discourage people from donating to us. This is my worst nightmare!”

  “I know. That’s why I was so worried about you.”

  “Aw. I love that so much.” And I love her smile. “Our legal counsel is writing to him to ask for a public apology for what he said. And…I’ll look at the audit and see what I can change and do better at.” She grimaces. “So the whole world knows now that I’m not perfect. But yeah…I’m really okay.”

  “You’re more than okay.” My heart swells with admiration for how she’s handling this. “You’re a strong, amazing woman. And…fuck me.” I close my eyes. “You’re so much more than the perfect princess I thought you were.”

  She gazes back at me, eyes full of emotion. Her lips tremble. “And you’re so much more than the life-of-the-party guy who doesn’t care about anything. Except hockey. After I met Owen…and Heather, and I saw what you do for them…well, you’re a pretty strong, amazing man, Wyatt Bell.”

  “I need to kiss you.” I rise up and sit next to her, pulling her onto my lap, threading my hands into her hair, and finding her mouth with mine. She kisses me back, pouring so much emotion into the kiss, we’re soon both shaking and panting. “Okay, now I need more than a kiss.”

  Her lips curve up, her eyes shiny. “I missed you.”

  “Oh hell yeah, I missed you too.”

  Her beautiful blue eyes gaze at me with lust and longing. My chest fills with a fizzy sensation while my dick aches with the need to be inside her. Desire surges through my blood and throbs in my balls.