“Fine.” She snatches the wallet and grins victoriously. “But only because I’m scared of seeing a bug in that motel. Plus, you’re probably lonely, and I feel bad for you.”
I laugh heartily. “Oh, so you’re the one doing the good deed now, huh?”
She grins sarcastically and flips her hair. “Don’t worry, alpha football player. You’re still the hero.”
“I told you, I’m just the kicker.” I wink and pull my keys out of my pocket, detaching the key to my condo and handing it to her. “Here, you can get settled today. I’ll be at practice until late, and I have a spare in my car I can use.”
“Okay.” Her eyes brighten, and she bounces back toward the townhouse. “Roomies! This is gonna be fun.”
I shake my head slowly, wondering what the actual fuck I just decided to get myself into.
There she goes, the explosive, pink-haired cocktail of obnoxious color and ridiculous theories and inhuman flexibility. The girl whose mute button I want to press but also somehow can’t seem to resist.
It sure as hell has been a weird turn of events. But the hookup was one time only. Her cousin is marrying my best friend, and I’m just being a nice dude and temporarily giving her a place to stay.
Because it’s the right thing to do. Not because I have a burning, aching need to twist her ankles behind her ears and bang the life out of her again.
Fuck. She’s right. This is gonna be fun.
Four
Melody
“Sweetie, have you been meditating?” Clementine gently places her soft hand on my arm.
I lean against her bony shoulder and sigh deeply. “I tried, but it’s so overwhelming in here. I’m really okay, though. I’m good.”
I hug her and Alyssa tightly before we begin to sift through the wet remnants of my belongings.
Clementine and Alyssa are the co-owners of my yoga studio, and also my best friends and eternal soul sisters. I knew they’d have my back as soon as I called them and told them about the flood. I also know they’ll be heartbroken when I tell them I’m taking that job out in the Caribbean.
Alyssa pushes her long braids over her shoulders and smiles. “Meditating or not, you seem to be handling this really well.”
Clementine narrows her emerald-green eyes and tilts her head knowingly. “Suspiciously well.”
“Will you two hush?” I wave off their comments and walk toward the kitchen and start gathering the twinkly string lights that are draped over every cabinet and shelf. I just love string lights. “I’m just keeping myself in a good headspace, that’s all. I know what the flood means, and that brings me peace.”
Clementine pivots in front of me and leans against the counter, crossing her arms. “And by good headspace, you mean somebody’s bed.”
“Clem!” I nudge her playfully and turn away to avoid more questioning.
“You’re not the only one who gets to be nosy, sister.” Alyssa picks up a succulent plant and gently places it into a cardboard box. “Spill the beans.”
“Yeah.” Clementine grabs my face with both hands and smiles deviously. “Spill ’em, Miss I Wasn’t Home Last Night.”
“Okay, okay.” I fight the giddy excitement that ripples through me at the memory of having sex with Dylan and escalates at the possibility of it happening again. “I had a hookup. With…” I take a long pause and relish their eager expressions.
“OMG!” Clementine bursts out. “Was is that super-hot guy with the beard from the yoga retreat in Key West?”
“Uh, not exactly…”
“Oh, I know.” Alyssa’s low soft voice matches her calm and unfazed beauty. “It was the guy who works in the essential oils shop downtown, who always wears a red beanie. He adores you.”
“Well…” I wet my lips and look down. “It wasn’t him, either.”
“Then who, girl?” Clementine aggressively plays with my hair.
“He’s an…athlete. He plays football with my cousin Whitney’s fiancé.”
Alyssa arches a sharply defined brow. “Like…professionally? You mean on the Riders?”
“You’re sleeping with an NFL player?” Clementine says through a shocked and excited giggle.
“Not sleeping with. Slept with. Once.” I swallow. “It was…silly.”
They both narrow their eyes.
“Okay, it was freaking unbelievable. It was the most mind-blowing, reckless, crazy-good sex I’ve ever had.”
They squeal and clap their hands together.
“Tell me more, tell me more,” Clementine sings playfully in her best Grease impression.
I take a deep breath and slowly roll the string of lights into a ball. “There’s nothing more. It was just amazing sex.”
Alyssa gestures around my face. “I do see the glow.”
I stick my tongue out. “Now, that’s that. Let’s get packing.”
“You act like we can’t read your colorful little mind.” Clementine picks up a box and sets it on the counter. “There’s more to this story.”
I laugh and hide my face. “Am I that obvious?”
They nod in unison. I guess that’s what happens when you spend countless hours connecting your spirit with people. No secrets. And I wouldn’t want any.
“Okay. I’m not staying at an Airbnb like I told you guys. I’m staying with him.”
“Holy shitballs, Mel.” Alyssa draws back. “That doesn’t sound like any one-night stand I’ve ever heard of.”
“I know it sounds insane.”
Clementine shrugs and packs up another strand of lights. “I don’t know. I personally think it sounds like…” She meets my gaze with sparkly eyes. “Fate. You’ve always followed your spirit, Mel. And it’s never steered you wrong. I mean…” She wraps her arms around Alyssa and me and gives us a squeeze. “It brought you to us.”
Alyssa nods slowly. “Things do happen for a reason. We know that.”
I swallow, running my fingers over the hard, speckled granite of the countertop and processing what my two most trusted friends are saying. “Yeah, of course. And I know this flood means something…” I let my voice trail off, not wanting to admit that the world is taking me onto a boat in the Caribbean for the foreseeable future.
“Duh,” they say in unison.
“Was it his idea? That you come and stay with him?” Alyssa asks.
“Of course!” I laugh and start stacking some of my favorite mugs and gently placing them in the cardboard box. “I wasn’t just gonna be all, ‘Hey! We met twelve hours ago and had some earth-shaking sex, so can I come and live with you until my house gets fixed? Thanks, pal!’”
“Awfully bold of him to suggest that, though.” Alyssa shakes her shoulders. “Maybe he’s smitten.”
“Trust me.” I bend down to place my Tiffany-blue toaster into a box. Can’t go anywhere without that. “He is the furthest thing from smitten. He’s all serious and quiet and…super grumpy.” I wrinkle my nose. “Plus, it’s pretty obvious that he thinks I’m completely off my rocker.”
“Or he thinks you’re totes adorable,” Clementine squeals.
“We’re polar opposites, Clem. It was a one-time hookup. We couldn’t be less of each other’s type if we tried. He’s just being nice because the flood happened while I was at his place. Which is just a funny…”
“Don’t say coincidence.” Alyssa angles her head toward me. “Because we know they don’t exist.”
I consider this for half a second before remembering just how completely different Dylan and I are, and the way Psychic Angela described the person I’m meant to be with. And the water.
“Psychic Angela!” I blurt at the thought, unable to go another second without sharing the realization of what this new adventure actually means for me—and welcoming the subject change away from Dylan.
“Huh?” Alyssa frowns.
“You guys…” I touch their arms gently. “I didn’t want to say anything just yet, but I know what the flood means. I know exactly where my spirit needs to go, and
this mess is exactly the sign I’ve been waiting for.”
They stare eagerly and intently.
I bite my lip. “The cruise job.”
“The one you applied to on a whim when we were having our yoga wine night?” Clementine’s expression brightens.
I nod slowly. “It was such a long shot. But…I got it. And they want a decision by tomorrow. I didn’t want to commit until I knew it was the right thing, but…” I gesture around the soaked floor of my home. “This is the sign I needed. This makes it so obvious. It’s time for me to go to sea!”
They look at each other in shock and a bit of sadness, but also with a certain level of sympathy and understanding.
“Baby!” Clementine squeals. “That is so fab!”
Alyssa nudges me softly and gives a proud smile. “Congrats, love. You didn’t tell us.”
“I was waiting for an answer.” I nod around the room. “This answer. But…there’s more,” I add. “Remember how when I saw Psychic Angela to talk about my soul mate, she said I would find him on the water?” I grin and bounce on my toes, feeling the girls feed off my excitement as they realize what exactly I’m saying.
“So the cruise…” Alyssa gently twirls a long, black braid. “That’s where you’re going to meet your forever man!”
“On the water. The cruise job. Of course.” Clementine shakes her head as the pieces of the story click.
I clasp my hands together. “I have to go on that boat. All the signs are clear, and the doors are wide open.” I lean into my best friends and hold them both tight and close. “My fated mate is out there on the ocean, waiting for me. This job is exactly what she was talking about, and my townhouse getting destroyed was the last push for me to go and get my destiny.”
Alyssa raises a pierced brow. “How will you know your soul mate? There’s quite a few nice-looking men on cruise boats.”
I squint and scratch my head, smiling gleefully as I recall Angela’s vague yet exciting insight on the matter. “She said I’ll know he’s the one after the leaves fall.”
Alyssa purses her lips. “So, after autumn. So…winter.”
“It’s almost January now. So…soon,” Clementine says, barely above a whisper.
“It’s all coming together.” I grin.
“And you’re sure…” Clementine brushes her blond hair back. “That the cute sports boy doesn’t fit anywhere in this picture?”
“Yes,” I say abruptly, picking up the box of kitchen stuff and hauling it toward the front door, dodging enormous fans and dehumidifiers with every step. “Messing around with Dylan the Football Player was not a product of the universe or destiny.” I drop the box onto the step by the door and look over my shoulder at my best friends. “It was just a product of me wanting to get laid.”
We all erupt in laughter as I walk back toward the kitchen.
Clementine picks up a tiny cactus and points it right in front of my nose. “How can you be so sure? What if Dylan is your destiny?”
I snort at the notion. “I think someone just doesn’t want me to leave.”
Clementine pouts and presses her head hard against my shoulder. “Guilty.”
I squeeze her tight and continue my flow of thoughts. “The man that I’m destined to be with is going to be my fated mate. My companion in every way. Angela said he would match me in mind, soul, and spirit, and he would be on the water!” I hop up on the kitchen counter and cross my legs. “It’s not gonna be some hot, grumpy, cynical professional athlete.”
“You’re crushing, though.” Alyssa nudges me. “Don’t lie.”
I groan, but don’t deny it. “A stupid crush and predestined fate are two completely different things.”
Clementine sits up on the counter next to me. “You’re gonna keep banging him, though, right? While you stay with him for the next month?”
“Absolutely not,” I say with a gasp. “We already agreed last night was nothing but a silly little fluke.”
I see the two of them eyeing each other, clearly not even remotely believing me.
They can have their crazy theories, but I know in my heart and soul that Dylan Rivera can’t possibly be my destiny. He probably doesn’t even know his own star sign. He probably thinks astrology is “absurd” or “ridiculous” and thinks, “You actually believe in that shit?”
I cross my arms, remembering our conversation at the party last night, how somehow our fiery and passionate differences made us weirdly interested in taking each other’s clothes off. It can’t happen again.
It can’t, and it won’t.
Five
Dylan
“Ready to kick some Panther ass on Sunday, Rivera? And in your case, I mean literally kick. Well, not their asses, but you know.” Leo Sterling, Riders wide receiver, smacks the locker in front of me as we pile in after practice.
I roll my eyes and shove him. “We got this one.”
“It’ll be tight.” Elliot Danes leans against a bench and shrugs. “We’re gonna need you to come in clutch for us.”
I give them both a side-eye and laugh. “When do I not come in clutch? The entire fucking definition of my position is coming in clutch.”
I grit my teeth, wishing I could believe my own cocky words. But after today’s shitshow of a practice, I’m on edge about Sunday’s game. I was missing field goal kicks left and right today, and something in my rotation is majorly wrong.
I shake it off. Bad practice. I must just be distracted about the new roommate I’m going home to.
Chase Kennedy drops down onto the bench next to me. “Twice the value on the field and yet only a tenth of the salary.”
“And four times the decency,” I shoot back.
“Hey, I’m getting married, asshole!” Chase laughs heartily and points to his left ring finger, as if he would be the one wearing a diamond engagement ring. “I’m about as decent as it gets.”
I give him a firm pat on the shoulder. “Congrats again, man. Your proposal was really one for the books.”
“More like the movies,” Elliot adds.
Chase clasps his hands together and grins widely. “It was pretty fucking awesome, wasn’t it?”
Leo nods and walks over to his locker. “Welcome to the club, QB.”
I turn and take off my jersey, trying not to fume about the fact that all the dudes on my team seem to be finding their absolute perfect soul mates, and I’m still single and just about as confused and alone-feeling as ever.
I glance at Chase and hesitate, knowing I really have to tell him about the whole Melody situation, considering he’s engaged to her cousin. And he’s my best friend. Plus, he has a hell of a lot more experience with hookups than I do.
“Yo, Kennedy.” I sit on the bench next to him and untie my cleats. “So, this is kinda weird, but—”
“You fucked Melody last night,” he says with a knowing jut of his chin.
I draw back, my jaw falling. “How the hell do you know that?”
He tilts his head and gives me a get real look. “Bro. Come on. You were talking to her at the party all night. You two were vibing hard. Everyone could see it.”
I chuckle and lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “It was that obvious?”
Chase rests a hand on my back and nods quickly. “Yeah, dude. It was. But what’s the issue? I know I used to say Whit’s cousin was batshit crazy, but since I’ve gotten to know her better, she’s actually dope as fuck. I’m happy for you. I’m just…surprised, I guess.”
I stifle a laugh. “Yeah, man. So was I.”
“Is it gonna happen again?”
I run my thumb along my bottom lip, trying to figure out how the fuck I’m supposed to explain that not only did we hook up, but now she’s going to be living with me for a while. Who’s batshit crazy now?
“There’s a little more to the story,” I say slowly.
“I’m all ears, bro. I listen now.” Chase points to his ear. “That’s one of the keys to being the World’s Greatest Fiancé. W
hich I am. So please continue.”
I hate that I can’t help but laugh at Chase’s idiocy. “So when I dropped her off this morning, her townhouse was completely flooded. I mean, like…” I gesture widely in front of us. “Everything was soaking wet.”
“I’m gonna hold on to my sex joke so you can keep talking. But seriously, that’s insane. Poor Mel.”
“Yeah.” I run a hand through my hair, still a little sweaty from practice. “Exactly. I mean, what was I gonna do? Just leave her there to deal with it by herself? It was a train wreck, dude.”
He shrugs. “You write her a check?”
“No, jackass. She’s not a charity case. But I obviously had to do something. She was literally underneath me while it was happening. If I hadn’t talked her into my bed, it could have been avoided.”
He looks at me intently, waiting for me to get to the point.
“She’s coming to stay with me for a while.”
Chase leans back dramatically and laughs in shock. “Holy fucking shit, Rivera. Just diving in balls deep, no questions asked.” He pumps a fist. “I love it.”
I wave my hand quickly. “It’s not like that, trust me—”
“I know you, Kicker Boy.” He nods at me. “You’re a one-shot guy. One kick, one chance, one girl. You’re all in, bro.”
“Okay, Kennedy. As beautifully poetic as that was…” I glare at him and roll my eyes. “Melody is not the girl. I can barely stand her. Running around talking about the sky and the air and fucking energy. I’m being a decent guy and helping her out, at least until I can’t resist taping her mouth shut so I don’t have to hear any more about spirits. That’s it.”
“And you think you’re not gonna pipe her again? When she’s wearing her tiny little outfits and dancing around your condo?” He looks skyward. “Get real.”
“I know I’m not gonna pipe her again. We both agreed we’re completely wrong for each other, and it was just a half-drunk mistake. She’s obviously a smokeshow, but she’s way too much to handle. Not the one for me, I promise.”
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