The Trade(25)

“Don’t bust his balls in front of me, Mills. Leave the man with some dignity.”

Carson laughs but I know he’s slightly embarrassed. When he was first dating Milly, I saw him try to hide his giddiness whenever I was around. He always played it cool, showed he was impressed with me as a ballplayer, but he made it clear that my sister is far more important to him than her celebrity brother. It’s what won me over with Carson. That, and how much he truly cares about my sister and worships the ground she walks on.

“There’s Emory and Knox,” Milly calls out, when we reach the gate to our private plane.

Knox looks up from where he was gently stroking Emory’s cheek and spots us. When his eyes land on me, he lights up. He pulls me into a man hug and says, “Damn, I didn’t know THE Cory Potter was coming. Jason is going to pee himself.”

I’m starting to think I might need to keep a safe distance between me and Jason with how much he seems to adore me.

“Hey Emory,” I say to Knox’s girlfriend. “How are you feeling?”

She touches her small pregnant belly and smiles dreamily at me. “Wonderful. Thank you. I’m so excited you’re coming with us.”

“Me too. Milly—”

“Holy fucking shit, what is Cory Potter doing here?” Jason shouts, as he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my body, his hands cupping my chest. “Christ, you smell good.” I feel him take a deep breath of my back. “Why do you smell so nice? Dottie, babe, smell him.”

“Please stop smelling the man. You’re embarrassing yourself,” Dottie says, a slight shake to her head but admiration in her eyes. She might make it seem like he annoys her but in reality, it’s all love. He softens her hard edges. Total opposites, but they complete each other.

Releasing me, Jason says, “You’re really coming with us?”

“Yup. Milly said you guys had an extra room in the block, so I thought I’d—”

“Oh my God, you guys, there was a couple in the bathroom totally doing it. They were shaking the stall . . .” Natalie’s voice fades as she sees me. Her face turns red and she quickly straightens up. “Cory, hi. I didn’t . . . I wasn’t aware you were coming too.”

Milly steps up and says, “That was my fault.” I can see the guilty and apologetic look on her face when she makes eye contact with me, because neither one of us was expecting Natalie to be here; the one person I was trying to get away from. “I invited him, thinking it was okay if he took Holt’s spot.”

Dottie motions between her and Milly. “Great minds think alike. I offered Holt’s room to Natalie too.”

Well . . . this just got awkward.

And since this is a non-couples’ trip that really is a couples’ trip, I’m wondering when Natalie’s husband is going to appear, because fuck. What could be better?

Before anyone can say anything, I step up and say, “I can head home, it’s no big deal. Natalie, I’m sure you deserve a nice trip.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Knox steps in. “There’s plenty of room on the plane. The more the merrier.”

He pats me on the back and leads the group down the hallway to the gate agent who’s going to walk us out to the waiting plane.

Knox and Emory lead the way, followed by Jason, Dottie, and Natalie, while I hang back for a second.

Hand in hand, Carson and Milly start to walk toward the plane when Milly pauses, waiting for me. When she sees that I’m not moving, she tells Carson to go on.

Sensing Milly’s need to be alone with me, Carson presses a quick kiss to the back of her hand, takes her bag from her shoulder and heads toward the plane. Once Carson’s out of earshot, Milly presses her hand to my forearm and says, “I’m so, so sorry, Cory. I had no idea.”

There’s so much regret in her eyes that they start to water.

I quickly pull her into a hug and say, “Mills, it’s no big deal, you don’t have to get upset about it.”

“I should have asked. I just assumed we were going to leave the room empty. I feel awful.”

“Don’t. It’s okay.” I take a deep breath. “But I do think I’m going to head back to my apartment. I don’t want to intrude—”

“Please don’t leave. I’ll worry about you the entire time while I’m supposed to be on vacation.”

“I’ll hang with Rian and Sean,” I say, already not liking the idea. I love our brothers, but being Irish twins, they have a bond just like Milly and I do and being a third wheel to their actual bromance sounds just as appealing as tickling my balls with a rusty knife.

Milly pulls away and shakes her head. “You and I both know they’re just going to make you work at the facility, and the last thing you need right now is to work. Please come with us.”

“There is one room left, so what do you think is going to happen with that room? Am I supposed to share it with Natalie?”

“Of course not.” Milly takes my hand and starts walking me toward the plane. “It’s a huge resort, Cory, we’ll get another room. We might not be near each other, but at least you’ll have some privacy. Think of it this way. You get to go on vacation and keep your distance from Natalie. It’s a win-win.”

“That’s what you say now.”