Prologue
Now
It was finally here.
The day I’d been dreaming about since I was a young kid. The day I’d thought about when Caleb was drafted, and Jonny shortly thereafter.
I was excited as hell.
I stood in line waiting for both mine and Ace’s coffees, thumbing through my phone. My best bud Logan recently went off to college—University of North Dakota—and my phone was constantly blowing up.
He was all NoDak, all the time. I was getting pictures of green and white everything—linens, signs, his hockey uniform, the tape on his hockey stick, and maybe an inappropriate picture of a painted other stick. The kid lived to rile me up.
He was one of those friends who I had no doubt would be my friend for the rest of my life, the type of friendship my dad had with his old hockey buddy, Teague Ketterhagen.
Just before I closed down my phone, a text came through.
Mo: Miss you already, but totally understand. Maybe I can visit you…
I gave a small smile at the screen but refused to answer. I wasn’t going to do that to her, lead her around. Not with our history.
I was pocketing my phone with a sigh when the front door opened. I glanced past the table where Avery was sitting, nosy to see who came in.
This was Starbucks, so it wasn’t like the place was dead. People were in and out of the doors every thirty seconds.
The person—the woman—who walked through took my breath away.
It wasn’t her clothing choice, although the not-so-skin-tight jeans looked good on her. It was surprisingly refreshing to see a woman wearing something that wasn’t yoga pants or skinny jeans.
And she wasn’t showing off all that much skin in the long-sleeve tee with sleeves pushed up to her elbows. The cotton did hug her chest though.
No, it wasn’t any of those things.
Maybe it was the colorful ink on her right arm. Or maybe the studs up and down both of her ears, or even the black Monroe piercing she had.
Or her hair.
It was thick and brown and curled around her shoulders and down her back.
She was fucking gorgeous and for the first time since signing my contract in South Carolina, I wished I were staying a little bit closer to home.
“Grande java chip and tall black for Porter!”
I begrudgingly turned my attention away from the woman who stole my attention and grabbed my Frappuccino and Ace’s coffee.
“Thanks,” I said, lifting the cups in a thank you gesture to the barista. I turned back to head toward the table, curious where the brunette beauty went but knowing it was a lost cause anyway.
I was leaving so who the fuck cared if I found a local girl gorgeous? Besides, this was my last hour with my sister before I was supposed to be headed to the airport.
Giving up on finding the girl, I went straight to mine and my sister’s table and handed her the cup of death. “There’s your nasty java.”
“Hey, at least you didn’t wuss out and get the strawberries and cream today,” Avery said around a grin, lifting the white cup to her lips.
I didn’t bother scoffing at that.
Yes, I sometimes went for the sweeter frozen drinks.
There was nothing wrong with that.
“Is that at least a coffee-based Frappuccino?” she asked, her brows up as she lowered her cup to the table now.
“Yes.” I scoffed that time.
I pulled a chair out and plopped down across from her.
“Excited for your change?” I asked. Avery had gone away for school the last two years, but this year had chosen to stay closer to home.
She nodded, her light green eyes lighting up. “I am.” She let go of her cup and swept her blonde hair over her shoulder in an action that she probably practiced growing up, mirroring everything our oldest sister, Mykaela, did.
“And you’re sure the agent field is what you want to do?” I asked, casually taking a sip from my green straw.
Let’s be honest, I was curious because I was being a bit selfish. If Avery got into sports management, she was going to take me on as a client and I didn’t think there was anyone better to have your back than family.
She nodded again. “Absolutely. If I can’t play hockey professionally, I still want an active part in the sport.”
“But Myke—”
Ace lifted a blonde brow. “Would you want to play under Myke?”
Women’s NHL was slowly becoming a thing, at least on the East Coast. Myke was fighting to start a division in the Midwest and I absolutely believed she could do it, but, “Nope. No, I would not.” I grinned wide.
Nothing against Myke, nothing at all, but she was definitely a mother hen. She was mini-mom growing up which, thankfully, I didn’t remember too much of as she was nearly twelve years older than me.
“Besides, my knees are getting old.”
I laughed. “If your knees are getting old, I should probably start looking into knee replacements.” Avery was only a little over a year older than me.
Ace started to say something when her smile widened. “Oh! Porter, I wanted you to meet my new friend. I met her earlier and she’ll be staying in the guest house while she gets back on her feet.” Avery stood and walked around the table. I followed her with my eyes, turning in my chair to meet whoever Avery liked enough to get our parents to agree to let use the guest house.
“Porter, meet Asher.”
I stood and was ready to extend my hand, being the polite, baby brother my sister expected me to be. But when I turned, ready to do just that, the words were stuck in my throat.
It was her.