Page 64 of Pucked Together

"Bullshit. How'd you meet?"

She drops her fan and runs a hand over her face.

"I'm going to find out,” I say. “Either from you. Or from Keelan....something tells me Ryker knows."

She lets out a breath. "If I tell you, you have to promise me you will never bring it up to anyone ever again. Do you understand?"

The boss is back. And I get the feeling that if I don't agree, I might actually lose my shot at a full-time gig here.

I pinch my thumb and forefinger together, sliding them across my lips and throwing away an invisible key.

"I mean it, Landry."

"So do I," I say, pulling my feet up and tucking them under me as we both look around to make sure nobody is close enough to hear our hushed whispers.

"We met in college."

My brother has ten years on me. So that means she and him are around the same age.

"O-kay," I press her.

"I was studying marketing, and he was dating my best friend at the time."

I raise an eyebrow in interest.

"It wasn't anything like that," she assures me.

"Go on," I urge her.

"He was dating my best friend. She was on the dance team, and he was the team captain. Your typical college power couple. Your brother was as cocky as they come."

"Hmm, sounds about right."

"Well, two showmen in a relationship isn't always the healthiest. My best friend dumped him and moved on to someone who could give her the spotlight. Keelan then set his sights on her nerdy best friend.”

“Omg...that’s you! You’re the nerdy best friend.”

Rina chuckles. “Yes, Izzy. I was absolutely drab in college.”

“There’s no way,” I retort. “You’re a fashion icon.”

“Not back then, I wasn't." She proceeds to pull out her phone and scroll back. Way back. And the picture of the hazel-eyed girl with giant glasses, hair in a messy bun, and sweats looks nothing like the powerful woman holding the phone.

"Woah," I breathe out.

"Anyways, it was like a game for him. To see if he could win me over. But I wasn't just some game he could win. Not easily, anyway. Until—"

"Do either of you have a power bank? My phone's almost dead," Keelan's voice disrupts us from the center aisle.

We both look up at him, horrified.

"Uh, no...I don't," says Rina, absolutely flustered.

"Here," I say, reaching into my bag.

"Sir, you're going to have to take your seat. We're getting ready for takeoff," one of the flight attendants says from behind him.

"Yep, just one sec, sweetie," he says with a wink, and the woman blushes before turning and scolding some of the other guys for not having their seat belts on.