Fake Shot (Boston Rebels Book 2)

“Today has been perfect, and you are all amazing, beautiful, strong women,” Lauren gushes as she toasts us with her glass of champagne.

She’s standing at the head of the table, which now has plates of food scattered all along it, amid the decorations that everyone helped pull together yesterday afternoon. There’s no way Morgan and I could have done all of this without everyone pitching in, especially with how exhausted I am after what happened Friday night.

As Lauren sways to one side, she puts her free hand down on the kitchen table to steady herself. I haven’t been counting her drinks, but I’m pretty sure she’s past just being tipsy.

I reach for the champagne and top off everyone else’s glasses to finish the bottle, because I don’t want Lauren to have any more and get sick or be hungover. Then Petra stands and comes to the head of the table, wrapping her arm around Lauren’s waist and anchoring her to her hip.

“You are an amazing, beautiful, strong woman,” Petra tells Lauren as she takes the champagne flute from her hand and hands it to Morgan. “Look at everything you’ve accomplished in the last year and a half—moving across the country with your two little girls, creating your dream life here, getting back into sports marketing and kicking so much ass at your new job that you already got a huge promotion, and giving Jameson a chance to prove how much he loved you, even after you’d been hurt and were scared to trust again. And you’ve surrounded yourself with women who bring that same energy—who are bold, smart, compassionate, and willing to take big risks.”

She glances around the table where Lauren’s two other best friends, Jackson and Sierra, sit along with Morgan and Paige, Audrey and me, and AJ, who literally flew in this morning for this shower and is headed right back to North Carolina when we’re done.

Lauren rests her head on Petra’s shoulder. “I couldn’t have done any of that without every single one of you.”

“That’s literally what friends and family are for,” Morgan says.

And as we sit around chatting about Lauren and Jameson’s upcoming wedding, now less than two months away, Lauren looks at me and says, “I think Audrey’s next, but are we planning a bridal shower for you after that?”

All eyes turn toward me. Half the people sitting at this table know that Colt’s and my engagement was fake, but the other half don’t. The natural answer to keep up the charade should be, “Of course!” But I know what she’s really asking me—are Colt and I going to stay engaged?

“I think so?” I say.

“Why is that a question?” Petra asks.

“How much time do you have?” I joke as a laugh escapes me. “Because it’s a really long story.”

“We’re here until tomorrow,” Jackson says, her bright green eyes gleaming conspiratorially as she leans in, and Sierra and Petra nod along.

So I swear them all to secrecy, then I start at the beginning—six years ago in Las Vegas—and tell them everything, even things that no one but Audrey knew until now. I stop the story when Colt left to head back for his game yesterday. And I don’t mention how he called me as soon as he got back to his hotel post-win last night, and talked dirty to me as he watched me make myself come over and over again.

“It was obvious from the minute you entered my office that this wasn’t fake for him,” AJ says. “You took a little more time to warm up to the idea. But after everything that went down this weekend, I’ve never been more sure that it’s real for both of you.”

“The whole fake engagement thing aside,” Petra says, her face lighting up in a way that makes it seem like she’s just had a great idea, “can we just talk about this mentoring program for a minute? Because that is one of the most badass things I’ve ever heard.”

“It was Morgan’s idea, actually,” I say, and Petra looks at her assistant with something akin to pride. “I just ended up being the face of it because I’m the one who’s got the contracting experience.”

“I want you to let me donate to your nonprofit,” AJ says, looking between Audrey and me. “I know I’m not in the field, and I can’t contribute as a mentor, but I’m an enormous fan of women going into spaces that were traditionally dominated by men, and showing that we can kick ass there too.”

Lauren laughs, then says, “Yes, you sure are.”

“And I want to interview you about it,” Petra says, but I shake my head adamantly.

“No. It’s just in its infancy. Your show focuses on women who have done groundbreaking things in their field, like AJ has. All I’ve done is help a few women feel comfortable working in a male-dominated industry.”

Audrey’s scoff is sudden and loud. “All you’ve done? Jules, do you not understand how life changing that’s been for people?”

“I want to see that video you said you guys filmed about Rosie’s experience,” Petra says. “Even if you’re not ready for me to interview you, I can share that video broadly, get more people interested in donating.”

I shake my head. “You all are moving so fast. How about if Audrey, Morgan, and I spend some time finding a director for this nonprofit, and then once things are more in place, we can circle back? I’m afraid that the only thing worse than not growing our program would be growing it too quickly. There are so many things we still need to work through to make sure we can grow this program successfully, and I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. But then, yes. We can talk about sharing that video out more widely, if Rosie is okay with it,” I say to Petra, “and we can talk about potential donations,” I tell AJ.

I carefully steer the conversation back to Lauren, because I feel guilty that Colt’s and my story has dominated the last half hour of her bridal shower. By mid-afternoon, everyone is tired from all the food, drinks, and conversation, so when AJ says she needs to head to the airport, everyone else starts saying goodbye too.

“Walk me out?” AJ says to me as she stands.

“Sure.” After she hugs Lauren goodbye, I follow her to the front door.

“You know, I could get you a ticket if you wanted to come to the game tomorrow night.”

My lips part but the words don’t come, because my brain is busy trying to figure out whether that’s possible. Finally, I say, “I would love to be there. But I’m not sure if I can miss the next two days of work.”

“Think about it and let me know. The offer is open.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know either way.”

“I hope you can come. Because not only am I convinced that he plays better when you’re there, but I think that what you and Colt have is really solid. I’ve known him for years, and I’ve never seen him care about anyone like this before. He’s a different person around you . . . a better version of himself, for sure.”

“Thanks, AJ. That means a lot.” I don’t need outside validation to know that what Colt and I have is real, and worth holding on to. But the fact that it’s so obvious to others, too, makes it even more special.

“I have to go get Graham from Jameson’s,” Audrey says. “I’m sorry. I feel bad leaving you when there’s still some cleanup to be done.”

I glance around the first floor. The food is put away, the dishes are done, and we’ve gotten almost all the decorations taken down. The only thing that remains is taking apart the big wooden backdrop, still laden with flowers, leaves, and the banner—and there’s no rush on that.

“It’s fine. Thank you so much for staying so long. I know it’s exhausting when Drew is traveling and you’re doing the single parent thing.”

Even though Audrey was a single parent for five years before Drew came back in her life, raising Graham was always a team effort, with Jameson and me helping out a lot.

“It’s getting easier as Graham gets older, actually. He’s becoming so independent. I kind of miss him being little,” she says wistfully.

“You thinking about having another?” I know Drew regrets missing out on so much of Graham’s childhood, and he’s told Audrey multiple times that he wants more kids with her.

“I mean . . . I’m not not thinking about it.” She gives me a little wink.

“Are you . . .?”

“No,” she says with a laugh as she grabs her keys off the counter and steps toward me, “I’m not pregnant. But I’m starting to think I don’t want to wait too much longer before we grow our family. I don’t want Graham to be much older than his siblings. He’s already about to turn six.”

“Just think how much older than us Jameson is, and we’re still all close.”

“That was different.”

We’ve talked a lot over the years about how we were still little kids when Jameson left for college, and even though he came back to Boston four years later to play for the Rebels, he was busy living his life. When Mom died, and Dad left, the three of us were all each other had. Our relationships with each other would undoubtedly be different if it weren’t for our shared tragedy.

“I know. And I’m sure you and Drew will know when it’s the right time,” I assure her. “But please, aside from Drew, promise me I’ll be the first person you tell.”

She gives me a kiss on the cheek. “You’re my person, Jules. Of course you’ll be the first one to know.”

It hits me then that, until Colt was in my life, I’d kind of felt like I’d lost Audrey to Drew. I couldn’t be happier that my sister had found the love of her life, but I missed having my person around all the time. But now that I have Colt, I get it. I get how she feels about Drew. I get why there’s someone she goes to now before she comes to me. Because that’s exactly how I feel about Colt.

There are things Colt knows about me—like my panic attacks, and the fact that Dad still comes around sometimes—that even Audrey doesn’t know.

So after Audrey leaves, I pull out my laptop and look at the project management software I use to keep track of all the work Our House is doing. Right now, we only have one project going on, and everything is set up for the next one already. I could put someone else in charge and take two days to be there for Game 4. With Boston up 3-0 in the series, it’s entirely possible that tomorrow night’s game could be the one that clinches the series for them . . . and I don’t want to miss that if I don’t have to.

I pull out my phone and shoot off a message to AJ.

Jules

Can I take you up on the ticket offer?

AJ

Of course.

Jules

Let’s not tell Colt. I’d like it to be a surprise.

AJ

I love surprises!

Jules

That’s shocking, actually. You don’t seem like the type that would want to be caught off guard.

AJ

I love surprises for OTHER people. Most importantly, Colt’s going to love this surprise.

She sends me the details for where to meet her tomorrow night, and I set about booking a flight down there, making sure I get in early enough that if there are any delays, it won’t cause me to miss the ga