The Keeper (Playing To Win Book 1)
The Keeper: Chapter 5

As Charles pulls up to our building, Brynlee squeezes my hand. “You sure you want to go right over to your mom’s? Maybe you should take some time to think first.”

We landed at the private airport outside of Kroydon Hills about an hour ago, and the knot that had been slowly growing in my stomach during our flight doubled in size. Everly basically live streamed my wedding, and it’s been picked up by a handful of news outlets already, including the Philly Press and ESPN.

My mom is going to kill me.

I bite down on the inside of my cheek until I taste the metallic tang of blood. “No. But I’m not sure I have a choice. If I don’t go, Brandon and she will just show up here.”

“True. Then she might bring reinforcements,” Everly adds as she and the girls climb out of the SUV.

“Yup. Like my mom,” Bryn snickers. “Suck it up, buttercup. Better to get it over with. and hopefully avoid the rest of the family.” She follows the others out of the SUV, and I drop my head against the seat.

“Traitor,” I murmur as they greet our doorman.

We used to share a house closer to the main campus of Kroydon University, but once my family’s company purchased this small, seven-unit building, I was conveniently offered the top floor. They combined two units and converted them into a five-bedroom condo. I guess you could say my family has control issues, and this was a way to maintain control.

Maddox and Callen sharing one of the condos one floor below us was another way. There are four other apartments on the two floors beneath them, and a coffee shop and gym on the first floor. It’s a great place to live, but I’m not naive enough to think this place doesn’t come with strings.

My family has always been overprotective.

That kicked into overdrive after everything with Mom’s stalker.

Like I said, control issues.

Charles looks back at me through the rearview. “You ready to go, Madeline?”

“That seems to be the million-dollar question, doesn’t it?” Or at least one of many.

“I think your mother will have a few other questions.” He pulls away, and my stomach drops.

I fight the urge to laugh because I’m afraid once I start, I won’t be able to stop. “Any chance you can take the long way home?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Unfortunately for me, we hit every greenlight on our way to Mom and Brandon’s. Our town isn’t that big, so there’s only three lights to go through, but still. Would it have been too much to ask the universe for just one of these suckers to be red?

As we pull into the private lakeside estates where half my family lives, I smile at all the holiday decorations lighting up the gorgeous houses. It’s barely December, and already, there’s a hint of snow on the ground and ice on the lake. It soothes my soul. This is my favorite time of year. My mother’s house is covered in white twinkly lights and green wreaths with red-velvet bows hanging from the windows. Small white candles light each one, giving off a warmth I know will change the second I step inside.

As soon as I wrap my hand around the front doorknob, my little sister, Raven, cracks it open with a finger over her mouth. “Shh. Mommy is in the kitchen with Aunt Lenny and Aunt Scarlet, and they’re talking about you.”

My bulldog, Myrtle, runs down the stairs and over to us, excited to see me. Miss overdramatic acts like I’ve been gone for two months instead of two days.

I squat down and squish them both to me. “How do they sound?” I ask quietly.

Her big brown eyes look up at me. “They sound loud,” she whispers, and I almost laugh. Almost.

“Madeline . . .” My oldest sister, Scarlet, also known as Brynlee’s mom, walks out into the hall and stops a few feet away. Her crimson lips press tightly together, and I prepare myself for the hit she’s about to throw my way. “Is your husband with you?”

And there it is.

“Hey, Raven, how about you go find Dad, okay?” I run my hand over her silky black hair and nudge her down the hall. “And take Myrtle with you, please.” When she turns toward the stairs, I stand back up. “Just me tonight, Scar.”

She gently shakes her head and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Well, at least you did one thing right.”

She walks me into the kitchen like it’s my walk down the green mile, and my mom and Lenny both stand waiting for me at the end. The only one missing is—

My brother’s wife, Juliette, comes out of the basement with two bottles of wine in her hands. “Found them.” She looks from Mom to me and hands me the bottles. “How about you pour us some wine, and then you can fill us in on how exactly you became my pseudo-daughter-in-law.”

I take both bottles from her and glance at my mother, who hasn’t said a word to me. “Have you talked to Easton?” My voice shakes, betraying my nerves.

Easton and Kenzie moved in with Juliette and my brother Becket when their mom died years ago. E and Juliette have always had a special relationship, which according to Kenzie, has only gotten stronger over the years.

“I’ve talked to his voice mail, if that counts. But he hasn’t called me back. So I thought it would be better to come straight to the source. Right now, that’s you, kiddo. And I figured someone needed to be here to stop your mother and Scarlet from murdering you.” Juliette hands me the bottle opener and looks at my mom.

“I thought that was my job,” Lenny offers, but I ignore her and face the music, also known as my mother.

“Hi, Mom.”

The mask of indifference she’s wearing slips and her exasperated glare zeroes in on me. “What were you thinking?” Her tone is sharp enough to cut glass.

This is going to be so much worse than I thought.

My entire life, I’ve been the good girl.

The one who always did the right thing and always did what I was told.

I spent a lifetime building a level of trust with Brandon and her.

And in one night, I destroyed that.

“Madeline . . . I . . . I just don’t.” She rips one of the bottles out of my hands and turns her back on me as she opens it herself. Once she fills her glass and swallows it in three gulps, she turns back slowly. “I’m trying to stay calm, but I’m not sure I can,” she tells me, slightly more in control than she was a moment ago. “I don’t understand what you were thinking. Are you acting out? Are you on drugs? Is this because you gave up skating and now you’re floundering, trying to figure out what you want to do with your life?”

Ouch. That hurts.

“I need you to explain this to me because I’m having a really hard time trying to understand what in the ever-loving hell you were thinking.” She gasps and covers her mouth. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“No, I’m definitely not pregnant,” I answer, mortified.

“Ashlyn,” Lenny whispers, and Mom’s fiery eyes fly to hers.

Len takes the other bottle from my hands as I stand there, frozen in place, certain my mother has never been this disappointed in me before. “Sit down, Lindy.” She pulls out one of the counter stools and pushes me into it, then pours me a glass of wine.

“That’s it, Len. Reward her with more alcohol. Because I’m sure she didn’t have enough last night when she married Easton in a dirty chapel in Las Vegas,” Scarlet taunts and yanks the bottle out of Lenny’s hands, then sets her sights on me. “If you’d at least warned me, I could have gotten in front of this with the press. Haven’t we taught you anything?”

“The press?” I squeak. Then I think about the Philly Press and ESPN articles I saw earlier. Son of a bitch. If there’s already two, there’s bound to be more.

“Yes, Madeline,” Mom snaps like one of those dragons from Game of Thrones before it opens its mouth and decimates an entire city with one fiery breath. “The press. You are one of the wealthiest heiresses in the entire country. An Olympic gold medalist. You have how many million social-media followers? Did you think the press wouldn’t take notice when you married the boy who saved your life? The one who happens to be one of the top goalies in the entire hockey league and whose social-media presence rivals yours?”

Lenny sips her wine. “Maybe if Everly hadn’t posted a picture.”

“Maybe if that stupid Kroydon Kronicles column wasn’t obsessed with the whole group of you . . .” Juliette adds.

“Or maybe if you had behaved like an adult instead of a reckless, irresponsible child.” My mother levels me with a hard stare.

“You know what?” I slowly stand, attempting to hide my rapidly shredding confidence. I should tell them to back off. That I’m twenty-three and have never given them a reason not to trust me or my judgment. Remind them that it’s Easton, and he’d never do anything to hurt me. But I can’t.

Although, I think I needed that last reminder myself.

For a hot second, I think about telling them all to shut up.

But that’s not going to fix anything.

My family doesn’t know how to shut up.

I’m not even sure it would make me feel better.

Instead, I decide to tuck my tail between my legs and act like their version of the adult they want me to be. “I’m sorry I let you down. I’ll talk to Easton, and we’ll get this taken care of.”

I move to leave the kitchen but stop without turning around when my mom calls out my name. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To kiss Brandon and Raven goodbye and grab my dog. I’m exhausted.”

“You’re just going to leave?” Mom’s tone wavers for the first time tonight, and I almost feel bad for what I’ve put her through. Almost. But I don’t. Because this is my life. And not a single person in this room bothered to ask me if I wanted to marry Easton Hayes.

No one asked me if I loved him, or if he loved me.

They’ve all just assumed I was a drunken idiot.

Which, okay, so maybe I was.

But for my entire life, I’ve been the good girl. The smart girl. The girl who trained harder, longer, and more often than anyone else. I’ve been the perfect daughter. Perfect partner. And the perfect Kingston. What I’ve never been is irresponsible.

I deserved more from them than this tonight. But I’m not going to waste my breath trying to argue that point because everyone in this room still sees a baby instead of a grown woman. And married or not, that’s not going to change.

I walk out of the kitchen and find Brandon leaning against the wall at the end of the hall, silently listening. His strong arms are crossed over his chest, but when he sees me, he immediately opens them and pulls me in for a hug. “Hey, shortcake. How are you feeling?”

“Like I just got run over by a stampede of wild horses.” I bury my face against him and somehow manage not to cry. “I’ve never seen her so mad before.”

“Your mom’s just worried about you. This isn’t like you, Lindy. Hell, it’s not like Easton either. What’s going on?”

I close my eyes and soak in my stepfather’s strength. “I’m not actually sure yet.”

Brandon kisses the top of my head, then rests his chin there.

My lip trembles while I fight back the tears.

“Guess you better figure that out then, shouldn’t you?”

I nod. “Yeah. I guess I should.”

The apartment is dark and quiet when Myrtle and I get home later that night. My lazy little bulldog moves surprisingly fast when she runs into our living room, sticks her fat face in her toy basket, pulls out her favorite stuffed dinosaur dressed in a Kings jersey, then settles on her fluffy bed in front of the fireplace, and starts snoring within seconds. She was never a super-active dog, but she’s definitely slowed down a bit this year. She and I have been together since I was fifteen, and I may actually love her more than a few members of my family.

Okay, well, maybe just Maddox.

I grab a bottle of water out of the kitchen and make sure the place is locked up before heading to my room. Judging by the lights out, I guess everyone crashed early, which sounds pretty good to me. “Lindy . . .” I stop at Kenzie’s door. It’s cracked open with a soft glow coming through.

“Hey.”

She closes her laptop and makes room for me next to her. “How were the moms?”

“Even Juliette was there.” I pull back her blanket and crawl into bed next to her. “They’re all so mad at me, Kenz.”

“Kinda like you were with Easton earlier?”

“Touché.” I link my pinky with hers and lay my head on her pillow. “I’m sorry. I know I put you in a funky spot. I just wish I could remember last night. He remembered everything but refused to tell me any of it. Then told me he wouldn’t give me an annulment. I was just so mad. I still am. But I’m not sure if I’m mad at him or at myself.”

She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t need to. The look on her face is enough.

“I know I didn’t handle it well. But Kenz, it’s Easton. Easton,” I plead and hope she understands what I’m saying.

It’s easy to close my eyes and go right back to that night.

To the way he held me while that psychotic man held a gun to my head.

The way he kept us both safe.

To all the phone calls all the nights since.

“It’s Easton, Kenz,” I plead again. “There’s no playbook for this. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

She shoves a hand under her face and shocks me when she smiles.

“Why are you smiling?”

She rolls her lips together, then smiles again. “Because, Linds. It’s like you said. It’s Easton. Easton and you. Technically, we’re sisters now.”

“Yeah.” I tug the blanket up higher. “I guess we are.” I cringe because I always wanted this. But never this way.

“Just try to keep an open mind when you talk to him. If I know my brother, there’s more to it. But you need to talk to him to get the answers you want.” She rolls over and clicks off the light on the nightstand. “Go to sleep, Linds.”

“How am I supposed to sleep when I’ve got the distinct impression you know more than you’re telling me?” I toe off my fuzzy socks under the blanket, then pull my hoodie over my head and toss it to the floor. “I really wish one of you Hayes siblings would fill me in.”

“Try calling him tomorrow. Maybe you’ll get your answers.”

Yeah. Maybe I will.

The next day I try to work up the nerve to call Easton and fail miserably.

In my defense, he doesn’t call me either.

So maybe I decide to take the coward’s way out.

LINDY

We need to talk.

EASTON

Do you remember marrying me yet?

LINDY

No. That’s what we need to talk about.

We shouldn’t have gotten married.

EASTON

I disagree.

LINDY

Easton . . . How can you say that? I don’t even remember marrying you.

EASTON

That’s exactly why I can say that. I know what happened Saturday night, princess. And it wasn’t a mistake. If you can tell me you remember it too and still want an annulment, I’ll give you an annulment.

LINDY

Why are you being difficult?

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Because you’re worth it.

Gotta go, wife. I’ve got a game to play.

Because you’re worth it.

Damn him.

LINDY

What do you do when you can’t shake a funk?

EVERLY

I remember that I have a great ass and things could be worse.

BRYNLEE

This is why we’re friends.

GRACIE

You do have a great ass.

EVERLY

You’re just saying that because we have the same ass.

KENZIE

You just made me snort Coke out of my nose.

LINDY

WHAT!

KENZIE

The soda. Come on. It’s not like Evie said it.

EVERLY

I’ve never snorted anything up my nose, thank you very much.

LINDY

I’m laughing so hard I can’t breathe.

EVERLY

Good. Funk gone. Now on with your day.

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