“Doodle! Stop being a pest!” The woman next door snaps her fingers and calls out, “Hi, neighbor!”

“Morning.” I call back.

Vi whispers, “Doodle? She named her dog after a penis?”

I shake my head and motion for us to go inside. This lady can be chatty for someone I’ve never seen, and for some reason her voice is familiar. We sneak back inside and finish planning the next phase of Project Sunshine. In two days I fly to Toronto to see Michael. We have a promo video to make—it’s been scheduled so it’s before his chemo treatment. Then I’m hanging around for that to keep him company.

Vi leaves before lunch, and I head to the gym. I staunchly avoid the coed section and the smattering of bunnies hanging around looking to chat. I also note that Randy avoids the bunnies, which is atypical for him. After two hours of hardcore training, I hit the showers.

Waters is already in there with his back to me. This is the first time I’ve seen him since he broke my nose. Here’s hoping he’s going to be civil about it. I leave a shower between us and turn on the spray, adjusting it until it’s hot enough to relax my tight muscles.

“Waters.”

“Butterson.” He glances my way briefly and motions to my face. “Looks like you’re healing up good.”

“Yup.” Most of the bruising has faded to that ugly yellow-green, and I’m done with the bandage. The stitches came out a couple of days ago.

“That’s good.”

“Yup.” I love awkward, naked conversations.

“Violet stopped by your place this morning.”

“Yup. We had a breakfast meeting. Business stuff.”

“She’s been at your place a lot.”

“We’re working on a project.”

“Yeah, I know.” He rubs a bar of soap over his almost hair-free chest. “How’s that going, anyway?”

“It’s good. I think it will be successful.” Now would be a good time to get him involved. Except he beats me to it.

“You know, if you need extra players, I’d be happy to join.”

“Sure. Yeah.” I cut the water. “That’d be cool. There’s a couple spaces left. Vi’ll fill you in on the details.”

“Great. Good. I think what you’re doing is commendable.”

“Thanks.”

There’s an awkward pause and then he asks, “Vi seem all right to you?”

“She’s been fine with me. Why? Is something going on?”

“Skye and my mom want to plan an engagement party. I’m not sure Vi’s too thrilled about it.”

“She mentioned that.”

That gets his attention. He stops washing his hair to focus on me. “She say something?”

“You know how she is about being the center of attention. You can always tell how stressed Vi is by how much ice cream she eats.”

“Two nights ago she ate a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s and had to sleep on the bathroom floor.” He’s not laughing about it the way I usually do.

I consider the conversation Vi and I had about ice cream being punishment. I can’t imagine why she would feel the need to punish herself over being stressed about their engagement party. “Sometimes I replace the ice cream with frozen yogurt. The aftermath isn’t as bad. If you can get her to eat sorbet instead, you’ll avoid the whole issue.” This is a weird-ass conversation to be having in the shower.

“Thanks for the tip. Did she say anything else to you?”

He’s legit worried about her. I don’t mind putting him on the edge. “What Vi and I talk about is in confidence. I’ve already said more than I should.” I grab my towel.

Waters is quick about rinsing off as I collect my shampoo and soap. “Come on, Butterson.”

“Just talk to her. I’m sure she’ll tell you what’s what.” Both Waters and I know that’s not true. Vi can sit on a problem for weeks before she finally says something about it. It’s her personality. She’s a marinater.

“I know you two are close. If you know something important, it’d be great if you told me, Miller.”

I don’t think Waters has ever used anything apart from my last name to address me. I wrap the towel around my waist and face him. This is the opportunity I’ve been looking for. It’s perfect. He’s stressed over Violet’s stress. I’m happy about that. It means he cares.

“Vi left my place today with hives because I asked her about the wedding. They popped up out of nowhere. She’s stressed. If I were you, I’d take good care of her right now. Make sure she’s okay with what’s going on. You don’t want to end up swimming in shits creek with me. I remember what you were like the last time she dumped your ass. It wasn’t pretty.”

I expect some assholey reply, because that’s usually what I get, but I’m met with silence. I turn to walk away.

“Miller.”

“What?”

“Do you think she’s okay? I mean after this shit—” He motions between us. “Should I . . .”

“Be worried?” I finish for him. “Yeah, man. She may not be my blood, but she’s my family, and me and Vi, we’re tight. Right now you’re fucking things up.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

PUCK WATERS AND HIS TIMING

Late the next night I get a phone call from a number I don’t recognize. I’m apprehensive about answering. If it’s a bunny, I don’t want to deal—I’ve had more calls than usual since I got home, or maybe I’m noticing them more now that Sunny and I aren’t talking every day. It’s late for a business call. Still, I don’t want to miss something important. I’ve been fielding a lot of calls for Project Sunshine this week.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Miller?”

The female voice is familiar, and she doesn’t call me Buck, so it can’t be a bunny. “Yup. Who’s this?”

“It’s Lily.”

“Oh. Hey.” I have a million thoughts, most of them of the WTF variety. “Is Sunny okay? Did something happen?”

“She’s okay. Well, mostly.”

“What do you mean mostly?” I’m already throwing off the covers.

“Nothing bad has happened, not apart from you breaking up with her.”

That sounds like a dig. I lay back against the pillows, the kick in my chest settling. “If she’s okay, what’s going on?”

I get silence for so long I think she’s hung up. Finally she clears her throat. “I wanted to apologize.”

Lily doesn’t seem like the type to do the apology thing. Not without some difficulty, anyway. Maybe she’s different with people she likes more.

“For what?” I ask.

“I was wrong about you. I feel bad about the way I’ve treated you. I just—I didn’t want Sunny to get hurt, and I made some assumptions I shouldn’t have.”

“Oh. Well, thanks, I guess . . . is that the only reason you called?

“Yes. No.” She clears her throat. “So . . . uh . . . I don’t know if you know this, but my cousin was at Camp Beaver Woods when you were there.”

“Randy mentioned something about that.”

She makes a weird sound. “Yeah. I guess he would tell you, eh? Uh . . . anyway, my cousin, Brett, couldn’t say enough nice things about you. He and Michael have stayed in touch through Facebook and stuff. What you’re doing for him is great.”

I’m still processing the apology, so this ups the shock level by a million. Publicity for the game went into full swing this morning. Tomorrow we’re filming a promo video. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Yes, it is. You’re a really good person. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a fair shot.” Her voice drops and she mutters, “She’s gonna kill me for doing this. Sunny’s a mess over you. Like, really a mess. I’ve never seen her so, so . . . sad.” She speeds up as she talks. “And I know some of it is my fault. I kept telling her you weren’t any good for her.”

“Maybe you’re right.” It’s something I’ve been thinking about and the reason I still haven’t called Sunny back.

“I’m not right. I judged you before I knew you. If you still want to be with her, you should give her another chance.”

“Yeah. I don’t know about that.”

“You haven’t even called her back. She’s in limbo right now.”

“Like she left me in limbo while you guys were away on your camping trip?”