Chapter 27
Lance
Lance preferred to travel light, but today his lethargic body luggedfivesuitcases into his brick building: two were Paige's, two were Irie's.
He entered the building with a sigh. He'd been so excited to see Paige's reaction when she first stepped foot into her new condo. Compared to her old place? She'd feel like royalty moving into a palace.
The lobby sparkled, like it always did. But surveying the grand entrance now, with its glinting marble floors and impressive modern architecture, well, it feltdull,disappointing, empty.
The doorman jumped into action to take the suitcases from him.“Good evening, Mr. Couture! Let me take those—”
Lance snarled and waved him off. “I got it.”
He couldn't let those bags out of his sight; they were the last things of Paige and Irie he felt like he still had. He might have let them down, but he still felt a tremendous responsibility to those girls. He'd been calling and texting Paige since his plane touched down, offering to overnight their belongings as soon as possible, but she wouldn't give him any sort of reply. His calls went straight to voicemail.
Carrying those bags became not just his responsibility, but his punishment. Instead of the elevator, he took the stairs to the top floor. His muscular quads burned and his back ached as he climbed the eleven flights. For all he cared, his bones deserved to be crushed under the weight of the disappointment he'd caused.
Sweaty now, with a strong pulse throbbing in his veins and a heat blistering under his suit, Lance arrived at the top floor. He paused and turned his ear to the door—he could've sworn he heard someone talking inside. Irrational hopes and crazy wishes rocketed from the ground floor of his mind and into the stratosphere:
Are Paige and Irie here? Did they beat me home?
But one short second later, sanity returned, and the desperate smile faded from his mouth. It was impossible that Paige and Irie could be in there. Even if Paige had a change of heart, there was no way she could've beat him home.
He was hearing things.
Lance stuck his key in the door and pushed his way in.
A wall of booming voices greeted him like a burst of hot wind on a summer day.
“SURPRISE!”
***
Lance blinked blankly and surveyed his condo. Streamers, in Brawler black and yellow, hung from the ceilings and decorated every walkway and window.The hell is this?
Lance turned his eyes at the people standing in his condo: they were his Brawlers teammates and their significant others. Radar, Shea, Ilya, Brooksy, Stoner, everyone else on the team—they wereallhere, and everyone was dressed up and had their girlfriends and wives by their side.
Lance tilted his head at the gallery. His people looked almost alien, with their pointy party hats and ridiculously enormous smiles that just didn'tbelongon a lousy day like today. The annoying, locust-like hum of a dozen kazoos didn't help Lance's frame of mind.
Someone threw him a can of beer. Lance caught it and passed it to someone else.
“What—what's everyone doing here?” Lance finally asked once the clapping, hooting and kazooing died down. Had word about Paige and Irie spread? Had the team thrown together a last-minute surprise welcome home party for his new family? He'd have to telleveryonethat he already screwed it all up. A hot burst of embarrassment colored his cheeks.
But his sister, Ella, emerged from Radar's side and stepped forward. “We're here for yourbirthday,duh! Do you love it? I planned everything! Radar still had his old key; that's how we all got in. I hope you love it, anyway … you look sort of confused.”
He grunted. “Oh. Right. My birthday. Thanks.”
“Jeez, Lance, you didn't forget about your own birthday, did you?”
“No …”
“Let me give you a hug.” Ella hugged him. Her pregnant belly—huge at nine months—pressed against his stomach. It felt like a cruel reminder of what he'd just lost. Her baby was so close, and yet his daughter so far.
But Ella reeled back from her hug and quickly began wiping her palms against her hips. “Ugh, gross, why are you so sweaty,Lance? You're freakin'dampunder that suit.”
“I took the stairs.”
Radar, his old roommate, laughed. “The stairs?Why?”
