Page 14 of Pucking Off-Sides With My Brother's Best Friend

How did I let myself get so pulled into pleasing another person? I know it’s normal to want to make your partner happy, but at the detriment of your own? Ofmyown?

Maybe that’s what Aiden’s getting at.

I’m not sure how I feel about him seeing something in me that I’ve yet to see in myself. Especially given his tendency for harsh words. Still, what does it matter to him? He’s not my brother.

“We, as in Aiden and me.”

I snort at that. “I seriously doubt that.” I’m about to dismiss him and get back to my work when the mood shifts and Jax scoots closer.

“You know I wasn’t trying to overrule your being grown or anything, right?” Jax looks achingly sincere, and it calms a piece of me that’s been annoyed since the bar a few days ago.

“I guess,” I concede, not sure if I’m really willing to let it all go just yet. “It just feels like you’re an extension of Mom sometimes. Like I can’t handle myself and constantly need someone else to handle things for me.”

“I know you can, Rora.” His switch to my nickname, a name we so rarely use after both becoming adults, has me perking up, listening more. He only ever uses it when he’s truly serious.

“When Turner pulled his disappearing act for prom all those years ago, I promised myself the next time he or anyone tried shit with you, I’d fuck them up. Fuck the consequences. You’re my baby sister. But when you went back to him—“

“Jax—“

He holds up a hand. “No, let me say this. I think maybe you have the wrong impression of my motivations, and I just…I don’twant you to feel like you can’t come to me with shit, okay?” I nod and gesture for him to continue. “So, like I said. Turner fucked up once, and I wanted to kick his ass, but you gave him a second chance, so I did too.”

“But you never really liked him?” I ask. I have to know.

“Fuck no,” Jax explodes before looking around. Thankfully, we’re the only ones in the immediate vicinity. “I still hated him, but I was willing to overlook a lot of things as long as you were happy. I’d still like to kick his ass.”

That makes me giggle. It’s been a long time since Jax got physical with anyone off the ice, and I certainly don’t remember him fighting anyone because of me. But it does make me feel good to hear that he’s put his own feelings aside for my happiness.

“Well, if you see him again, you have my blessing to rough him up. Just don’t get caught. I don’t want to have to do any social media cleanup for my own brother.”

Jax’s smile is radiant, and he nods so fast he looks like one of those bobblehead figurines that people used to stick on their dashboards. I wonder how a human head can move that fast without getting dizzy.

“You got it, sis.” He hops up from his chair. “I’m headed out. Promised one of the guys that I’d help plan some birthday thing for next week. See you at home?”

I nod before watching him walk out. At the doorway, he turns and gives me one of his over-exaggerated waves, making me giggle again, and I give him a quick hand wave in response before he’s gone.

Work seems to flow smoother after that, and soon enough, I’m on my way out. I don’t know why, but I feel more settled. Fighting with Jax doesn’t happen often, thankfully, because when it does, it’s the worst. Holding a grudge against Aiden, though, I’ll take that to the grave.

“Oh, excuse me,” I say when I bump into someone in the hallway. A hand shoots out, gripping my upper arm.

“Sorry about that,” a male voice replies. The lilt of it is almost familiar, and it makes a frisson of unease well up within me. I look up and nearly wince. The man is attractive, sure, but with his dark brown hair and ice-blue eyes, he looks an uncanny bit like Turner. Everything in me wants to run the other way, and I tense when his hold doesn’t loosen. “Oh, I think I recognize you. Aren’t you the one always taking pictures of the team?”

“Yes,” I squeak out. Frantically, I keep screaming inside my head to jerk away, but it’s like everything in me has shut down.

He smiles and nods, but none of it puts me at ease. His grip loosens, and something in me loosens when I can shift away. “I’m Mark, one of the physical therapists with the team. What’s your—“

“There you are, kitten—where have you been?”

Something spicy with a hint of sweat twists through the air, enveloping my senses. When I take a deep breath in, I am startled to realize that the darkly sensual, enticing aroma is Aiden. As much as I hate that nickname, I can’t help but feel relief at Aiden’s voice coming from close behind me. I turn and paste what I hope looks like a genuine smile on my face. From the look on Aiden’s, I can tell it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Before I can ask him what he’s up to, a strong arm slides around my waist, pulling me into over six feet of muscle and warmth.

I look up at him, but he’s looking at Mark. Something in his eyes has the hairs on the back of my arms raised. He looks poised and ready to do something at a moment’s notice. He must feel me looking at him because, for a moment, he glances down at me. When our eyes meet, all the air is sucked out of the room, and the highs and lows of the past few months must have caught up to me because I feel myself slowly starting to tremble.

A look of alarm flits over his face before Aiden steers me away from Mark. I want to yell and cry out that I’m not a fainting flower. I can handle this on my own, but the reality is that I don’t want to. It is nice to have someone stick up for me for a change.

“Oh, are you two…” Mark’s voice trails off as he gestures between Aiden and me. I don’t want any rumors to get started, but I also don’t know what to say. This isn’t the first time we’ve found ourselves in this position.

Thankfully, I don’t have to say anything. “We’re leaving,” Aiden replies gruffly. The tone of his voice invites no argument, and I allow myself to get pulled away. It isn’t until we’re alone in anempty office and behind a closed door that I realize Aiden’s arm is still around me. It takes an even longer moment to realize why.

I’m shaking, trembling like a leaf in a windstorm, and barely staying on my own two feet.

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