Page 63 of Pucking Off-Sides With My Brother's Best Friend

“Thanks.” Her voice is soft, and I want to wrap it around me and never let go.

I don’t know how long we stand there in the foyer, but when Jax speaks up again, I nearly jerk in surprise.

“We need to talk.”

I know he’s right—but fuck if I don’t want to slip out the front door my damn self.

Instead, I sigh before gesturing for Aurora to follow him into the living room. Thankfully, she plops down on the couch between Jax and me.

I don’t know how heated this conversation will get, but with her there, it will at least keep me from trying to strangle him if he says something out of pocket.

The conversation is hard to get going, and we all sit there not looking at one another for a while before Jax takes the plunge.

“So, how long has this been going on?”

I know exactly what ‘this’ he’s talking about, but I’m not sure how truthful to be. I’m thankful when Aurora speaks up until I realize she’s taking things way back.

“This time or the first time?”

Jax turns his head slowly to look at me, and I can see the same fire in them that makes him so good at hockey. Everyone thinks of him as this sweet, cool joker, but the truth is Jax has a rage to rival my own. It might take a lot longer and a lot more effort to make it boil over, but once it does, his rage burns far longer than mine.

“What do you mean the first time?” He glances at Aurora and then me. “This…you two were together before?”

I groan silently before nodding once sharply. “Yeah.”

“Was it—“

“I was over eighteen, Jax,” Aurora cuts in, probably guessing where his questioning is going. “It was at my senior prom, remember? You were gonna take me, but Aiden stepped up. He never even looked at me before then.”

“I looked. But you were just a kid, so I wasn’t really paying much attention outside of making sure you didn’t do anything stupid.” I shrug when she gives me a look. “If I had let you go off and do some stupid shit and Jax found out I didn’t stop you, or at least warn you, he would’ve flipped out.”

Aurora purses her lips. “I mean, you’re not wrong, but it’s still annoying. I didn’t need a damn babysitter.”

I can see Jax looking back and forth between us. “Wow… I trusted you, dude.” He says, shaking his head in disapproval.

“No, man…it wasn’t like that— I just-”

“How long this time? I mean, where you two all shacked up right under my fucking nose this whole time?”

I clear my throat before replying. “We’re not together.”

That isn’t what I planned to say, and I can tell by the way Jax’s eyes narrow that he doesn’t appreciate it.

But I’m not trying to lie. I know that keeping things hidden is what led to this shit to begin with. “Not like that.”

Aurora nods. “It was just casual… you know, just while I figured things out. Plus, I didn’t want to go out and find some random hookup. That’s too risky.”

“Okay, I get that. I guess. But I know you, Aurora. You get attached. And despite what Aiden says, he’s not enough of a dipshit playboy to shit where he eats. So, I ask again, what the fuck is this?”

“It’s whatever she wants it to be,” I say. “I’m available. No harm, no foul.”

“But there is harm. Did you two ever think about what happens if things go south between you?”

Jax isn’t wrong. I have thought about that very thing too many times to count. I know Aurora and I are playing a risky game that could burn everyone in the end if we’re not careful. “We have the team to think of. If we can’t get it together, then that affects everything.”

“I know that,” I say, wanting nothing more than for this conversation to be over. I don’t want to have to think about all this shit.

I stand up, walk over to the window, and look out. I’ve carefully crafted this future as soon as I knew I had a shot. It isn’t like I don’t know that my position here is precarious.

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