Page 73 of Pucking Grey

Ryan sighs, running his hand through his hair while Crew stares into space. Ryan hasn’t said a single word, and it’s terrifying me.

“What?” I ask because I’m starting to feel frantic and jittery inside my bones.

Ryan says, “Do you know that Matt and Grey are stepbrothers?”

My heart stops. Brain fog sets in, and I think I could faint. There are stars in my vision as I use the couch arm to hold myself up. “What!” I gasp. I can’t even comprehend that. Stepbrothers? How is that even possible?

Crew adds, “Ex stepbrothers.”

“But,” I inhale, exhale. “Neither of them mentioned it.”

I sit down on the couch and try to soak that in. But it’s not sinking in. How could they?

Ryan shakes his head. “Like you said, you got yourself in a mess. It’s more than in your head. These are not two guys who hate each other and are teammates, they used to live in the same house together as kids. You’re in the middle of whatever the fuck is going on with them. And who knows what it is this time? They’ve done shit like this since the beginning.”

“Oh my god. This is why Grey refused me,” I glance at Sydney. She’s utterly invested now with wide eyes and a blank stare. “He didn’t want this at all. Oh my god, I’m so stupid. This is why he’s rejecting me about everything! Because he hates Matt because they’re stepbrothers! Okay, I need an explanation right now because I went from frantic to angry in two seconds. Crew, you knew that they were stepbrothers?”

He nods, the blood draining from his face.

I snap, “You couldn’t bother to mention that? God, I am such an idiot! Please, you two explain to me what I’ve gotten myself into.”

Ryan blows out hot air. “The first time they threw punches in the locker room was over Matt taking Grey’s t-shirt. That was when I was a sophomore, and they were freshmen.”

My mouth must open because Ryan looks down at it.

Crew adds, “I wish he was kidding, Mads. I think their parents were together back then, so it was worse. T-shirts, socks, hockey, girls – anything and everything you can possibly think of they would fight over, they fought over.”

Ryan says, “One time Grey lost it during a game. He didn’t fight on the ice, so I’ll give him that, but back in the locker room, we had to keep the coaches out or they would’ve been suspended from the team.”

I try to wrap my mind around this. “But why?”

Ryan and Crew shrug at each other. Ryan says, “That night I think Grey said something about Crew’s mom, but honestly, they never got along. I think Matt said that’s why their parents got divorced. Those two put the team through a lot of shit over the years.”

Crew says, “They haven’t fought for a while until that party.”

“Party?” Ryan questions.

Crew nods. “Fighting over your sister.”

Ryan glances at me. “Well, that’s a damn good reason to throw punches. Maybe they’re growing up.”

I smile as Ryan points at his eyebrows. “I don’t mean to change the subject, but what’s with the eyebrows?”

I cover them. “New brow lady.”

He laughs. “Okay. I thought you were going for thealways madlook.”

“Yeah,always Mads. That’s me. It’s a good look, right?” I stand with my hands on my hips, meeting Sydney’s gaze. “I don’t know what to do.” Now I look at Ryan and Crew. “But please keep this between us, okay? And Crew, I’m serious. You need to take this to your grave.”

Crew puts his hands up. “I will take it to my grave.”

“Good,” I say, inhaling. “When Grey gets here, I need to talk to him. I’ll start there, but first, I need to clear my head. I need to go to my hair appointment.”

And I drive straight to my hair appointment. I need to shut off my brain if I’m going to survive tonight.

They’re ex stepbrothers!? How did I not know this?

Chapter 21

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