Page 44 of The Pucking Arrangement

On the way Erin flushed when I caught her staring. The way she sucked in a breath when my hand brushed her waist, like she hadn’t expected the touch but didn’t entirely hate it. The way she smelled—something warm and sweet, like vanilla and fresh linen, something that lingers.

Get her out of your head.

Easier said than done.

“Earth to Sokolov!”

Finn’s voice jolts me back just as a roll of tape slips from my fingers.

“You planning to tape that stick or marry it?”

I glance down. The tape is a mangled disaster, barely clinging to the blade.

Shit.

“That’s what I thought.” Finn smirks, dropping onto the bench beside me, already fully geared up. “Thinking about our captain’s little sister? I heard she’s helping out with Ris.”

My jaw tightens. “Careful.”

He grins. “Relax. I’m just saying, it’s adorable. You get all quiet and broody the second her name comes up. Like a big scary bear thinking about his tiny, forbidden…snack.”

“Watch yourself, man.”

“Right, right,” Adam chimes in from across the room. “That bad, huh?”

I scowl. “I hate all of you assholes.”

“No, you don’t,” Finn says cheerfully. “You hate that we see you. The big, bad enforcer getting soft over our captain’s sister.”

My muscles tense, because—fuck. That’s exactly the problem. She’s soft in ways that make me hard. Sweet in ways that make me ache.

But I can’t touch her.

Liam makes his presence known with a hard glare in my direction. “Leave him alone, O’Reilly. The man’s got enough on his mind with the playoffs and no permanent nanny solution.”

“She’s not—” I start, then catch myself.

Adam raises an eyebrow. “Not what?”

I grit my teeth. “Forget it.”

Finn leans back, smug. “Oh yeah, man. You’re so screwed.”

Liam grunts as he yanks on his jersey. “He’s not screwed. Because it’s not happening.”

The room dips into silence for a second, the weight of Liam’s words hanging between us.

He doesn’t say it with anger. He says it like a fact. Like the way we know the rink will always be cold or that game-day superstitions are law.

It’s not happening.

Because I’m not allowed to have her.

Because she’shissister.

Because I already have a family.

Finn, Adam, and Nate exchange a look, but for once, none of them add anything.

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