Page 67 of Pucking Your Best Friend

“Lucy lied.”

Jack pressed his lips together and shook his head. “You know I played in New York for almost ten years, and there was neveranything remotely like this kind of drama among the players. But, two months with you…”

“…and you’re having the time of your life?”

“No!”

“Hm.” Matt frowned and looked at Jack. “But, were you good friends with someone on the team?”

He scratched his head. “Um…”

“Exactly. That’s why we’re better than the rest. Because the coach tells us every day that we’re a family and, eventually, we believe it ourselves. Would you have won as spectacularly with the Predators as we did tonight?”

“Yeah! Because I would have been on their team,” Jack said, waving his hand. “Winning is what I do.”

Matt snorted. “Yep, you and Dax are brothers.”

Jack nodded firmly. “Thanks.”

“Not a compliment.”

He lifted one corner of his mouth. “Oh, yes it is.”

Great. Another cheerleader for Dax. Matt didn’t say anything, glad they had finally reached Dax’s door. He rang the bell.

Several voices rang out. One was Lucy’s, who said, annoyed, “Oh my God, Dax, you’re almost thirty years old! The two of you will apologize and that’ll be it!”

Matt furrowed his brow. He had no reason at all to apologize!

When the door swung open, he would have liked to greet the others with those exact words…but Maddie answered the door.

His heart faltered.

It was silly. He saw Maddie every day. Then again, he hadn’t had hot, spectacular sex with her every previous day. Apparently, that made his insides do strange flips.

She was wearing jeans and a hoodie with the Hawks logo on it. Instinctively, he wanted to turn her around by the shoulders to see what name and number were on her back.

He was such a Neanderthal.

“Hey,” she said breathlessly, smiling at one and then the other. “Welcome to hell. It’s so much fun to listen to Dax and Lucy argue.”

Matt exchanged an uncertain glance with Jack, but each came to the same unvoiced conclusion: It was too late to turn back. Besides, Lucy had already noticed them.

“There you are. How nice,” she said, dragging them both into the apartment by their sleeves. “Dax is still busy complaining and cooking. But it won’t be long now. For a professional athlete, it’s alarming how quickly he runs out of steam.”

“Dax cooks? All that effort. Just for us. He’s such a gem,” Matt replied dryly.

“Not for you. For Maddie and Lucy,” Dax replied aggressively. “Because Jack burns water and your specialty is sandwiches and Babybel.”

Maddie, the traitor, laughed loudly. “He’s right. And, seriously, Jack, you cook even worse than Matt? Is that some hockey player thing?”

“Nah,” Matt said. “Fox can serve you a three-course meal and Leon mixes the best drinks. It’s a personal thing.”

“I’m not a bad cook, I just don’t cook,” Jack stated succinctly. “Dax used to cook for us and then…I got rich.” He shrugged as if that explained everything, which it did.

“With us, Maddie has always been the woman in the kitchen,” Lucy said, patting her sister on the shoulder.

Yes, just like Maddie was the right girl for everything. She took care of things. That had become crystal clear to Matt over the last few weeks. She made sure her father was okay, that Rachel got in touch more often, and that Lucy didn’t forget her family responsibilities. She was the glue that held the James family together. Just about. And that put an incredible amount of pressure on her. Matt wondered if her sisters realized that.

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