Page 276 of Playing the Pucking Game
“Rett, no,” I scream as he surges forward.
Linc gently moves me to the side as he stands to full height, ready for my brother's assault.
“What would you rather I did? Drop her at a hotel? That’s what she wanted. We’d just found her apartment going up in flames, and she wanted me to take her to a hotel and leave her alone. It was New Year’s Eve, for fuck’s sake. I’d never do that. I have no doubt you’d have had something to say about it if I did.”
A deep growl rumbles in Rett’s throat as he snarls at Linc.
I’ve seen the two of them go at it more times than I can count over the years. But it never had anything to do with me. They were always fighting over some other girl or some boy bullshit I didn’t understand.
I refuse to let them hurt each other because of me.
I love them both too much for that.
“Please,” I cry, attempting to get between them again.
Linc’s arm darts out, stopping me before he wraps his fingers around my wrist and drags me behind him.
“Stop it,” I complain, attempting to free my arm, but it’s pointless.
“What were the last words you said to me before you left for Seattle?” Linc demands, standing toe to toe with Rett and glaring right into his eyes.
“You motherfucker,” Rett mutters under his breath.
“What were they, Rett? Parker wasn’t there; she doesn’t know.”
“Will you two just stop?”
His nostrils flare as he inhales a deep breath, and his jaw tics in irritation.
“I told you to look after my little sister,” Rett confesses.
“And what do you think I’m doing, asshole?”
Their words are like a bat to the chest, and I stumble back. Thankfully, Linc lets me go.
He only did all of this because of a promise to Rett?
I shake my head.
That can’t be right.
He wanted me here. Not because of some fucked-up promise to protect me like I’m some helpless little woman, but because he wanted me here.
Didn’t he?
“You’d do the same for Nova,” Linc adds.
“Yeah, and you wouldn’t expect to find us half-dressed with her hands all over me.”
“Perk of living with an athletic trainer,” Linc says, popping one shoulder as if I’m not standing a foot away, losing my goddamn mind. “Look, I’m just giving her a place to stay. She’s been looking at other places, but they’re all expensive as fuck and complete shitholes. And as you well know, we’re hardly ever at home.”
I feel like I’m floating above my own body, listening to them talk about me as if I’m not even here.
Linc and I haven’t talked about me getting my own place since things changed between us. At no point did I assume I’d just stay here. He might have called me his girlfriend, but I’m not running before I can walk here. There is a big difference between embarking on a relationship and living together.
Is there, though? a little voice asks.
You’ve been living together for weeks. Why not just…keep going?
