Page 113 of My Brother's Enemy
“I’m not too heavy?”
She shook her head, nuzzling into my neck. “I like you on me.”
I moved a little to the side so I wasn’t crushing her, and as I got comfortable, I looked back down.
She’d fallen asleep.
I reached for the blanket that had been tossed over the corner of the couch and switched us so she was lying on top of me. Spreading the blanket over both of us, I bent my forehead into her neck and closed my eyes. A little nap was a good idea.
66
RAIN
Everyone was drunk by the time we got to Halbrechts.
I didn’t think we were going to make it. But my hotel wasn’t too far away, so we washed up after waking from a twenty-minute nap and headed out. The place was thirty minutes from closing by the time we got there, and walking into the back room, Skylar saw us first.
She rushed over, her scream cutting through a break in the song.
I expected her to throw herself at her brother, but instead she threw her arms around me.
“Ooomph,” I grunted, falling back a step.
Tyler steadied me, a hand to my back. He poked his sister. “Hey. Don’t injure my woman. I just got her back.”
I stood immobile, because what was this? We’d hugged in Mal’s suite when she came up with Eric, but it still took me by surprise. After a moment, my arms lifted and wrapped around her to return the hug. When she pulled away, her hands clasped my arms and she beamed.
“I kinda love that my brother is obviously in love with you, and you ghosted him. He’s not used to women running away. Feel free to keep him on his toes.”
Jesus. There was that word again.Love.
I gave both siblings an uneasy look, because was this just some word they threw around? Though, the way they grinned at each other, their love was so obvious. Maybe they could say it because they actually knew what it felt like?
“You’re coming to Thanksgiving tomorrow.” Sky squeezed me again before stepping back.
“Actually, about that—” I started to say, but then other people were there.
The next body that crushed me in a hug was…I wasn’t even sure, but they were big and beefy and smelled like alcohol and sweat. He stepped back and—it was Meester?
His grin was sloppy and he shook his head. “You’re not allowed to go anywhere else. You can’t work for any other team anymore. K?” He crushed me back to him before Tyler cleared his throat pointedly. Meester stepped away, shooting him a rueful glance. “We still need you.” His gaze returned to me. “And this man obviously needs you. Lost his shit when you left the locker room, and his play sucked ass. We’ll get them on Friday. Don’t worry. I’m more than ready to be assertive. I mean, I’m not playing, and I was terrible today, but I’ll be ready for Friday from the bench. I’ll open the door like no other backup goalie ever has.” His eyes grew misty. “You helped me with that.”
“Okay. That’s enough from you, buddy.” Sunny came next, and he extricated me from Meester.
Tyler gave him a look of thanks.
Sunny nodded to him and gave me a tender hug. “It’s good seeing you back, and everything Meester said, except the goalie-specific things. Ditto from me.” He jerked his head in Tyler’sdirection. “We do kinda need you to keep this one grounded. He’s our ace player.”
“Aces,” Meester whispered next to us, a wasted smile on his face.
“Move. Move. Everyone, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!”
Sunny was shoved aside. They tried moving Meester, but he wasn’t having it. He barely batted an eyelash, so the person darted around the side, and Eric launched himself at me for the second time tonight.
“We already loved on you at your hot boss’s suite, but you have left us alone too long with all these hockey players.” He scowled, but he started laughing and it gave way to a blinding smile. “Thank you so much. That’s been the best holiday gift ever. Also,” he whispered into my ear, “Please tell me Jesse Ray swings both ways. Is he a secret bi-baby? Can I get his number?”
Paul had accompanied him, and he now shook his head at Eric, though he also gave Jesse a heated once-over. Feeling the attention, Jesse frowned, giving Tyler a questioning look before offering me a small wave.
Tyler leaned in. “Some of my old teammates are here. I’m going to go say hi. You good?”
