Page 81 of Daring the Hockey Player
"Nothing she couldn't handle. She was hit on by some scumbag." I don't elaborate because she never told me the specifics, but she seemed mostly fine.
Kyler nods and glances at me, hard. His stare unwavering. "Why'd it take you two hours to get back here with my car? Did you take it for a little joyride?"
"In New York City?" I scoff at his suggestion. "Like I said, it took a bit for her to get ready, and she was hungry. Plus, I thought I should sober her up before bringing her out with her sister."
"Wait, she was drinking?" Kyler drops his hand from around my shoulder and folds his arms across his chest.
I grimace. That's something I probably should have kept to myself.
"Just some punch at the party. Like you didn't drink before you were twenty-one."
"I had Bristol before I was twenty-one," Kyler says. "There wasn't a lot of free time to party and hook up with girls."
"Do you mind if I rejoin the guys?" I'm not asking his permission. I point at my buddies from the team and then head back in their direction.
"Glad you could make it back to the party," Noah chimes and gives me a pat on the arm. "Nice of you to look out for your roomie."
"Well, she is family," Kyler cuts into the conversation, joining us.
I don't want to think of Amber as family, not in the way that Kyler intends. I decide it's best to steer the conversation away from Amber as quickly as possible. I glance at Asher standing next to Noah. "I heard the puck bunnies were merciless tonight."
Asher laughs. "That's one way to put it. I swear Kate was going to murder Jemma for putting her hands all over me."
"And we would all defend Kate, too," Parker chimes.
"How did that even happen?" I hate that I missed the party, but I don't regret what happened between Amber and myself.
"Kate went to the bathroom," Asher says, explaining how Jemma swooped in the minute that his wife disappeared. "I kept telling her I wasn't interested."
"And she kept shoving her hand on his dick," Parker adds.
"She was persistent." Asher exhales a heavy sigh. "And I'd never hit a woman. Forcibly remove her hands, of course. But Kate saw the whole ordeal and clocked Jemma in the face."
I can't help but laugh and glance over my shoulder at the table, only now noticing that Kate has a plastic bag of ice on her knuckles.
"How's she doing?" I ask.
"Oh, she's fine. Jemma isn't much of a fighter. She pulled Kate's hair, and Ava stepped on her feet. I don't think we'll be invited back to the bar for a while."
Shaking my head, I can't hide the smile on my face. "Usually, we're the ones getting kicked out, not the other way around."
"Crazy night," Asher admits, "but worth every minute to see the look on Jemma's face when Kate slugged her. That was hot."
"Two chicks fighting is always hot," Owen says. "How is Emerson's little sister doing? We noticed it took you a while."
"She's doing better," I say, forcing myself not to turn around and glance at her. "It took a minute to get ready, change into something more appropriate."
"Like your jersey," Noah says, raising an eyebrow.
"Trust me. It was more appropriate than the skirt she wore to the campus party." Just thinking about her in that miniskirt makes my cock stir. Fuck. I can't start having these thoughts about Amber, not here, not now.
Kyler grins. "You made her change before you brought her here." He pats me on the back. "She's like a little sister already to you; that's cute."
Inwardly, I cringe at the use of his words,little sister.She is definitelynotmy sister. "Just looking out for my roommate."
"I haven't seen her and Emerson at a game together," Noah says. "They should come, wear Greyson jerseys and fight over who the best brother on the team is."
"Are you trying to start drama?" Kyler glares at Noah. "Because everyone knows I'm the better player. This guy is my sidekick." He points at me and grins.
