AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Pain?” he asks.
“Not really. Manageable.”
“Thank fuck.” He sits back and blows out a breath. “Keep ice on it for the next thirty minutes. Five on, five off.”
I nod and focus on my hand as the four of us grow quiet.
I can’t believe I hit the wall. If I hurt my hand, I put not only the team’s season in jeopardy, but possibly my future. I can’t believe I was so careless.
“What the fuck is wrong with you two?” Marcus says after an uncomfortable beat of silence. “We talk shit and mess around, but we never fuck with each other’s merchandise. That’s the rule.”
“I didn’t touch his hand,” Cal replies angrily. “Hethrew the punch. Not me.”
“Come on man.” Marcus rolls his eyes. “We all know Cruz’s aim is anything but piss poor. He has the best arm in Division One. If he wanted to knock you out, he would have, and he would have been justified in doing so. You were trying to goad him, admit it.”
“I’m not admitting shit,” Cal fires back. “It’s not my fault our friend is a little overprotective about his stepsister.”
I look over at him, still pissed as hell and yet, he’s right.When it comes to Ellery, rational thinking doesn’t exactly prevail because the idea that she is fair game infuriates me.
I may have deluded myself into thinking I could let her go and move on, but after last night, one thing is clear—she’s not fair game. I will never be okay with Ellery being with anyone.
Seeing as I can’t tell him this however, I give the only reason I can to justify my anger. “She just graduated high school, man.”
“And so did half the girls I slept with last year,” he says with a smirk. “Eighteen is legal, which means she can make her own decisions.”
“No.” I shake my head. “She’s off limits.”
“To who?”
“To whom,” I correct out of habit. A side effect of having an English professor for a father. “To my friends, and anyone else that wants to use her for a good time.”
“Man.” He rolls his eyes and waves a hand. “What crawled up your ass and died? I wasn’t aware sisters were off limits.”
“Well they are.”
“Since when?”
“Since human decency,” Jake cuts in. “Would you want me to talk about your sister the way you’re talking about his?”
Cal shrugs. “If I had one, I wouldn’t care.”
Jake takes the ice off my hand and sets it down on the table. I sit back, clenching and unclenching my hand, just as Coach taught me to do when it’s stiff or sore from overuse. Blood flow is important to keep the swelling down.
“Look…” I don’t want to talk about Ellery anymore. I don’t care if Cal thinks I am being an overprotective brother. If he respects me, he won’t pursue her because I asked him not to. Period. No further explanation needed.
But I don’t get the chance to say this because the sound of heels clicking down the hall turns all of our heads. “Morning, boys.”
Great. Just when I didn’t think the morning could get any worse, the bitch that started last night on a downward spiral, does the walk of shame, right into my kitchen. It doesn’t take a genius to know who she spent the night with, and when I see her make her way over to Cal, I know that I’m right.
“Mildred,” I sneer. I hope she didn’t hear us. That’s the last thing I needed.
“It’s Miriam,” she corrects, shooting me a vicious smile. “As you know,Cruz.”
“And as you know,Mabel, I don’t fucking care.”
Jake hits his knee against mine and I look over and roll my eyes in a way that says don’t ask, then turn back to watch the trainwreck that’s about to unfold.
If my frosty reception doesn’t clue her in she isn’t welcome, Cal’s will. He doesn’t do the whole morning after thing and she’s likely a clinger. This is going to be epic.
