“Stay out of it? You’re in mybedroom, dumbass.”
“Let’s take this in the other room,” Will said, keeping his voice reasonable.
“How about you just get the fuck out of here?”
Will could hear Kristen’s voice explaining to her brother that she decided when her guests should leave, but his gaze was locked with Burke’s, and it wasn’t in his nature to back down. “Seems to me I’m the only guy here she actually invited in.”
The blow landed just above Will’s jaw and even though he’d been braced for it, the pain still shook him. His fist was already in the air because it didn’t matter if it was on the ice or not, if Burke wanted to drop gloves, he was all in. But Kristen’s hand hit his chest, and he wasn’t sure if she was in the way or not, so he had to drop his arm.
Her other hand was on Burke’s chest and that’s who she was looking at. “Get out.”
“Kris, you can’t—”
“Get. Out.” She shoved at his chest, though she couldn’t actually move him. “I mean it, Erik. Go home right now.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Will said, because as far as he was concerned, they weren’t done yet.
Kristen swung her gaze to him. “You’re staying here. You don’t even have pants on, for chrissake.”
Neither man moved, and Burke glared at him over the top of Kristen’s head. “This is between us, Kris.”
“Yeah, I know. Burke versus Lecroix or whatever. I don’t care. I want you to leave right now, and if you say a single word about this to Dad, you’re not coming back. I mean it, Erik. I will not speak to you again for a very long time.”
This time she used both hands to shove at her brother’s chest, and he took a step back. Then he spun and walked into the living room, with Kristen on his heels. Will followed as far as the bedroom door because he knew seeing him leaning against the bedroom doorjamb in nothing but his boxer briefs would piss Burke off even more.
“He’s using you, Kris. To get to me.” Even as he walked toward the front door, Burke wouldn’t give up.
“I know it’s hard for you to believe and Dad would say otherwise, but not everything is about you,” Kristen said. “Goodnight, Erik.”
“Goodnight,” Will couldn’t stop himself from adding, which earned him cold blue glares from both Burkes.
“You can’t hide behind my sister forever. I’ll see you on the ice, bitch.” Burke pulled open the door but had to look back for a parting shot. “If you make it back.”
Kristen winced when the door slammed behind her brother, and then she shot Will an annoyed look. “Did you really have to antagonize him?”
“Yeah, I really did. Especially since you got in the way of him and me working it out our own way.”
“And people wonder why I hate hockey.” She pulled out the freezer drawer and rummaged around, probably looking for a bottle of vodka. He had a strict one-drink limit, and he’d already had one tonight, but he could use a shot right now. “Overall, that went better than I expected it to, though.”
He snorted and caught the bag of frozen vegetables she tossed to him. After grimacing at the package—now he knew who the one person that liked frozen Brussels sprouts was—he pressed it to his jaw. Yeah, that hurt. “You really think so?”
“The police didn’t have to show up, and neither of you left in an ambulance, so yeah. It went better than I expected.”
“You going to kiss my face and make it better?” he asked, hoping to move the conversation along and put Burke out of their minds.
“Nope. You’re going to ice that for a few minutes, until I stop feeling guilty about it and I’m sure Erik’s gone, and then you’re going to get dressed and go home. I’ve had enough of hockey players for the night.”
He couldn’t say he blamed her, but he was still disappointed he wouldn’t be waking up in her bed in the morning. Rather than push the issue, though, he respected her decision to end their night, and once the Brussels sprouts started thawing, he got dressed and let her walk him to her door.
The robe was flirting with falling off her shoulder again, and he tugged it up with a sigh of regret. “Do I get a kiss goodnight?”
“I guess one kiss goodbye won’t hurt.” Then she looked pointedly at the bruise developing on his jaw and smiled. “Not too much, anyway.”
He’d caught the transition from kissgoodnightto kissgoodbye, but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he cradled the side of her face and gave her a thorough kiss he hoped she would think about for many nights to come.
Then he opened the door and stepped into the hall. “I’ll be in town for at least a couple more weeks. Maybe we’ll cross paths again.”
“Maybe. But I wouldn’t count on it.”
