Johnny grinned, blood smearing across his teeth. “She’s a fucking grown-ass woman, Mo.”
“And she can do whomever the hell she wants to – as long as he’s not a brother on my own goddamn team.”
JW shrugged. The fucker really shrugged, raising an eyebrow as he did. “I didn’t agree to any such patriarchal bullshit, Mo. If she wants to ride me like I’m a fucking bull at the rodeo…” He shrugged again. “Who the fuck am I to stop her?”
Will surged forward, crashing into a wall of solid Linc. “Hey, hey. Easy, Will. Don’t let him wind you up.” Linc braced both hands against Will’s chest, pushing him back. Russell and Jeremy Lewis – from Alabama – had each grabbed one of Will’s arms. What the hell was Jeremy doing at a Minnesota frat party?
Finn didn’t have time to ask. Will had a cut over his eye dripping onto the white carpet underfoot and bruising spreading from his jaw into his cheek. Jeremy was exactly where Finn should have been, not trying to mack on Molly in a dark closet, but having Will’s back against an asshole. Guilt smacked into him like a tsunami.
Yet another brother he wasn’t there for when he was needed. It should have been Finn’s face split open by Johnny’s fist, not Will’s.
Speaking of, JW examined his fingernails and smirked. “Anyone would think you want your sister’s pussy for yourself, Mo.”
Gasps, quiet rumbles of ‘ooooh’, hissing, and ‘oh my God’s rippled around the spectators. Will renewed his effort to surge forward from Russ and Jeremy’s grasp as Finn launched himself at Johnny, raining his fists down onto his face. Who the fuck said that shit?
Strong arms banded across his chest and dragged him off Johnny’s body. He was still awake, and somehow he was still grinning. He’d lost a tooth in the melee – Finn didn’t know if it was a real one or a fake and he didn’t care, the asshole deserved what he got.
Whoever had him by the shoulders lost their footing and hit the deck, ass first with a thud, but they didn’t let go. In fact, they scooted closer to Finn’s ass and wrapped their legs around his waist. “Don’t be stupid.” Linc growled in his ear. “He’s not worth getting a record for, Obi.”
Fuck Johnny White, and fuck Lincoln ‘Captain America’ Scott too. Who the hell did he think he was? Swooping in and getting involved in something that was clearly between Will and Finn and Johnny.
Finn beat Linc’s arms like some kind of deranged caveman. “Let me go.”
“Sorry, brother. I’m not letting you get your ass thrown in jail because of that waste of space. We need you.”
Movement in the corner of his eye tore his glaring, rage-twisted face away from Johnny White. Molly stood leaning against a doorframe, hugging her body, eyes shining in the light. She kept glancing between Finn and Will, not sparing a single look in Johnny’s direction. There was no trace of fear on her face, only heat. Finn’s stomach fluttered. She hadn’t resisted him after she’d discovered his identity in the closet. In fact, she’d leaned into him, tilted her head back, and sighed when he’d brushed his lips against hers.
Was she drunk? Teasing him? Punishing him for switching out with Johnny? Or was there something more?
The fluttering in his stomach bolted to his chest. She dragged her thumb across her bottom lip and hot damn he could have sworn he felt a tingling on his own lip as well.
Not breaking their connection, he tapped on Linc’s arm to let him know he’d calmed down, at least outwardly. Something had shifted between him and Molly Morrison in that closet, something profound, something dangerous, something exciting. While he’d always been attracted to her, he’d never once let himself think or believe she might return the attraction.
Until now.
The corners of her mouth twitched like she could read his mind and he fought to keep a smile from breaking out on his face.
“I’m going to fucking kill him!”
Will. Right. He needed to get his ass off the ground, stop thinking about the girl, and help keep his best friend out of prison for murder.
Linc sprung to his feet and tackled Will onto his back, the two men landing in a heap. Will huffed out a gasp of air before he burst into a fit of laughter. “Shit, Linc.” He sat up, rubbing the back of his head. “If it doesn’t work out for you in the NHL, I think the Vikings might have something for you.”
Linc stood, reaching a hand out to help Will off the ground. His red haze had seemingly cleared. Finn risked a glance at Molly, but she wasn’t leaning against the doorframe anymore. A quick scan of the lingering mass revealed she was gone.
He turned back to Will, but he wasn’t there anymore either. The knife twisted in Finn’s stomach. Will was his ride or die. It didn’t matter that his younger sister might have wanted to make out with Finn in the closet. What mattered was the unbreakable bond between the two men. Nothing could come between them.
Nothing.
Not even his love for his best friend’s sister.
He couldn’t put himself in a position where he might need to choose. He needed to lock up his feels for Molly, file the near miss under “small mercies.” He needed to go back to being the best friend Will needed him to be, the man Will deserved to have watching his six, not the man who was head over heels in love with his best friend’s sister.
Chapter 10
Molly
“Come on, ChoChooooooooo.”
