"You read my mind. I was just thinking about that."
"We're on the same eating schedule." He slides me a sly look. "Good to know. Most girls can't keep up with me."
"I'm assuming that you eat enough food to feed a small village?"
"Correct." He winks. "It's important to feed all these muscles."
"It sounds like a challenge," I joke. God, it feels amazing to be someone a hot guy finds attractive rather than just an annoying little sister. I'm still thinking of the next flirty line I want to dangle in front of Brad when a dark shadow covers me.
I look up and find Thorne standing there, arms crossed, his expression unamused. He doesn't tease me, and he doesn't deflect from his attraction. He justlooks at me with his full attention, the kind he usually gives to everyone but me. Except right now, he's giving it to me and I genuinely don't know what to do with that.
"Can we talk?" His eyes flit to Brad, narrowing. "In private?" he continues.
A little laugh escapes me. "Go away."
Brad stands up, sensing the tension. Thorne not-very-smoothly moves between us and says, "It’ll only take a minute."
Brad starts toward the main house. "I was on my way to change before dinner anyway. Mollie, catch you then?"
"Looking forward to it!" I call. Nibbling my lip, I watch Brad walk away for a few seconds before I turn on Thorne. "What could you possibly want?"
"I'm saving you from him." He glares after Brad. "That guy has a reputation as a major player."
"What, you recognize a fellow manwhore?" I say with heavy sarcasm.
"I'm protecting you," he says. "That dude is bad news."
"Really? It seems like you're just interested in getting in my business. I swear, you're just as bad as Beck."
"Someone has to look out for you." He gives me an irritated glance. "That guy likes to count the notches in his belt, Mollie."
"Listen, you heathen. I asked you to help me out by being my... first. But you weren't interested. So nowI'm moving on to other options. You can't cockblock me with every single guy."
Thorne's eyes widen. "You're planning on sleeping with him?"
I stride over to him and stick a finger in the middle of his chest. "Don't worry about what I'm going to do and who I'm going to do it with. I told Beck this and I'll tell you the same. Back off."
"Squeak..."
I pluck my sunscreen and cover-up off the deck chair and head toward the house. Thorne stays put, but I can feel his eyes on me the whole way to the cabin.
I huff as I change clothes. Beck and Thorne are two peas in the same caveman pod. They're doing the same thing that they always do. The same thing that everyone always does. Treating me like a little kid who can't make decisions instead of a young woman with a good head on her shoulders and a life to live.
But it's more than that and I know it. This is exactly what I was afraid of. The way the hockey world reaches into every corner of your life and makes itself comfortable. Suddenly you're not a person anymore. You're someone's sister or girlfriend or wife, and nobody asked you if that was okay.
I have to find a new apartment soon. Then I'll be able to start making my own decisions again... decisions that have nothing to do with Thorne or Beck.
Chapter Eight
Thorne
Against my own desires, I'm up with the sun. I'm not sure when the sleep-as-much-as-you-can laziness of my twenties faded into waking up absurdly early to get in an extra workout, but here we are. I roll over, and look at my phone with a groan.
Just because I'm an early riser doesn't mean I like the mornings.
Squinting at the screen, I realize that I have several missed calls and texts. Some from late last night, some from even earlier this morning.
The first is a voicemail from my mom. She doesn't normally call, preferring to text. Her voice sounds tight with some kind of emotion. "Alex, honey. This is Mom calling. Call me when you have a chance. I... um... Just call me."
