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Harper’s soft laughter hit me dead in the chest. “We should probably stop whatever this is.”
“Uh, yeah, okay,” I stuttered.
But then the familiar cadence of my brother’s voice filled the hall, and he and Mom appeared.
“Hey, bud, you okay?”
“What were you two doing out here?”
“Nothing,” I said.
He studied us. “What—”
“Come on, Scottie. You can sit with your mom and me while Mason goes and gets ready.”
“See you out on the ice?” I said, and he nodded.
“Break a leg.” The little fucker chuckled.
“Scottie,” Mom chided him as the three took off down the hall.
“You’ve been holding out on me,” a voice said, and I whirled around to find Noah watching me.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do. I think”—his amused gaze flicked down the hall to where Harper and my family had disappeared—“you’re banging her.”
“I’m not… exactly.”
Fuck.
“I knew it.” He flashed me a smug grin. “I fucking knew—”
“Keep your voice down, okay?” I ran a hand down my face. “It’s complicated.”
“Holy shit. You like her. You actually like her. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment? The moment I got to say ‘I told you so.’”
“I’m not doing this.” I barged past him toward the locker rooms.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He grabbed my arm and caught up to me. “Talk to me, Mase. What’s going on?”
“She’s in my fucking head,” I admitted. “And I don’t know how to get her out.”
“Do you want to get her out?” He gave me a serious look. One that said I needed to tread carefully. But he knew now. I couldn’t exactly erase that little tidbit of information.
“I… fuck. I don’t know, okay? This wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t have time for a—” I caught myself, but it was too late. Noah’s expression morphed into one of smug amusement.
“Youreallylike her.”
“Oh, you can stop now. Forget I even mentioned it.” I moved ahead of him, a strange mix of irritation and relief coursing through me.
On the one hand, it felt good to talk to him about it. If anyone knew how it felt to lose sight of the plan, it was Noah. But I still didn’t know what my plan was. It was different for me. Any decisions I made directly affected my mom and Scottie.
If I chose to pursue things with Harper, that had implications.
Maybe even consequences.
“Mase, come on, bro. I’m just busting your balls. If you like her, it doesn’t have to be that complicated,” he said as we slipped into the locker room.
