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The asshole was messing with me again, and by extension, Gavin. I didn’t doubt he’d told me the truth—it made sense and fit Gavin’s personality perfectly—but his motivation was definitely rooted in causing trouble. The house wasn’t a big deal. I could talk to Gavin about it later and dish out my own retribution.
I didn’t like being played, and I knew how to hit back. He was either truly an asshole, in which case I knew how to deal with him, or he felt guilty for the way things went down with Gavin at their championship.
“Did you tank Gavin’s drug test on purpose?”
Danny stiffened and his smile fell away. “He told you?”
“I know a lot of things, Danny. Did you?” I pressed.
He leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs. “No. I was lazy and sent Gavin out to deal with my mess because I was tired and hungover. It never occurred to me I’d fail the test, no matter what he told you.”
His jaw ticked as he stared at me, waiting for an argument or recrimination. If his body language could be trusted, Danny wasn’t any happier about the results than Gavin.
“Thatiswhat he told me, but I like to find things out for myself. Are you sorry?”
He scoffed. “What do you think? I destroyed my brother’s future because I couldn’t deal with a clingy girl on my own. I’m pissed at him most of the time for justhandlingeverything so easily, but I never wanted to hurt him.”
“Then why do you keep making his life hard?”
Danny pushed away from the chair to pace back and forth. “Because it’s not hard, and he doesn’t get it. Everything he touches turns to gold, and I can’t even figure out what I want to do with my life. He doesn’t have to agree every time I ask him to do something for me. I could probably have taken that econ test myself, but why not use Gavin’s golden touch to get ahead for once?”
My instincts perked up at his last sentence. “It’s convenient for you that he’s able to do well in your classes.”
He snorted. “Yeah, except for the lit test last year, but how was I supposed to know the prof was going to change the assignment at the last minute to a book Gavin hadn’t read.”
So that was Gavin’s big secret. The drug test scandal had already played out, and he’d done a fabulous job of keeping attention off himself for the last three years—because he’d been helping his brother cheat his way through college.
If I wanted to hurt Gavin, I had more than enough information to ruin his future the way he’d ruined Kayleigh’s.
The thing was… I didn’t. Hurting Gavin had lost its appeal about the time he offered me a duck-friendly place to live. Over the last few months, I’d learned he’d do anything to help the people he loved—and sometimes the ones he tolerated. Gavin had tried to protect Kayleigh and all the other people on the road that day.
He tried to protect his teammates from me, he protected me from my questionable dates, and he protected Danny the only way Danny would allow. By helping him stay afloat when he needed time to figure himself out.
I wished Danny would get his head out of his ass and stop making things harder on Gavin. If he’d let Gavin in instead of pushing him away, they could both be happy. A tingling sensation started in my chest and moved outward as I put my last thought into a different context.
It wasn’t the same with us. Itwasn’t.
Danny stopped pacing to fiddle with the junk on my dresser, and I braced myself to ask about the other thing on his list I hadn’t expected.
He beat me to it. “I’ve never seen him this lost on a girl, by the way. Random hookups, yeah, but hockey has always been his only priority.”
Danny was wrong. Gavin had other priorities besides hockey, namely his brother. I highly doubted I was on that short list.
He turned and held up the tickets delivered to me yesterday, two VIP entries to my dad’s first political fundraiser. “When are you going to tell him he’s competing for the hand of a future senator’s daughter?”
I hopped up and snatched them away, putting them back on the dresser facedown. “It’s not important because I don’t date.”
“Could have fooled me. Seems like every time I see you there’s another guy hanging all over you. What… does Gavin not meet daddy’s standards?”
My stomach twisted at the thought of my dad learning about Gavin. I’d forgotten Danny knew about the dating agreement thanks to eavesdropping on my conversation with Stephen. A rookie mistake.
“Oh, so now youwanthim to get what he wants?”
Danny grinned. “I’m not a monster. You’re good for him. He’s been playing better since you started your little game, and if the way he looks at you is any indication, he’s only biding his time before he makes his move.”
“What makes you think he hasn’t made it and been shot down?”
He spread his arms, encompassing my room. “He’s not in here right now. I like you, Shortcake, but I hope he wins this one.”
