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Vaughn
I’ve never been morein awe of someone than I was just now watching my girl face off against her brother. But the second that door is closed, whatever steel was in her spine crumbles and she starts to shake.
Only a step behind, I gather her up in my arms and carry her into the bedroom. This night is done. It didn’t go the way we’d planned. And the implications of what happened are—fuck, something I can worry about when I’m done worrying about her.
Climbing into bed, I lean against the wall and hold her on my lap. Her arms are around my neck and I’m rubbing her back with slow strokes, waiting for the racing of her heart to slow.
Finally, she whispers, “I’ve never seen anyone take a punch like that. You barely even blinked.”
Tucking my chin, I look down into her eyes and let out a low chuckle. “Your brother punches like a little girl.”
It’s not true. The guy wields that fist like Thor’s hammer, but I’m fucking hard-headed.
She snickers and relaxes against me. We sit like that for a few minutes, quiet while all the shit from the last hour works its way around my head.
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” she says, unraveling her arms from my neck and smoothing her hands over the remains of my open shirt. “He’s not going to take this to your coach.”
I don’t want to tell her that I think she’s wrong. That I’m pretty sure he didn’t even make it as far as his car before tattling to the guy with the power to end my career. That I have no idea what this means for my future, and I don’t even care because I’m holding her right now, and that’s the only fucking thing that matters.
So instead, I tip her head back for a quiet kiss. “Whatever happens, it’ll be fine.”
Her palm cups my jaw and a sort of unholy light fills her eyes. “Trust me. You don’t even want to know the kind of shit I have on Greg. There’s no way he’s talking to your coach.”
I stay until four, holding Natalie against me until it’s time to leave. I don’t have her confidence about Baxter keeping his mouth shut, but on the outside chance she’s right, better to err on the side of caution.
I need to sleep, but I need to do something else first. So after a quick shower and change, I hop back in my car and head a few miles north. O’Brian lives in one of those high-rises down by the lake, and when I text that I’m parked around the corner, he meets me on the street five minutes later.
Dressed in a pair of joggers, hat, and an insulated jacket, he nods toward the lakefront and we start to walk. “Considering I’ve invited you to my place a dozen times and you’ve turned me down every one, I’m guessing this is pretty serious. You get traded?”
I shake my head, blowing out a breath that fogs the frigid air. “No. Not yet, anyway. But that thing last night…”
He stops walking and closes his eyes. “Oh shit, tell me you didn’t knock her up. Because if you did? It’s been nice knowing you. Baxter will hunt your ass to the end of the earth.”
“She’s not pregnant.” Though that spot in the center of my chest that’s been acting out since Vancouver feels a little funny at the thought. Not funny bad, which is fucking crazy. But not why I’m standing outside when it’s not even a handful of degrees above freezing and the sun’s barely broken the horizon. “Baxter knows.”
“Fuuuck.”
“That about sums it up.”
We start to walk again and I tell him what happened, skimming over the details of what he walked in on, and the gist of how it went down after.
He squints at me. “But you didn’t knock him back?”
“Come on, man. She’s his little sister.” Hell, I might actually respect the guy more for wanting to protect her.
“Don’t get me wrong. You had it coming. Just wasn’t sure you’d see it that way.”
There are a few runners out, but otherwise the paths are mostly empty. Even with the skeletal trees and cutting wind, it’s pretty. Relaxing to be by the water. It’s the kind of place it would have been nice to bring Natalie to if she’d been any other girl than the one she is.
“How’d you leave it? I mean, I’m guessing Greg isn’t looking for you to put a ring on his sister’s finger. But any declarations made to smooth his feathers?”
Declarations?
He shakes his head in disbelief. “You tell him that you love her? That she’s coming to Oregon with you at the end of the season?”
“She’s not coming to Oregon.” And as to the other? I haven’t said it to Natalie yet, so I’m sure as fuck not telling O’Brian or Baxter first. “Don’t get me wrong, if I thought it would make her happy, I’d be all about her moving with me. But this is her home.”
“Give it time, man. She’ll come around.”
