Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 131271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Jacob shoves me back, his gloves flying to the ice and his eyes the color of glaciers. “You wanna go?” he growls.
“Bring it.”
The next thing I know, we’re tangled in a mess of fists and elbows, shoving and cursing as the rest of the team skates to a halt.
“Enough!” Coach bellows, but it’s Shawn who pulls us apart, grabbing Jacob by the back of his jersey and hauling him away from me.
“Cool it!” Shawn snaps, stepping between us. “What the hell is wrong with you two?”
“He started it,” Jacob mutters, wiping his mouth with the back of his glove.
“Bullshit!” I snap, but Shawn holds up a hand to shut me up.
“Coach is watching,” he warns, jerking his head toward the bench. “You wanna sit out the next game? Keep this up.”
The team skates closer as Coach approaches with the face of a raging bull. Murmurs of confusion and curiosity ripple through the group, but we’re ordered back into play with the threat of a game suspension if anything like that happens again.
The drills are sharp, fast, and aggressive—exactly what Coach wants, but the second the whistle blows, his glare rests like a brand on the back of my neck. Try that shit again, he dares. Try it and see where it gets you.
Practice finishes with the air between me and Jacob crackling like a live wire, sparking enough that the guys who usually love drama stay out of it.
In the locker room, the tension is unbearable. Everyone’s quiet at first—just the sound of skates hitting the ground, pads being stripped away from sweaty bodies, and the occasional muttered curse. But it doesn’t last long. Malik, of course, can’t leave well enough alone.
“So,” he says, leaning against the lockers with the kind of smirk that begs for trouble. “Are we gonna talk about that little brother-on-brother beef out there, or are we all pretending it didn’t happen?”
“Shut up, Malik,” I mutter, yanking my gloves off and shoving them into my bag with more force than necessary.
“Seriously, though.” Buttons glances between Jacob and me like he’s trying to solve a puzzle. “What’s going on? You two were fine yesterday.”
“This is Drayton shit,” Jacob says, his voice so firm that everyone drifts away.
I shower and fume, scrubbing shampoo into my hair with force and toweling myself so roughly that the skin around my neck stings as I pull on my shirt. I steal glances at Shawn and Jacob as they dress in silence next to me, their faces locked in the same tension.
I toss my bag over my shoulder, and my brothers do the same, and we trudge outside like three grumpy bears. We climb into Jacob’s car, slamming the doors harder than we should, trapping ourselves in a pod of tense silence.
As soon as Shawn pulls the passenger seatbelt across his chest, he twists around, fixing both of us with a look. “We need to keep this calm, all right. I don’t remember seeing you guys like this before, and never over a woman.”
“Hayes hasn’t kept shit from us before,” Jacob grumbles.
“So that’s what this is? You’re getting back at me for wanting a private life?”
“Can’t handle a little competition.”
“Competition?” I scoff, my voice rising. “You’re out of your goddamn mind.”
Shawn slaps his hand on the dash. “You’re not going to solve anything this way,” he says. “Coach should have benched us for that display. We’re just lucky he wants to win more than he wants to parent our asses.”
Jacob snorts, dropping his head back against the chair. “I’m calm. It’s Hayes who’s losing his shit over nothing.”
“Nothing? You’re the one who turned Riley into some kind of—”
“Don’t say it,” Shawn warns, cutting me off with a pointed glare.
“What?” Jacob interrupts, smirking now, like this is all a joke to him. “A distraction? A problem? Because she’s both of those things, and you know it.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“And you’re so besotted with her you can’t see straight,” Jacob fires back, his voice suddenly harder.
The car goes silent, and I grip the seat to keep my hands from doing something stupid. For a second, all I can do is stare at him. He doesn’t look smug anymore. He looks serious. Like he’s daring me to deny it.
“What’s your deal, man?” Shawn’s voice breaks the tension, his tone lighter but still wary. “You gonna keep dancing around the issue, or are we all just gonna sit here and watch you implode?”
I drag a hand over my face, breathing out a sigh. “You wouldn’t get it.”
“Oh, we get it.”
“Listen.” Jacob leans closer like he’s trying to climb through the gap between the seats, his voice low and steady. “You’re pissed because you think I’m trying to take something from you.”
“Aren’t you?” I cross my arms over my chest.
“My point is, you’re acting like we’re at war over her, but we’re not. We’re brothers.” He pauses, letting that word hang in the air between us. “No woman should come between us—apart from, you know, between us.”