I turn to face her, staring at her as I grin. “Hockey game, dollface.” I jab a finger toward the TV, where a guy in a black jersey with red and white stripes barrels across the rink. “That’s Gunnar Hayze, he plays for the Seattle Stags. Got an ass on him.”
Her nose wrinkles, lips twitching. “What the fuck,” she mumbles.
I chuckle and turn my eyes back to the screen, watching him glide through the rink. “They call him the Bulldozer.”
“And why’s that?” she asks, her head tilted, staring at me in skepticism.
Right on cue, the crowd on TV erupts, cheers deafening as Gunnar slams an opponent into the glass with bone-rattling force. I smirk and glance at her.
“That’s why, baby. That man is a unit.”
She squints, pursing her lips. “What’s your obsession with hockey? You’re a football player.”
“Well, dollface, if you must ask, I’m shit at iceskating but he’s amazing at it, and I wanna be him.”
She rolls her eyes, turning her attention back to her phone.
I’m about to say something stupid again, and try to move closer to her when?—
BANG.
The front door bursts open, and the moment I’m met with those familiar chestnut eyes, I regret ever giving them a key to my place.
“What the f?—”
Catalina storms in like a psychopath in her bedazzled boots, her brown waves bouncing with each step, eyes blazing with heat as she points a manicured finger straight at me.
“¿¡Estás loco!? ¿Tú y ella están casados? (Are you crazy?! You and her are married?!) What the fuck, Maverick?! And you didn’t even care to invite me to the wedding?!”
No clue what the hell she just said, help.
Before I can even stand up to defend myself, she’s on me like a wild ape. Her fists grip the collar of my cotton T-shirt, yanking me forward until I’m nose-to-nose with pure Latina fury. Her glare burns hotter than the Tennessee sun, and for someone so tiny, she’s strong as shit.
“Okay—ow-okay!” I sputter, arms half-raised in surrender. “Catalina, honey, you’re gonna rip my shirt, and this is one of my good ones.”
Behind her, Carter leans casually in the doorway, arms crossed, a smug-ass smirk on his face.
“We saw it all over the news, you really think my wife wouldn’t find out?” he drawls, clearly enjoying the show.
“Yeah, Maverick, I KNOW EVERYTHING!” Catalina screams in my face, making my ears ring.
“I knew it,” Carter says with a smirk. “You’re too obvious, following Amelia around like a lost puppy.”
I throw my hands up, exasperated. “Unbelievable. A little backup would’ve been nice.”
Carter snorts. “Backup? No way. You dug that hole, little brother. I’m just here to watch you fall in.”
I turn back to Catalina, who’s now rounded on Amelia. “And you!” she points. “You didn’t tell me anything?!”
Amelia’s trying, really trying, not to laugh. Her hands are covering her mouth, shoulders trembling, but when Catalina shoots her a death glare, she squeaks, “I-I was gonna?—”
“No. Bathroom. Now,” Catalina commands, dragging her off by the wrist.
And then I’m alone, with my dickhead of an older brother.
Carter steps past me, smacking me upside the head as he goes. “Thanks for the invite, fucker.”
I rub my head, glaring at him. “Do you guys ever knock?”
