Her eyes are mischievous, and she’s clearly full of shit, but I want to see Jared too much to turn her down.
I put one foot in front of the other with a feeling in my gut that tonight is going to change everything forever. And I’ll have to live with the consequences, good or bad.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Jared
“Let’s go out for drinks,” Arch says to Tex and me.
I know what that’s code for—picking up women—and I’m not interested.
“I’m going home.” I grab my jacket out of the locker and shut the door.
“How come?” Tex says, running a towel over his head to dry his red hair. “First game’s over. Victory celebration. Let’s go!”
“Nope. I’m good.”
Max turns around at his locker. “You okay?”
Having all the curious eyes on me pisses me off. What’s going on between me and Ashley is personal, and even my twin isn’t privy. What she told me earlier today is still raw, and my urge to protect her is stronger than ever.
“I just said I was good,” I snap at Max.
Max smirks. “Really? You don’t sound so good.”
We glare at each other with me silently telling him to fuck off.
Arch raises an eyebrow at me. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing. I’m just not in the mood to go out.”
“Raincheck and we’ll do dinner instead.”
I fist-bump him. “Deal.”
All feels smoothed over as he and Tex make their way out of the locker room. The rest of my teammates follow.
I’m relieved they’re gone. I want to be alone. But Max hangs back.
“I’m fine,” I say immediately.
“You’re not. Your focus is somewhere else.” He takes a seat next to me on the bench. “You just took over the game tonight. Willed us to win. Coach presented you with the game puck.”
That did mean a lot. To start off the season feeling in control on the ice was a big win for me personally as well as the team.
“I’ve got other things going on besides hockey,” I say.
“Like what?”
“Why are you pressing?” I say to him. “It’s unlike you.”
“True. You usually take that role. But maybe it’s time I pushed you a bit.”
Here’s the thing about living two thousand miles away from your hometown—you don’t have to answer to the people who know you best. The ones who know all your tells, the good and the ugly.
I’m luckier than most because my twin brother lives away from home with me. But even Max can’t get inside my head all the time. And the truth of it is that my twin and I have been so used to dealing with our own crap privately that we don’t always push the other enough when something seems off. Up until he got together with Emerson, my brother was particularly reclusive, and I could pretty much do what I wanted without him getting into my business.
“Emerson has changed you,” I say without a trace of malice.
