I lunge at Ashton, grabbing him by the lapels of his shirt, throwing him up against the living room wall. “I warned you not to touch my sister!”
“I care about her, Luca. She isn’t just some girl I’m sleeping with.”
His words hit me harder than any punch to my body could. “I don’t believe you! I’ve seen the girls you take to your bed, a new one every night.”
Nova watches, wide-eyed, and Liam comes barreling around the corner, yanking me back from Ashton.
“This isn’t a fling, not for me.” Ashton’s gaze flickers from me to Nova. The air hums with electricity.
Brooks grabs my other arm, Liam on my left, Brooks on my right, keeping me from attacking Ashton. “We’ve all known,” Brooks says, his calmness only making me angrier.
“Everyone?” I seethe, my eyes growing wider as I glance around the room.
I glare at Kensley. “Even you knew?”
Kensley nods faintly. “I saw them making out months ago when you guys were living here.”
“This has been going on for months?” Shock doesn’t even begin to describe the gut-wrenching feeling of having been lied to, betrayed by my closest friends, and my teammates.
“We weren’t sure how to tell you.” Ashton stares at me, worry lines etched across his brow.
Nova steps closer to me and nods at Brooks and Liam. They loosen their hold, finally letting my arms free, but they’re standing guard in case I go after Ashton again.
“I wanted to tell you,” Nova says, reaching out, her hand gently on my arm. “Ashton and I were fighting just this week about when and how to tell you.”
“There shouldn’t have been anything to tell.” I shoot a glare at Ashton. “I warned you—all of you—” I glance around the room at my teammates, “to stay away from my little sister.”
“Luca,” Nova’s voice is soft, calm, she’s trying to be reassuring, but it isn’t calming the adrenaline surge that pours through me. “I’m not a little kid. I’m in college now. You can’t expect me not to date.”
I know that, and I never expected her not to date. “You can date whomever you like. Just not one of these guys,” I snarl, pointing at Ashton. “Hockey players are the worst?—”
“You’re one of them!” Nova shouts at me. “Do you see me stopping Harper from dating you?”
“That’s different.”
“How?” Nova glares at me. “We’re both freshmen. We’re both dating hockey players.”
“I’m not a player!” Doesn’t she realize how different Ashton and I are?
Ashton steps closer to Nova, placing an arm around her waist. “I’m not that anymore; your sister changed me.”
I don’t believe Ashton. He swore he’d never fall in love, that love was a notion conceived entirely by the media. He didn’t want a relationship; he only wanted to fuck a new girl every night.
I want to rip his arm right out of the socket and I step forward, Liam holding me back. “Don’t do it.” Liam’s voice is in my ear.
“Why the hell not?”
“For starters, your hockey career,” Liam says. He keeps a firm hold on me. “You assault him, and you’ll be off the team. Your precious career, gone. Your future with the NHL, nonexistent.”
I grind my teeth together and exhale heavily through my nostrils. I feel like a dragon with steam emanating, waiting to douse Ashton with fire.
Fuck me.
“Stay the hell away from my sister!”
Nova’s eyes tighten. “I get it. You’re mad. Angry that we lied to you. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you when Harper found out. We shouldn’t have made her keep our secret, but you have to see this from our point of view?—”
Wait.
