Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 97994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“Oh, come on.” He grins. Winks conspiratorially. “You know.”
“I can assure you, I don’t.”
“Wait,” he says, studying me more closely. “You seriously don’t know what’s going on between Bishop and your brother?”
“Garrett…” Spit it out!
I am losing patience.
He exhales through his nose, grin fading into something more uncertain. “I assumed Declan would’ve told you.”
“Told me what?”
He hesitates.
And that hesitation is all the confirmation I need: This is the moment.
He’s about to fill in the blanks.
I’m on pins and needles for whatever it is I’m about to discover: The reason behind the raised voices at practice, the heated interactions, the warnings from my brother.
Garrett rubs the back of his neck, gaze sliding away for half a second like he’s calculating whether mentioning this to me is a mistake.
I school my expression.
Check for drool at the side of my mouth, salivating for information.
This is going to be so, so good…
“Shit. Listen.” He lowers his voice. “I hate being the one to spread gossip, but I assumed you already knew—you didn’t hear this from me, okay? It hasn’t been great since Declan slept with Aaron’s girlfriend. Everyone’s been walking on eggshells.”
The words hit like a slap.
Declan…
Slept…
Aaron’s girlfriend…
“I’m sorry—what did you just say?”
“Declan slept with Aaron’s girlfriend,” Garrett clarifies. “His ex. Before you. Obviously, before you.”
Before me.
“Wait.” I hold a hand up. “Declan slept with Aaron’s girlfriend? While they were dating?”
He hesitates again. “Yeah, that’s usually how cheating works.”
The world tilts.
“Dude, neither of them have said anything, but my guess is Bishop caught them,” Garrett adds quietly. “Like, I bet he walked into Kennedy’s apartment and found them fuc—having sex.”
The air leaves my lungs in a rush.
“W-when was this?”
My brother.
Aaron’s girlfriend.
“No idea when this was, but it’s been so fucking awkward—all they do is rage around the ice,” Garrett continues, mistaking my silence for confusion instead of horror. “They’ve been at each other’s throats, and it’s gotten worse since you started seeing Bishop.”
My mouth gapes open in dismay.
I have no words.
“Why didn’t he tell me?” I don’t know if I mean Declan or Aaron.
Garrett shrugs helplessly. “Probably because you’re the last person anyone would want to drag into it.”
Too late.
I’m in it.
So deep in it that I’ve been mentally confessing all my sins to HR, drafting my letter, so I can stop looking over my shoulder, waiting to be fired.
“Can I ask you something? And I want you to be honest.” I lick my lips, brain malfunctioning. “I saw you break up an argument at the last game before it started. What were they saying?”
He exhales slowly. “It’s probably not something you want to hear.”
I disagree. “You’ve told me this much, you might as well tell all of it.”
He doesn’t look convinced. “God, like—take this with a grain of salt, yeah? Guys say stupid shit when they’re pissed.”
I am well aware.
“Would you spit it out?” I can’t handle the suspense.
“Declan may have implied that…” His sentence trails off. Garrett is visibly uncomfortable. “Bishop is using you.”
“Using me?” I repeat.
“To get back at him,” he explains. “Your brother doesn’t believe it’s a coincidence you two started ‘seeing’ each other.” He uses air quotes around the word seeing. “He used the word ‘revenge’.”
Revenge.
The office noise fades into the background, and I don’t hear any of it. Not the sound of heels against the marble floors, or the televisions playing highlights from the last game, or the phones ringing.
“Why would a man date someone to get back at someone else? That makes no sense.”
Garrett shrugs his wide shoulders. “Dunno.”
“That’s not…” My voice trails off because, suddenly, I don’t know how to finish that sentence. “That can’t be…”
True.
Can’t be possible.
Except, my brother truly hasn’t been behaving like his usual self. He’s been short-tempered. Snippy. Reactive.
“Hey.” Garrett is studying my face carefully. “You okay?”
No.
I am not okay.
“Do you believe it?” I ask, not recognizing the sound of my own voice. “Do you think Aaron’s sleeping with me to get back at my brother?”
Garrett opens his mouth.
Snaps it closed.
Opens it again.
Already off on the wrong start.
“I mean—guys say stupid shit when they’re pissed,” he says quickly. “You know this. Who has the bigger balls, locker-room stuff. Heat of the moment.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He winces. “Right. Sorry.”
His apology makes it worse.
“Do you believe Aaron is using me?” I reiterate my question.
“No,” he says immediately.
Relief flares inside me, but then—
He keeps talking.
“I think… timing-wise? Looks kind of bad?”
Kind of bad is an understatement.
“Hear me out.” He gestures vaguely around my cubicle, digging himself a deeper hole. “If your girlfriend cheats on you with your teammate, you’re not thinking rationally—you’re fucking pissed. You might be tempted to get the upper hand, know what I mean?”
“The upper hand.” I pause. “On my brother.”
Garrett leans on a file cabinet and shifts his weight. “I don’t think he’s with you just to get back at your brother.”