Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 30715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 154(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 154(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
I answer it when I fling my arms around him, not caring who sees us.
"Fuck," he breathes, dragging me up against his chest to bury his face in my hair.
I cling to him, holding him together, as a tremor works its way through him. He's the only thing that matters right now. Everything else will just have to wait.
At least…that's the plan. Right up until it isn't anymore.
"You shady motherfucker!" Jonas growls from behind Kellan. "I'm going to kick your lying ass."
Two of their teammates grab him before he lunges at Kellan.
Kellan turns, trying to keep himself between me and Jonas as if to protect me. I'm not afraid of my brother, though. He'd never hit me.
"You're fucking my sister," my brother growls, his face red with rage.
"Jonas, stop it," I demand quietly, acutely aware of the crowd behind us. The entire arena is still focused on the bench and the players milling in front of it. I'm sure the cameras probably are too. The whole world has a front-row seat to this confrontation, and that isn't what anyone needs right now. "You don't want to do this right here with the whole world watching."
"Says you." He shrugs Dean and Gregory off, though, and doesn't lunge at Kellan again. "I think kicking his ass in front of the entire world sounds like a real good idea right now, baby sister."
"I love him."
"Jesus H. Christ."
"If you want to fight someone, fight me. I'm the one you should be mad at. I'm the one who convinced him to keep our relationship hidden. I'm the one who didn't want to have to choose between you." Tears well in my eyes. "Please don't make me choose now," I whisper to Jonas. "Please."
Jonas clenches his jaw but doesn't say anything.
"Michaud, Alexander," Coach MacAthie barks. "Locker room. Now!"
Jonas stares at me for a moment and then turns and storms off without another word. My bottom lip quivers, my heart threatening to shatter into pieces. This is all my fault. I know it is…and yet it hurts even worse than expected.
Chapter Eleven
Kellan
Fuck my life. This isn't how I wanted Jonas to find out, but the cat is out of the bag now, and there's no putting it back in. I don't think I even want to. For the first time, our secret is finally out. I can finally claim my girl publicly.
I don't know what changed her mind. I'm guessing it had to do with Kelsey. But I'm glad she's here. I'm glad the truth is out, even if I didn't want it to go down with the whole world watching.
The entire team is silent as we stream toward the locker room. I guess with everything that just happened, we're taking an early intermission to hash shit out. It's not ideal. Hell, it's not even standard. But there was a brawl at center ice, the captain of our team just walked out to be with our publicist who collapsed, and Jonas threatened to kick my ass in front of the entire world.
I don't think there is a rule in the book that covers this shit.
As soon as we cross the threshold into the locker room, Coach MacAthie spins on us. "You two choose right fucking now to start acting like morons?" he growls, beyond pissed. "We've got more important shit to deal with right now."
"He's fucking my sister," Jonas mutters darkly.
"I'm in love with your sister," I correct.
"Christ Almighty." Coach shoots us both a baleful glare. "You've got ten minutes to hash your shit out before I kill you both and save you the trouble of killing each other. Fix it. Now. Use the family room across the hall." He whirls on the rest of the team. "Everyone else, what the fuck are you thinking, starting a goddamn brawl in the middle of a Playoff game?"
Jonas slams out of the locker room.
I sigh and follow behind him.
He doesn't speak until we're in the family room. "How long?" he demands, yanking his gloves off.
"Since the day after I found her at Dionysus."
He rocks back on his heels. "You motherfucker. You told me you didn't find her at the club. And all this time, you were lying so you could fuck her behind my back. I trusted you."
"I know, and I deserve whatever anger you want to throw my way. I should have told you the truth from the beginning, but I didn't keep it from you for the hell of it."
"Right." He snorts his disbelief. "You did it so you could keep sleeping with her."
"I did it because I'm in love with her. I've been crazy about her since we met six months ago," I growl. "The only way she'd agree to see me was if we kept it from you. She knew this is how you'd react."
"Gee, I wonder why?" he says sarcastically. "You found my sister in a sex club and decided to start hooking up with her behind my back. You took advantage of her. How did you want me to react?"