Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
I think so. And I think, if I were anyone else, Micah would agree. But I’m his sister and he’s a pain in the ass, so he’s going to be stubborn and refuse to see it from our side because his feelings are hurt.
I try to reason with him anyway.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I whisper to Micah. “You’ve always been the best brother. I should have told you when I realized how I felt, but I didn’t want to give you another reason to worry about me. I didn’t want to come between the two of you. But I…like him, Micah. I really like him. I have for a while. I can’t just pretend that isn’t happening because you don’t like it. That’s not fair to me or to him.”
“You don’t even know him, Wren,” Micah growls.
“Stop,” I plead. “Just stop. He’s your best friend, and we both know he’s your best friend because he’s a good guy. Don’t pretend like that isn’t true just because you don’t want me dating one of your teammates.”
My brother mutters a curse, shoving his hand through his hair. “It’s not about that, Wren.”
“Really? Because it sounds like it to me,” I mutter. “He was good enough until I started dating him, and now he isn’t.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“This is bullshit!” I cry. “It’s my life, Micah. And I get to decide what I do with it.”
“Yeah, well, as history has proven, you can’t be trusted to look after your own best interests. Your decisions suck.”
I rock back on my heels like he slapped me, shock coursing through me. He must see it on my face because he flinches, regret stamped across his face.
“Shit. I didn’t mean–”
“Yeah, you did,” I whisper quietly, taking a step away from him. “You still think I’m the reckless ten-year-old little girl who walked out onto that ice. I’ll never be anything but her in your eyes.”
“Wren, that isn’t–”
“Yeah, it is.” I bite my lip, fighting not to cry. “Well, at least now I know, right?”
“Goddammit,” he growls, reaching for me.
I dodge him, ducking under his arm. “Just go away, Micah. We have nothing further to discuss.”
He tries to stop me again, calling my name, but I ignore him. I’m numb. Angry. All this time, I thought it was guilt that made him so overprotective. It isn’t. In his eyes, I’m still just a stupid kid, recklessly putting myself in danger.
I walk straight to Archer, who opens his arms for me without a word. I burrow into his embrace, breathing him in. Letting him steady me.
“It’ll be okay, little bird,” he whispers, his lips against my crown. “I promise you; it’ll be okay.”
“I know,” I whisper back. One way or another, it will be. But that doesn’t make it suck any less right now.
Chapter Nine
Archer
Micah doesn’t say a word to me when he stomps back into the locker room after Wren, Alice, and Emilia leave to go find their seats. He doesn’t even look in my direction, in fact.
I didn’t catch all of what he and Wren had to say, but I know he fucked up. And judging by the look on his face as he stomps around the locker room, he regrets the hell out of it. But he’ll wait for her to bend first because that’s what the fuck he does. He’s so goddamn stubborn.
His little sister is just like him. They may only be half-siblings, but they’re just fucking alike in that way.
I don’t regret telling him about us. He needed to know. But goddamn. I wish he’d just accept it and move on for her sake. I can deal with him icing me out, but she idolizes him. This is exactly what she didn’t want to happen.
Would it have if I’d kept my mouth shut?
“Fuck,” I mutter, bouncing my head against the wall.
“You good?” Nash asks, dropping onto the bench beside me to adjust his pads.
I cut my eyes in his direction, jerking my chin in a nod.
“Yeah, you’re so full of shit,” he mutters with a chuckle. “You look like you want to hit him.”
“You heard?” He was in the hall with Emilia.
“Not everything, but enough. You want my advice?”
He’s the only motherfucker on the team willing to give it to me, unsolicited or not. Everyone else just pretends like they don’t know that I’m in love with Micah’s sister. Not Nash. I respect the hell out of him for calling it like he sees it.
“Do I have a choice?” I ask anyway.
“Nope.” Nash smirks at me. “You’re all up in our business all the time. I’m enjoying returning the favor.”
“Dick.”
He chuckles before sobering. “Give him a little while to wrap his head around the fact that she doesn’t need him to protect her anymore. That shit isn’t easy, man.” He pauses. “But don’t let him stew over it for too long before you step in and handle it. If you let it ride too long, it’ll only hurt both of them in the end. Trust me.”