Pucking Around With My Ex's Older Brother

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Rhys's POV

My brother looked like he wanted to kill me, and the girl in my arms was shaking so hard I could feel it through her scrubs. Lena Hart was straddling my lap in the middle of the owners box, her mouth was swollen from my mouth, and the whole team was watching us like we had just started a brawl on the ice.

Cole took a step forward, and his fists were clenched, and his face was red all the way up to his hairline.

He said, "Put her down."

I did not put her down, I tightened my hold on her waist instead, and I said, "No."

Lena's fingers dug into my shirt, and she was not looking at Cole, she was looking at me, and her eyes were wet and furious and scared all at once.

Silas pushed past Cole into the box with two men in league jackets behind him, and one of them was holding a folder with Lena's name printed neat on the tab, and that told me exactly what kind of night this was going to be.

Silas said, "Rhys, put Miss Hart down, we have a situation."

I said, "We have a lot of situations, pick one."

Lena tried to slide off my lap, and I kept one hand on her hip to steady her, and she stood up fast and tugged her scrub top down with shaking hands.

She said, "Mr Maddox, I can explain."

Silas held up one hand, and he looked tired, and he said, "Save it, the league got an anonymous complaint an hour ago, someone said you were providing players with unprescribed medication out of the physio room."

Lena went white, and she said, "What, no, that is insane, I would never."

The league official opened the folder, and he said, "Miss Hart, we need to pull your credentials pending an investigation, you are suspended effective immediately."

Cole made a noise in his throat, and he said, "Wait, hold on, that is not."

I cut him off, and I said, "Who filed the complaint."

The official said, "Anonymous, sir, I cannot share that."

I looked at Cole, and Cole would not look at me, and that told me everything I needed to know.

Lena said, "Rhys, I did not do this, I swear."

I said, "I know."

She blinked, and she said, "You know."

I said, "You chart every ice pack like it is evidence in a murder trial, you would not hand out an aspirin without three signatures."

A sound caught in her throat, and it was almost a laugh, and almost not, and she pressed her knuckles to her mouth.

Silas said, "Rhys, this is not the time."

I said, "It is exactly the time, someone is trying to burn her, and it happened to line up with my brother getting caught with his pants down."

Cole said, "Shut your mouth."

I looked at him, and I said, "Make me."

The room went quiet again, and the sponsors near the bar pretended to be very interested in their drinks.

Lena stepped between us before either of us could move, and she put a flat hand on my chest, and she said, "Stop, both of you, just stop."

Her hand was warm through my shirt, and my heart kicked hard against her palm again, just like it had when she climbed into my lap.

She said, "I am suspended, fine, I will go home, I will call my lawyer in the morning."

She turned to leave, and Cole reached for her arm, and I caught his wrist before he could touch her.

I said, "Do not."

He jerked his hand back, and he said, "She is my girlfriend."

I said, "Not anymore."

Lena stopped at the door, and she did not turn around, and her shoulders were up tight near her ears.

She said, "Rhys, do not do this."

I said, "Do what."

She said, "Fight my battles, I do not need you to fight my battles."

I said, "You kissed me in front of forty people to make a point, you made it my battle."

She turned then, and her eyes were bright, and she said, "That was a mistake."

The word landed hard, and I felt it in my teeth, and I kept my face blank out of habit.

I said, "Was it."

She said, "Yes, I was angry, I was stupid, I used you."

I said, "Use me again."

Someone coughed near the dessert table, and Lena stared at me like I had spoken in another language.

She said, "What."

I said, "You need a job, you need protection while the league pokes around, you need Cole to leave you alone, I can give you all three."

Silas said, "Rhys."

I ignored him, and I kept my eyes on Lena, and I said, "Move in with me."

Cole laughed, sharp and ugly, and he said, "You have got to be kidding me."

Lena said, "I am not moving in with you, I barely know you."

I said, "You have known me three years, you tape my ankles twice a week, you know I hate tape on my left arch, you know I take my coffee black, you know more about me than he does."

She opened her mouth, and closed it, and her cheeks went pink.

She said, "That is work, that is not knowing you."

I said, "Then come learn the rest."

The league official cleared his throat, and he said, "Miss Hart, we will need your keycard."

Lena pulled the lanyard over her head with unsteady hands, and she set it on the bar next to my whiskey glass, and her fingers brushed mine for half a second.

She said, "There, happy."

The official said, "Thank you, we will be in touch."

They left, and Silas followed them out, and he shot me a look over his shoulder that said we would talk later, and then it was just me and Lena and Cole and half the team pretending not to stare.

Cole said, "Lena, come on, let me drive you home, we can talk."

Lena said, "No."

He said, "Baby, please."

She flinched at the word baby, and I saw it, and Cole saw it too.

I said, "She said no."

Cole turned on me, and he said, "You have wanted her since day one, do not act like this is noble, you are a freak, you have always been a freak about what is mine."

Lena said, "I am not yours."

Cole said, "You were this morning."

That was it, that was the line, and I moved before I thought about it, and I had Cole by the front of his suit in half a breath, and I walked him back into the wall.

I said, "Say that again."

Lena grabbed my arm, and she said, "Rhys, let go, you will get suspended, let go right now."

Her voice cut through the noise in my head, and I let go, and Cole slumped against the wall and straightened his tie with shaking hands.

I said, "If you come near her again, I will end your contract myself."

Cole said, "You cannot do that."

I said, "Try me."

Lena tugged on my sleeve, and she said, "Take me out of here, please."

I nodded once, and I shrugged out of my jacket and put it around her shoulders, and it swallowed her whole, and she smelled like my cologne instantly.

I walked her out with a hand low on her back, and nobody said a word as we passed, and Cole did not follow us.

The elevator was quiet all the way down to the garage, and Lena stared at the doors, and she was still wearing my jacket with her hands tucked into the sleeves.

She said, "I do not have a job anymore."

I said, "You will."

She said, "You cannot fix everything by throwing money at it."

I said, "Watch me."

She huffed out a breath that was almost a laugh, and she said, "You are impossible."

The doors opened on P2, and my car was waiting where Marco always left it, black and low and quiet.

I opened the passenger door for her, and she hesitated, and she said, "Where are we going."

I said, "My place, you can yell at me there, it is safer."

She said, "Safer than what."

I did not answer, because the garage lights flickered once, hard, and a black SUV with no plates rolled slow past the elevator bank, and I recognized the plates that were not there.

Lena said, "Rhys."

I pushed her gently into the car, and I said, "Seatbelt."

She clicked it while I scanned the garage, and my phone buzzed in my pocket with a text from a number I had buried two years ago.

I pulled it out with one hand while I started the car with the other, and the message lit up the dash.

It said, nice girl, captain, tell Cole he still owes us, and there was a photo attached of Lena walking into the arena that morning, alone.