Chapter 4 Bros and Brooding
brOS AND brOODING
Archer
The glass shuddered as the Viper’s center rammed an Ice Dog into it right in front of us. Between that and the crowd’s roar, they shook me out of my funk. I joined the others in lifting my beer and toasted the chaos, pretending like I wasn’t overthinking my coffee time with Penny.
It had become a full-time obsession.
Penny, Brianne’s stepsister—a temptation I didn’t want to admit.
“That’s Bellamy blood right there,” Rex Buchanan said beside me, grinning because he probably won a side bet with one of the guys. Betting that my brother would shove someone into the boards in the first period was the safest wager in hockey.
“He’s having a career year. Sports analysts said he peaked too early. Idiots. We know better.” Richard Buchanan leaned his forearms on the rail, eyes locked on the ice where Tucker—my little brother, the family’s golden puck—skated backward with a speed that defied physics.
“You know he thrives on being underestimated.” My words came out half-hearted. Goddammit. Focus, Archer. Get her out of your head.
“Careful.” Keaton Kingston finished his beer as the buzzer sounded the end of the first period, his brewer’s shoulders stretching the plaid he wore like a second skin. “Talk like that and the bookies will start swooning.”
I smirked into my glass. “Tucker’s too busy to care about the odds, having a diaper bag in one hand and a hockey stick in the other.”
Rex barked a laugh. “Come on. Let’s go up to the box and eat.”
We all vacated our season ticket seats and filed up the stairs, ending eventually at the Buchanan box they maintained annually for the games.
The bartender quickly served our drinks, and attendants stood nearby, ready to load our plates up with a buffet of sports fan cuisine.
My personal choices—the spicy pulled pork loaded fries, jumbo buffalo wings, and to top it all off, a stack of iced mini donuts.
“All our wives are angels taking care of the kids tonight so we can have this night out. We owe them,” Rex finished off an Italian sausage sandwich.
“I’ll be sure to pay Sophie back well when I get home,” Keaton grinned, wiping his mouth of the buffalo sauce on his wings.
Richard lifted his glass of Scotch in a toast. “To wives who make us better men.”
Glasses clinked all around—except mine and Griffin West’s.
He sat with his young son beside him, the only other man here not married.
Not that it was a contest between us to see who would marry first. Hard to say.
Me, the unfortunate bachelor—and trying not to put Penny at the top of a very short list of prospects.
And reminding myself once again that she was Brianne’s stepsister.
Or Griffin, the billionaire single father, who seemed perfectly content in his singleness.
We ate like kings, the five of us, men of the world, wealthy as shit.
The only one missing was Brooks, who opted to stay home with Maisy.
But Tucker and I arranged to meet after the game and go to their place here in the city so he could meet Everett.
Our little nephew was over a week old and growing fast, according to the photos hitting my phone daily from his parents.
“So,” Rex said, slapping me on the back. “What’s the latest from Maisy and Brooks? Adjusting to life with two children under two?”
My grin was smug and stupidly happy. “Wren loves her baby brother. Maisy’s a rock star. Brooks watches over all of them like his life depends on it.”
Keaton pointed his fork toward me. “When are we going to toast you, Archer?”
“Maybe never.” I kept my tone breezy. “I might become the eccentric bachelor uncle who brings all the kids inappropriate gifts at Christmas that make their parents question my sanity.”
Griffin’s boy Theo perked up. “Archer brought me a drone for my birthday. Dad said it was too expensive.”
I laid a solemn hand over my heart. “Your dad is allergic to joy.”
Griffin narrowed his eyes at me. “Your dad also has to keep you from being sued when the drone flies into the window of Mrs. Eldenrod’s penthouse next door again.”
Laughter ripped through the room as Griffin ruffled Theo’s hair and stood, leaving their finished plates for the attendants to clean up.
“Come on, buddy. Let’s go watch the next period from the glass.
” He shot me a look that said he knew exactly what he was doing—removing his kid so the conversation could get unfiltered.
As soon as the door shut behind them, Richard leaned back and laced his fingers over his dad-bod torso. He says it’s due to Vivian’s baking at her shop and at home. “So, Arch, really. What’s going on with you lately?”
Shit. These guys knew me too well. I took my time with a sip of Macallan, letting the burn buy me seconds. “Define ‘going on.’”
“Does your dry spell continue?” Rex asked, getting to the heart of it.
Normally, I’d lie. Deflect with a joke. It kept them from poking at the hollow parts of my life.
But the memory of Penny’s smile at the coffee shop this week had been stubborn—like sunlight that never faded.
The way she hung on every word I said was a lot for my head and heart to process. Damn my craving for female attention.
I set my glass down, daring to go there. Needing my guys to rally around me to figure things out. “Matter of fact, I came across someone on Dax’s app.”
All eyes swiveled toward me.
Rex frowned. “You actually used Dax’s matchmaking service?”
“I invested. So yeah, I tested it out.” I lifted a shoulder. “I swiped. Mostly left.”
“And?” Rex pressed.
“And,” I drew out the word, feeling ridiculous even as I admitted it, “I found Penny Fair.”
There was a beat of silence while it sunk in.
“Wait. Penny Fair? Isn’t that Brianne’s stepsister?” Rex asked, brow furrowing.
“The very one.”
“You swiped right on your ex’s stepsister?” Keaton let out a low whistle. “Damn. That’s awkward.”
I grinned. “Awkward is my middle name, apparently, right after Everett.”
Richard’s tone was a warning cloaked in velvet. “Hasn’t that family already cost you enough?”
“I had coffee with her the other day.” I shook my head. “Penny’s nothing like Brianne. At all. She’s really grounded and honest and real, and you know I always thought her Aunt Brier was a sweetheart.”
I thought of Penny’s laugh over the rim of her latte, and her genuine smile. The way she’d admitted her underemployment as if it was a flaw instead of the type of honesty I hadn’t tasted in years. How my lips tingled brushing along her cheek.
Keaton leaned back in his chair, smirking. “Translation: you already like her.”
“No. I’m impressed with her. There’s a difference. She’s grown into a nice young woman.”
“Emphasis on young,” Rex guffawed. He should talk. Wasn’t there a bit of a gap between him and Chelsea?
“Less than ten years. Not a big deal.” Not to me anyway. “I feel bad for her. She studied architecture in college but never had a chance to seek a job in the field. I could help her get a foot in the door, at the very least.”
“Aw Jeez. You’ve got that white-knight syndrome again. Can’t resist rescuing a damsel in distress,” Rex scoffed. “You played right into Brianne’s manipulations, paying for her education and giving her whatever she wanted whenever she cried for help. Now Penny, too?”
The sting still stabbed me—the last big fight we had, Brianne shouting her affair in my face, professing love for her goddamn professor like it was supposed to make sense.
Richard crossed his arms. “For the record, I don’t like you opening a door to Brianne’s world again, even indirectly.” Of course he wouldn’t, considering he caught his ex-fiancée red-handed with her lover and a plan to take Richard for all his money.
Out of all of us, he and I both knew the sting of women wanting us only for our wealth. Fortunately, he got a second chance, married to Vivian now with a few kids, and very much in love, enjoying a quiet small town life upstate on a farm.
I got nothing.
“Look, Penny doesn’t talk to Brianne anymore. They were never friends. Hardly stayed in touch once her mother divorced Brianne’s dad.” My defenses kicked in, almost reassuring myself.
“Still,” Richard pressed. “People have patterns. Connections. Strings you don’t see until they’re tied around your throat.”
I drummed my fingers on the table. “You’re saying I shouldn’t go there.”
“I’m saying, be smart.”
Rex smirked. “I second that. Be careful. We remember the crater Brianne left behind in your life. I’d hate to see you get sucked back into that dark place again.”
“Story of my life.” I said, gesturing between them. “Cock-blocked once again.”
Richard’s tone cut clean. “What do you want, Arch? Our blessing?”
The question landed harder than it should have.
Because I wanted it all, everything they had.
Richard’s second chance, Rex’s family bliss, Keaton’s happiness.
I wanted to hold what Brooks had in that hospital room—a baby bundle of joy, fragile and perfect—and believe it wouldn’t slip through my fingers.
I wanted Penny’s smile to keep haunting me.
The buzzer sounded for the beginning of the second period. Finished with my meal, I sauntered over to the glass where Keaton stood watching Tucker line up for the face-off, his stick poised, the whole arena holding its breath.
“Why do I feel like I’m always in the penalty box when it comes to love?” I scoffed.
Keaton’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Then maybe it’s time you stopped playing defense.” He made it sound easy, and I wondered if he’d ever had his heart truly broken before he met and married Sophie.
The puck dropped. The crowd roared. Tucker took off like he owned the ice, and for one sharp second, I envied him the clarity of knowing exactly where he was going.
The guys may be right, though. With Penny, I’d always feel Brianne’s shadow hanging over us, imagined or real.
I should play offense and cut ties now. Keep my heart safe. But the truth? For the first time in years, the risk didn’t scare me half as much as the thought of letting her go—because what if she was put in my path for a reason?
What if that fucking little app was right and Penny and I were a perfect match?