Blessings
Brody
Five Years Ago
“So, what’s going on with you and blondie?” I asked Liam in the locker room after a game.
He stared at me, face ridden with disapproval.
A lesser man might’ve withered under his gaze, but I knew Liam too well to be anything but amused at his overt display of irritation.
“You rush home to get to her. You’re always texting her when we’re away. You’re always thinking about her when you aren’t with her—”
“How the hell would you know what I’m thinking about?”
“And don’t think I haven’t noticed the way that scowl disappears whenever she’s in a fifty-foot radius.”
He shook his head, muttering a curse under his breath.
“So, I ask again, what’s going on with you and blondie?”
“What’s going on with you and my sister?” he retorted, arching a brow as if that would deter me.
“Hopefully a lot.” I grinned cheekily.
He rolled his eyes. “Well, that backfired.”
“It did,” I agreed. “Because unlike you, I don’t have any issue admitting how crazy I am about the girl I’m seeing.”
“I’m not seeing Cassie,” he said. “She’s my roommate.”
“But you are crazy about her.” I grinned, noting how he didn’t deny it.
Liam couldn’t lie, so he just looked down at his skates, pulling them off with a shake of his head.
I had never seen him like this before. So hung up on a girl. I didn’t think he had it in him to care about anything but hockey.
It was endearing.
His stalker fans were going to be pissed.
But I wasn’t going to push him on it too much.
It was enough that Cassie was getting him to open up with her. He just needed one person to be that outlet for him. One person he could let his defenses down with.
I hadn’t really met the girl, but I was super fucking grateful for her entrance into his life.
Liam didn’t realize it, but he probably owed it all to Maggie.
I cleared my throat, remembering the urgent matter I needed to discuss with him.
“So,” I started, “speaking of your sister.”
“I’d rather not.”
“As you can tell, I like her a lot,” I said.
Understatement of the century.
“Like a lot, a lot.”
“Nice.” He said. “We don’t need to keep talking about it.”
“I just wanted to check in and see if…” I started, almost hesitant to finish. “To see if you’re cool with it?”
There was a pause, and I felt anxiety bubble up in my chest.
If he said no, would I stop seeing her?
Probably not, I realized, but I’d much prefer to have his blessing. He was my best friend, after all. And even though he was elusive and grumpy—I knew I was his, too.
I didn’t need the validation of hearing him admit it.
“I don’t care what you guys do in your free time,” he said.
“So, I have your blessing?”
“Whatever.”
“No, you need to say it, because I want to invite her to be my date to the gala and I’m not going to do it if you’ll make her feel uncomfortable all night.”
“Invite her,” he bit out. “I don’t care.”
“No, you have to be clear so there’s no confusion. Say, ‘Brody, you have my blessing to date my beautiful and intelligent sister.’”
“Fucking yes, Brody. You have my blessing. Okay?”
I grinned.
“Thanks.”