Chapter 2
TYLER
New York
Iwoke up to my phone ringing and a hand stroking my dick.
I was awake real fast after that. It was my sister’s ringtone, and she would never call at five in the morning unless it was an emergency.
I shoved the girl’s hand off my dick—I’d stupidly neglected to call her an Uber last night—and swung my legs over the side of the bed as I reached for the phone.
“Yeah?” I grunted in greeting, knowing—goddamn knowing—but trying to tell myself that eerie fucking twin-vibe thing wasn’t happening.
There’d been another call like this, at a similar time in the morning, and Skylar and I had never been the same.
That call had let us know our parents had died in a car accident.
My sister’s sobs were the only thing I could hear at first.
Jesus. My heart sank.
I rose from the bed and snapped my fingers at the girl next to me.
“Ski? What happened?” My voice grew hoarse as her childhood nickname slipped out.
I hadn’t been able to pronounce her name when we were little, but I’d loved to play in the snow, so I came up with Ski. Everyone else shortened her name to Sky, but I got to call her Ski. I’d once overheard her telling a boyfriend that name was reserved for her twin and only her twin.
Fuck, I loved my sister.
I covered the phone and hissed at…I couldn’t remember her name. “You need to go.” I turned around, starting for the closet. “Ski?” Still only sobbing on the other end. “Ski!”
Pulling open my drawer, I grabbed some clothes, but when I turned, I realized the girl from last night wasn’t leaving.
She’d leaned forward, and hunger flared in her eyes. She chewed her lip, her focus on my phone. Christ. She wanted to overhear some gossip. And her phone was in her hand. She had it angled awkwardly, the camera lens pointing my way. She was filming me.
I growled, starting for her. “You need to go.”
The girl’s eyes were wide but defiant. She clutched the bedsheet, pulling it to her chin, but she sat up straighter as I closed the distance between us.
I’d been riding a wave of exhilaration and exhaustion last night after finally not only playing a home game, but winning the home game, and just being home after a three-game stretch away.
Some of the guys on the team had gone out to celebrate, and their wives, girlfriends, and partners had joined, so it was a big party.
We’d also been celebrating my buddy’s birthday, so I guess I’d indulged a bit more than normal.
At the end of the evening, the walk to my place had been a lot faster and warmer than enduring a car ride to wherever this woman’s place was, so that had made my decision, despite breaking my rule.
Fuck. This was why I had that rule in place. Never bring a hookup to my place.
She’d resisted leaving last night, and my body had given in to sleep before I could be a hardass and kick her out. Now, three hours later, with my twin sister sobbing in my ear, all niceties were gone.
“Ski, hold on just a minute,” I said, setting my phone down.
I glared at the girl and snatched her phone.
She came alive, lunging for me with a screech.
I ignored her, stepping away and putting my back to her so I could quickly go through it.
I spoke as I went through her videos, her pictures—shit, she’d taken pictures of me sleeping.
“You will get the fuck out. I told you to leave last night, and you refused. If I fucking have to tell you one more time, you’re not going to like the consequences.
” I froze at a picture of my own dick on her phone.
I didn’t do dick pics. Ever.
I knew it was a thing, but not for me. I was too paranoid about them being released to the press. This girl had violated my privacy. A new wave of anger crashed over me. I don’t have time for this. Something was going on with my sister—something real fucking bad.
Every part of my body coiled tight. This girl did not want to keep pressing me.
I deleted everything. Every goddamn picture and video from our time together.
I went through her recordings and shit, deleting anything that’d been created during the time she’d been with me.
This girl wasn’t a problem. She was a nightmare.
Finally—fucking finally—she caught on and got moving. I watched her from the corner of my eye as she visibly swallowed, her nose wrinkling in a sneer. She threw back the sheets and stalked past me to the bathroom.
I cursed under my breath, crossing the room in two steps so I could catch the door before she slammed it. I caught it, and she gasped, twisting toward me. She began to snarl, but I had no fucks left to give. “Nope. You’re not going to hide in my bathroom for the next hour or two.”
Grabbing her elbow, I pulled her out of the bedroom and dragged her to the front door.
She yelled, trying to twist her arm free.
I didn’t care. Not one bit.
“I need—I need my clothes, you asshole!”
I ignored her and yanked open the door.
“Hey!” she barked.
I shoved her into the hallway.
She rounded, her face red, her eyes angry. “Listen—”
The door slammed shut in her face, but I wasn’t done.
My two neighbors weren’t currently here, and there were no cameras in this hallway, so she’d be fine for a few seconds.
Marching back to the room, I swept up her clothes.
Her shoes. Her purse. I did a cursory look around my place as I snapped a picture of her driver’s license.
She was now pounding on my door and yelling from the hallway. I still had her phone.
Crossing the kitchen, I found a glass of water on the counter. I tossed her phone into it, then opened my door and dropped the rest of her items at her feet.
“My phone—”
I slammed the door once again.
I didn’t know how long it would take to ruin the phone, but I didn’t want to risk it. After I figured it’d been in the water long enough, I took it out, ran a towel over it, and when it was dry, I opened the door again.
She quieted immediately, huffing, her face red. “I need my goddamn phone, you prick.”
I dropped her phone into her hands, and when she got a look at my face, she edged back a step.
“If any of those pictures, audio, or videos of me get leaked online or to the press, I will slap you with a lawsuit so fucking fast, your head will spin. A buddy of mine is a lawyer, and his brother’s privacy was violated by a puck bunny like you, so he has a personal vendetta against your type.
” I looked at her for a long moment. “I had no clue what you were about last night, but I am now wondering why my thinking was so clouded after only two drinks. Wondering if that was at your hand too?”
I didn’t really believe she’d drugged me. If I did, I’d be going ballistic, but the threat was an added bonus against her.
She opened her mouth, ready to protest.
“I’m not done.”
The blood drained from her face.
“Find a new drinking place. You will not hang out at Hook Up anymore. You are done chasing any hockey players on my team. Once I find out what’s going on with my sister, I will be telling every player I know how many pictures you took of me when I was sleeping.
No one will want to touch you again. Are you hearing me? ”
Her bottom lip began to tremble, she jerked her head in a quick nod.
“Now get the fuck out of my building before I call security.”
“I—”
I let the door slam shut one more time, then took a breath and went back to my phone. “Ski?”
My sister drew in a ragged breath. “It’s about Zoey.”
I was right. My twin broke my heart with what she said next.