Chapter 24
Brody
After Nick swung for me, a lumbering move I easily avoided, we were kicked out of the bar.
“You fucker! Ari loves the cocktails at that place, so getting kicked out better not be a permanent thing,” Marcus fumed, stalking up and down the street outside the bar.
Nick leaned against the railing, watching me with narrowed eyes.
“It’ll be fine. Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” I drawled, never taking my eyes off Nick.
From the moment Marcus had called me earlier and badgered me into going for a drink, I should have known something was up. I’d walked into the bar, saw the group at the table—my eyes drawn to the back of Selena’s head as if she were true north of my fucking internal compass—and I’d understood.
“This is you coming through on date information?” I’d asked Marcus.
He’d just shrugged. “Don’t forget you owe me the party for this. I wouldn’t mind an explanation for why you’re so interested in this date either. I can’t be the team gossip if people don’t tell me things.”
“Pass. There’s no gossip.”
“And yet, you can’t fucking look away,” Marcus had snorted.
I realized he was right. I hadn’t taken my eyes off Selena’s profile. Slowly, I’d ripped my gaze from her and directed it to the stranger at the table.
No. Not a stranger.
Him.
“Who exactly is that guy then, team gossip? Give me the info.”
Marcus had glanced over. “Oh, Nick Preston. He’s on our team, since I guess you haven’t noticed him. He’s a decent player, not sure about as a person. I don’t really know him.”
Nick Preston. The guy who had approached me at my first Hellions party, when I was watching Selena on the dance floor. The one who had called her the campus bike.
Now he was on a date with her?
Hell, no. Not on my watch.
Now, I was outside the bar with a few pissed-off teammates, one of whom looked like he’d love to press charges against me.
“What’s your problem, Sinclair?” Nick demanded. His voice was muffled, nasally. Maybe his nose was broken. It certainly seemed like it.
“Sorry.” I cracked my knuckles. The advantage of a headbutt meant keeping your hands clean, literally. “I think I mistook you for someone else.”
Nick scoffed. “Are you fucking kidding me? You broke my nose because you thought I was someone else?”
Asher stared at me like he didn’t believe a word I was saying.
“Yeah,” I sighed. I wasn’t about to get into it with Nick. The fucker didn’t deserve an explanation.
I pulled my keys from my pocket.
“Well, accidents happen, eh. Let’s just pretend it happened on the ice. No hard feelings, mate,” I said to Nick.
He watched me with his mouth hanging open.
Marcus sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, fuck it. I don’t care about this. See you at practice tomorrow.” He made for his motorcycle parked at the curb.
“Not me, I’ll be in London,” I reminded them. “Keep my spot warm, and try not to suck too bad without me.”
“Fuck you.”
I held up the middle finger as I walked away, heading for my car.
Selena would be home by now. It was time for a little reminder of the rules, it seemed, since she couldn’t seem to stop breaking them.
I stepped into the kitchen half an hour later and narrowly dodged an apple flying toward my head. I grabbed it out of the air, my hockey reflexes serving me well, and looked at my attacker.
Selena stood behind the island in the middle of the kitchen.
She’d taken off the oversized cardigan she’d had on over her black tank top and jeans.
Her hair lay in ribbons around her shoulders, well brushed for once.
She’d made an effort for that guy. She didn’t look like herself. It pissed me off even more.
“You dropped this,” I said to her.
She narrowed her eyes at me and picked up another apple, throwing it at me with a far-too-accurate aim.
It bounced off my shoulder and fell to the floor.
“Don’t waste food, heathen—”
“Why? Is it against your rules?” she challenged.
“Because it’s fucking rude and ungrateful,” I corrected her, grabbing the apple off the floor and holding it up for her to see. “You can have this one. Don’t let it go to waste.”
“Brody!” Selena banged her hand ineffectually on the countertop. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
You.
I set the fruit down and shrugged, rotating my tight shoulders.
“I told you not to break the rules, so I had to remind you of what happens when you do. Simple.”
I leaned back against the counter that ran around the kitchen. Selena slowly rounded the island, heading for me.
“You told me not to break your bullshit rules and then decided to assault someone to make it stick?”
I shrugged. “Why not? He’s a hockey player. He gets hit in the face all the time, couldn’t you tell?” I waved a hand in the vicinity of my face. “It’s all messed up. That can’t be his first broken nose.”
“Are you seriously just insulting his looks now and taking no responsibility for hitting someone?”
“Why don’t we try this?” I lifted a finger and poked Selena in the shoulder. “You try taking responsibility for once.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “How was it my responsibility?”
“Because you have rules to follow, things you can and cannot do as a Sinclair. I’ve told you about it numerous times. You need to get your short-term memory checked. I think you’ve got something going on there. It’s not normal.”
Selena shoved me. “No, you’re the one who isn’t normal. You’re an absolute psycho.”
I just shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
“I bet you have! Why can’t I date Nick? Is it just him, or anyone?” she demanded.
I opened my mouth to tell her it was just him, that fucker who had called her names behind her back, but that wasn’t what came out.
“It’s anyone. Get used to that fact.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I’d made her speechless, which was really an accomplishment.
It didn’t last nearly long enough, though.
“What’s the endgame here, Brody? How long are you going to tell me how to live?
Just this year, or next as well? What about when we graduate?
When we’re older? Will you still be shoving your bullshit rules down my throat when we meet up for our parents’ ten-year wedding anniversary?
I’ll still be a Sinclair then, won’t I?”
Not if I have my way.
“We’re not talking about the future, this is about tonight, and that guy…” I broke off. I could just tell her what he’d said about her and absolve myself of guilt. That would be the easiest thing to do. But, for some reason, the words just wouldn’t come out.
“You’re out of control.” She stepped back and looked at me up and down with shock on her face.
“No, I’m not.”
She shook her head. “You are. For all your discipline and manners and good behavior talk, you’re just like all the rest of us. You can lose it, too.”
I laughed. “I’ve not lost it, Selena. I’m giving you the consequences of your actions, that’s all. I warned you.”
She nodded and stepped close to me again.
“I won’t let you tell me what to do for the rest of my life. If I want to date, I will. If I want to sleep with someone, I will. You—you have no power over me,” she all but whispered.
The words swirled in my chest, tightening around my heart. She was so defiant, staring me in the eye, meeting my every attempt to control her with endless rebellion.
But then I saw the pulse pounding in her throat, the way her gaze darted around my face. There was nothing I wanted more in that moment than to erase the thought of any other man from this woman’s head. I wanted her full attention. Her time. Her smiles. They were supposed to be mine.
“If I want to get screwed by Nick, or anyone else, I’ll damn well do what I want—”
I slid my hand into the thick hair at the nape of her neck, and her words died on her lips.
She stared at me, her plump lips slightly parted.
“No,” I growled. “If you need anything, anything at all…” I leaned in to bring our mouths within inches of each other.
Her breath brushed my skin.
“You come to me. That’s the rule.” Then I lowered my lips to hers.