Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
brAY
I sat through that whole picnic, listening to them talk, while watching Wren.
I couldn't remember exactly when she got so fucking hot. Or when I stopped hating her.
I probably never had, not really. I was pissed off when my parents separated. Bitter as fuck when my mother remarried, but she could have done a lot worse than Martin. Hell, she could have married someone like me. Someone who holds a grudge for too long. Someone who has more ego than brain cells.
Yeah, I don't know if that's possible, but if it was, I fit the category. If I had any sense, I would have told Wren how I felt about her a long time ago. That I wanted to be more than stepsiblings that hated each other.
Instead of telling her, I buried myself in puck bunnies. Literally. I was never short of a willing pussy. Every single time, they left me feeling cold, empty. The hookups were meaningless.
Hate-fucking Wren should have been just as meaningless. Two people working out their frustrations. The minute my cock was inside her, I was gone. I couldn't imagine fucking anyone else.
That was as terrifying as hell. What did I know about commitment? What did I care? Guys like me were supposed to screw anything with a pulse and move on after an hour or two. I couldn't do that with her. I didn't want to.
Also, being her, she'd never let me forget it anyway. If anyone knew how to make my life hell, it was her.
"Worst sandwiches ever." I tossed the empty wrapper into the bag, and the teacup with it. So I cared about her, that didn't mean I was going to go easy on her. That wasn't who we were. We lived to give each other shit.
"Vegemite for you next time," she said easily. "Or better yet, peanut butter."
"Ouch." Lex grinned.
Tiger looked at all of us like we were crazy. "The fuck you on about?"
"I'm allergic to peanuts," I said. "Anaphylactic. One little bite and I'm dead meat."
While I spoke to Tiger, I flipped Wren off. In the corner of my eye, I saw her return the gesture.
"Good to know," Tiger said, as if he planned to use that information against me.
"With friends like this, who needs enemies?" I said to myself.
"Who said we're friends?" Wren folded the empty sandwich wrapper before placing it into the bag.
Yeah, folded, not scrunched. I've often wondered if she wasn't slightly unhinged. She probably folds toilet paper too. She's also the kind of person who carefully, slowly, opens presents so she can reuse the paper.
I don't think I've actually seen her reuse wrapping paper, but she always claims that's why she does it.
Truth is, it's probably to piss me off. I have absolutely no patience when it comes to opening gifts.
I treat wrapping paper like I treated Wren's blouse.
It's made to be ripped, to expose the goodies inside.
Don’t get me wrong, she likes to give other people shit too, not just me. But mostly it’s me.
"I didn't say anything about us being friends," I said. "Tiger and I drink together, that almost makes us friends."
"Almost," Tiger agreed.
"And Lex is cool," I added. "We don't dislike each other, right?"
Lex leaned over and slapped my shoulder. "No we don't. We could count each other as friends."
"One out of three ain't bad." I shrugged. At least things weren't going to be boring.
"Poor Bray-Bray," Wren teased. "I'm sure all those puck bunnies like you.
" There was something in her eyes, like she wanted me to deny what she said, or reassure her.
For a gorgeous, smart, competent woman, sometimes she could be insecure.
Fair enough, this thing between us was relatively new. Fragile.
I could have told her I had no interest in touching another woman, but that would be too easy.
"Like you?" I asked. "You're a puck bunny, aren't you?" She was sitting with two players and a coach. She'd denied it the other morning, but I couldn't help giving her another serve, just for fun.
"I don't want to be with any of you to score points," she said coolly. "I think that means I'm not a puck bunny. In fact, if you say that again I'll tell you to puck off."
I laughed. "I'll tell you to go puck yourself."
"You're such a puckwit," she retorted.
"Better than being a puckhead," I said.
"There's a difference?" she asked.
I grinned. "Definitely. I don't know what it is, but I'm sure there is one."
"You're a pucking idiot." She shook her head.
"That's not the first time you've told me that, and it won't be the last," I said.
"You two are out of your pucking minds," Tiger said. "I'm starting to think we shouldn't have let Bray into the club."
"There's a club?" Lex asked.
Tiger swallowed down the last of his coffee and tossed the cup into the bag. "Whatever you want to call it. Wren and us. Club. Group. Team." He was silent for a moment before quietly adding, "Family."
I always figured there was more to him than just a grumpy defenceman.
I knew his brother was ridiculously famous and for some reason they didn't get along.
I've seen Tiger become aggressive with someone because they wouldn't stop playing music from his brother's band. I mean, their music wasn't that bad.
"Family works," Wren said, her hand on Tiger's. "Even if some of us are dysfunctional." She shot me a sneaky glance.
"You can't have dysfunctional without fun," I said.
"You might be the stepdad," Lex told me. "You're here with all the dad jokes."
I tried not to bristle. "I learned them from Martin." My voice was tighter than I intended.
My biological dad and I were close, in spite of only spending every second Saturday together, from the age of ten until I turned sixteen and got too busy to bother.
We still talked on the phone every week, but only saw each other a couple of times a year.
For a long time, I lay awake at night trying to figure out ways of getting my parents back together so I could be with both of them. Even when my mother was happy with Martin, I struggled to see past my own needs.
Looking back, I saw how ridiculous it was. We were a happy family, and I would have sabotaged that for myself, to put back together two people who didn't work.
Like I said, I have more ego than brain cells.
"He learnt well, didn't you Bray?" Wren said. "If there's anything we can rely on him for, it's for bad jokes."
"You're not so bad at bad jokes yourself, Socks," I told her.
"Socks?" Lex looked amused.
I explained my comparison of Wren's pussy to Coast's lucky socks. "It seems appropriate." I grinned at her while she rolled her eyes.
"I suspect if you keep comparing her to lucky socks, you won't get lucky," Lex said.
Wren laughed at the expression on my face. "Lex is absolutely right. You definitely won't. Unless…"
"Unless I take a couple of puck bunnies home," I finished for her. "They might have tighter pussies than you."
"They might appreciate your toothpick cock better than I do," she retorted.
"You love my toothpick cock," I said.
"At least you admit your cock is as thick as a toothpick." She grinned.
"Whatever you say, Socks." I picked up the bag and pushed myself to my feet. "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm ready to figure out a plan to deal with Fiorelli. I'm guessing this is where you all say we should include Aidan."
"It's always safer to include Aidan. Otherwise you risk him being pissed off at you when you have to fill him in on the details later," Lex said.
That sounded accurate. The head coach was also in charge of plans for dealing with our enemies. Nothing much went on with the team that Aidan didn't know about. And if he didn't know, he found out pretty quickly. Lex was right, it was better to speak to him first.
"I'll be glad when all of this is over," Wren said. "It would be nice to spend a few days not having to worry about looking over my shoulder."
I sighed. "How long will it be before another threat pops up? The Bell family might decide to go after the Brantleys once and for all."
That would get very messy, given the relationship between Lila Bell and Hunter and Parker Brantley. Either they'd have to side against their own family or she'd side against them.
Maybe the DiMarco family would decide they were sick of sitting at the feet of the Brantleys, waiting for scraps. It was only a matter of time before something happened there. If not them, then someone else.
"As long as we keep our heads down, we should be fine," Wren said. "At least after Fiorelli is dealt with. Although, we might become more noticeable if we act against him. More of a threat to whoever might pop up next."
"That's why I was keeping my distance from you," Tiger said. "But we can deal with whatever comes after us. And whoever. And if we can't, we'll have Bray tell them his stupid dad jokes until they surrender." He gestured at me with his thumb.
"Let me at them," I said with a grin. "I have a million of them. Ready to release a barrage."
"They'll be begging for mercy just being in your company," Wren said to me. "Add in a joke or two and they're completely fucked."
I snapped my fingers and pointed in her direction. "That's a great idea. We could put them in your company and they'll go insane even quicker. They'll be begging us to let them out." I mimed clawing at an invisible door in front of me.
"You could show them your cock and they'll die laughing," she retorted.
Her eyes sparkled with her special kind of mischief, the look she got when we flung insults back and forth at each other.
She loved nothing more than to score a hit off me.
We had that in common; I loved scoring points off her too.
I pressed a hand to my chest. "You know how to hit a guy where it hurts."
"Yeah, your chest, not your balls. Those are too small to feel pain." She laughed. She was on a roll today.
I grabbed her hand, pulled her to her feet and against my chest. I placed her hand over my groin. "Does that feel small to you?" I was immediately hard. The pressure of her palm made my cock want to split my seams.
"Tiny," she whispered.
"Liar," I growled.
"Your ego is too big for the truth," she said.
She lifted her chin and tried to stare me down.
This was classic Wren. She never gave in, never backed down, especially with me.
If she could get the last word, the last insult, she'd do it.
She was more stubborn than a fucking mountain and I loved that about her.
No one would walk all over my woman. Not even me.
"Tell me anyway," I insisted. I rubbed against her hand, getting harder still.
"Fine." She exhaled in mock annoyance. "Your cock and balls are huge. At least a match for the size of your arrogance."
I chuckled. "That's better." I didn't care if she came after my arrogance. That was something I'd admit to. It came with the territory.
"See, a bit of honesty didn't hurt you." I undid the front of my jeans and pressed her hand inside.
She curled her fingers around my cock. The warmth of her palm was a jet of flame all the way through my body.
How the hell did I go so long without her touching me?
Without claiming her as mine, permanently?
I didn't care that we were in public; there was no one on the beach but us. No one to see me slide my jeans down my hips and thrust into her fingers.