31. Challenge
Challenge
BECKER
Where the fuck am I?
When the alarm goes off, it takes me a second to get my bearings.
As I blink to banish the sleep fog and put my surroundings into focus, I realize that I’m not in my own bed.
And most of all, I’m not alone. Talia’s toned legs are tangled with mine, and my arm is around her waist. Her perfect ass is dangerously close to my morning wood.
But we aren’t alone in bed. Mack is shaking himself awake on the other side of Talia.
We fell asleep together after what I can only describe as a moment of complete insanity last night.
Not only did I get to taste Talia, but I was inside her. Just the memory of the way she came all over me makes my morning wood throb painfully. Last night went beyond my wildest dreams if it weren’t for Mack being a part of it.
The sight of her head on his chest is a stark reminder that Talia isn’t mine. She’s my brother’s girlfriend.
That thought does nothing to help me make sense of what happened before we all fell asleep in a sated heap.
Why would Mack even let me get close to his woman, let alone share her with me? He’s head over heels for her. That much is obvious. I’ve never seen my brother dote on someone like he does with Talia. Not even with Gen when they first got together in high school.
The alarm goes off again, and she groans.
That causes my brother to spring into action. “Sleep, baby. I’m going to bring breakfast when I’m done with practice, ok?”
He disentangles himself from her, careful not to wake her, and I do the same.
We don’t look at each other as we get dressed. Mack slips into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt; I have nothing but last night’s clothes.
Thankfully, I always keep extra clothes in my locker together with my jerseys and protective gear.
The house looks like a disaster zone after last night’s party, but no one pays attention to the solo cups on the floor and the smell of sweat and stale beer.
Most of the hockey team is Gamma members, so like us, they’re heading to morning skate.
The crisp early morning air is better than coffee to get rid of the last remnants of sleep, but the second I step outside, I realize that I don’t have my car.
Last night I didn’t drive in case I wanted to have a few drinks, and the plan was to get a cab home.
Now my choices are to walk to the arena or ask one of my teammates for a ride.
I try to catch Vaughn’s eye, but Mack offers before I can.
Riding to practice with him is the last thing I want right now, but refusing would make things even worse between us, if possible.
The only saving grace is that the ride to the arena is short. I don’t think I could have endured more than ten minutes of the tense silence between us.
Mack looks pissed.
On the one hand, I get it. I fucked his girlfriend. But he was there the entire time. He was the one who told me where to find a condom, for fuck’s sake.
Things don’t get any easier once we’re on the ice. If anything, the tension between us escalates.
It doesn’t help that Coach Harrison has decided on a scrimmage this morning and Mack and I end on opposite sides.
The overwhelming need to outperform him is one of the most familiar feelings I know.
I’ve always had to prove to our parents that I was as good as Mack. On the ice and at pretty much everything else.
Anything I ever did, Mack always did before me. Usually better than me.
But those times are gone.
I’m as good a winger as he is. In fact, I’m faster than him. And I’m very good with my stick.
After scoring the first goal on a rebound from one of his shots that Nash intercepted with his stick, Mack takes it personally.
My big brother is hellbent on scoring, and he gets sloppy, taking risks he would never take during a real game.
And the more he fucks up, the angrier he gets.
“Get out of my fucking way.” He fights me for puck possession when I try to intercept a pass from Colsen. When I gain control of the puck, he chases me, but I shoot before he catches up with me.
The result is an open ice hit where I get slammed against the boards so hard that the wind is knocked out of me and I crumble onto the ice like a rag doll.
“You ok?”
“Fuck you.” I slap away the gloved hand he offers me, no doubt because he’s worried about what Coach might say.
The concern in his eyes looks genuine, but I don’t buy it. “Dude, I didn’t mean to—”
“Then don’t.” I snap, scrambling back onto my feet without his help. “This is just practice; there’s no need to hit so hard.”
It’s only fair that I return the favor. So at the next opportunity, I slam his ass against the boards even though the puck was on the opposite side of the rink.
“Shayba!” Coach bellows. “Both of you! What the fuck do you think you’re doing? I’m all about giving one hundred percent at practice, but you need to tone it down before you injure one another.”
I might have played for Coach Harrison for only a matter of weeks, but even I know that you don’t talk back to him when he’s yelling at you. Unless you have a death wish.
That seems the case for Mack. “He started it!” He points a gloved finger at me.
There are less than two years between us, and Mack brings up that he’s older whenever it suits him. For once, I taunt him about our age difference.
“Like hell I did.” I can’t help but bite out. “You just can’t take it when someone is faster than you, old man.”
Mack drops his gloves. “Maybe that last growth spurt you hit messed with your fucking brain cells. I can still kick your ass even if you’re taller than me.”
If he wants a fight, he might have just gotten himself one. I’ll show him that he can’t bully me anymore, like when we were kids.
“Shayba!” A vein pops up on Coach’s forehead, his face taking a crimson hue. “You’re the fucking team captain, Macklin. Is this the example you want to offer to your teammates? I expect a lot more from you.”
Mack’s jaw ticks, his blazing gaze fixed on me as he responds to Coach. “No, Coach.”
“Then you better sort out whatever your problem is.” Coach Harrison’s tone is sharp. “And do it away from my rink. Hit the showers, both of you. And for both your sakes, I expect you to act like Cove Knights at our afternoon practice. Am I being clear?”
“Crystal.” Mack steps off the ice with a black cloud over his head, and I have no choice but to follow him into the locker room.
Macklin
It’s the fucking story of my life.
Becker acts like a little shit, and I get the blame. Our parents always used to scold me even when they saw full well that he was the one who started the fight.
My mom’s favorite line has always been, “You’re older. You’re more mature and you should know better.”
So Becks always got away with murder while I got blamed every time. Even when he was the one who acted out.
You were the one who hit him. All he did was steal the puck from you when you let him.
I ignore the voice in my head, ripping my helmet off and throwing it against my locker.
“What the fuck crawled up your ass?” he yells, hot on my heels as he rips off his own helmet. “You hit opponents like that. Not your own teammates.”
And not your own brother. He doesn’t say that out loud, but the implication is more than clear.
“Don’t play a high contact sport if you can’t handle a few hits.” I bite out.
Becks takes off his jersey and begins shedding his protective gear, piece by piece. “I think your attitude problem has nothing to do with me outplaying you today. Are we going to talk about it, or not?”
Fuck. I hate when he reads me better than I can read myself. I thought he would have lost that ability since we haven’t spent much time together in the last five years.
“What is there to talk about?” It comes out like a growl, but he doesn’t look scared of me.
Big mistake. He should be. When Talia is concerned, I’m not playing around.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the elephant in the room. Or is waking up naked in bed with your girl and another guy a regular thing for you?”
“It’s not a regular thing.” I snap.
Becks nods. “I didn’t think it was. So do you want to tell me what the fuck is going on?”
What’s going on is that I did what I did because I still have a deal with Talia and I wanted to honor it. But I think I fucked up. I should have let Becks kiss Sam last night and kept biding my time until Talia fell for me.
There’s no way I’m going to admit that to him, though.
He looks me dead in the eyes. “You’re in love with her.”
It isn’t a question.
I debate how I should handle this and in the end I decide to go with the truth. “I am. But I haven’t told her yet. It’s too soon. I don’t want to scare her. And I would appreciate it if you could keep it to yourself.”
Becks snorts. “Right. As if I were going to tell the girl I’ve been falling for since the second I saw her that someone else is in love with her.”
I fucking knew it. “You’re in love with her?” It’s more of an accusation than a real question.
“I’m sorry. I had no idea that Talia was with you when I met her. Maybe I should have kissed her that night. You hadn’t changed your relationship status yet. I might have had a chance. But we’ll never know, right?”
The trouble is, I do know.
If Becks had kissed Talia on his first night in town, he would be her boyfriend now.
And it wouldn’t even be a fake deal.
The problem is that I’m in love with Talia too. I think I’ve been for months. From the second I wound up single.
All bullshit aside, I know that what we have is real. The way she kisses me, trusts me, how she looks at me. She feels the same way I do. So much so that she said she didn’t want to end our deal last night. Even if Becks asked her out.
All I need is time to let our feelings grow and to tell her that I want to be with her. For real. Forever.
I answer my brother’s question with another question. “What do you want, Becks?”
He barks out a laugh. “Isn’t that clear? I want Talia. And I think she wants me too.”
There’s no way to lie my way out of this one. And I wouldn’t do it to Talia, anyway.
I know I’m the one for her. That I can make her happy. But if she decided that she wants Becks, I’d step aside. I love her too much not to do what’s best for her. But I’m not gonna go down without a fight.
“She’s attracted to you.” I admit.
Becks runs a shaky hand over his face. “I wasn’t sure she was. That’s why I didn’t make a move the night we met. Then the second I saw her again, I didn’t have the chance to gather my thoughts. You two were an item before I could even blink.”
“You snooze, you lose.”
“Stop being a smart ass, Mack,” he scolds me. “This is fucking serious.”
Don’t I know that?
“I wanted to ask her out from the second I saw her again. But I did my best to be respectful of your relationship with her.”
He looks at me without speaking for a few moments. “Can I ask you a question and get an honest answer from you?”
“Shoot.” I bite out cautiously.
“If you’re in love with her, why did you let me in your room last night? You knew what I wanted. I would have told you to get lost if roles had been reversed.”
Fuck. There’s nothing I can do but tell him the truth. “Because I want to be with her for real. Without your shadow hanging over us. Without her wondering how it is to be with you every time she sees you.”
My brother considers my words. “It’s the most fucked up thing I’ve ever heard, and it makes sense at the same time. I’m gonna be honest with you, though. After last night, I don’t think I can walk away from her. Not if she wants me.”
I nod. That’s exactly what I expected. “Then I guess it’s up to Talia.”
“Is it?” Becks looks confused.
“Yeah. I’m not going to step aside or make things easy for you, brother. I’m in this for the long haul. If you want her, you’re going to have to get through me first.”
Like I thought, he takes the challenge head on. “I’m not going to stop pursuing her until she’s mine. Unless she says that she doesn’t want me.”
We stare each other down, and I know Becks won’t go down without a fight. But neither will I.
“So if neither of us is giving up on her,” he says after a few tense moments. “How is she going to decide who she wants?”
“There’s only one way.” I say with grim resignation. “We both date her, and may the best man win.”
Becks shakes his head. “Fuck, no. I really don’t like this.”
“What’s up, brother? Are you scared I’ll beat you, like I’ve always done since pretty much… forever?”
He puffs his chest out, squaring his shoulders to face me. “I’m not scared of you. But this has disaster written all over it.”
I don’t understand. “Why?”
His scowl deepens. “When has a bet over a woman ever not ended in a total disaster?”
“A bet? There’s no bet, Becks. You’re my brother, and Talia is the woman I love.
I don’t want to lose either of you if I can help it.
The only way this can work out is if we’re totally honest with Talia about our feelings.
We can fight for her as long as she knows that this is what we’re doing.
One of us is probably going to get hurt when she chooses.
We’re big boys, and we’ll have to deal with it.
But if you hurt her in any way, you better run. Because I’m gonna fucking kill you.”
Becks doesn’t look intimidated by my warning. “Same.”
I look at the time and shoot Talia a message before stripping off the rest of my gear.
“Where are you going?” My brother asks.
“Why?”
I roll my eyes. “What does it look like? I need to shower.”
“If you’re going to see Talia, I’m coming with you.”
He grabs his own shower supplies and follows me.
“No, you’re not.” I argue. “I’m taking my girlfriend out for breakfast.”
“You said we need to be honest about our intentions. We need to speak to her together.”
Panic quickens my pulse. I need to tell Talia how I feel. That this thing between us has never been fake for me. And I’d rather not have an audience when I tell her. Especially not Becks.
What if she decides to end our deal when she hears that my brother wants way more than a hookup with her?
The look on Becks’s face tells me that there’s no way to convince him not to tag along.
Talia said that she didn’t want to end our deal after kissing my brother. All I can hope is that what happened last night after Becks knocked on my door didn’t change her mind. That she wants to keep our deal going because she has feelings for me too.
If I’m right, I’ll tell her how I really feel about her once we’re alone. If I’m wrong, there isn’t going to be anything to tell.