Page 43 of Pucking Bad Boys

I know what she means. My freshman year, Tucker was one of the biggest party animals on campus.

“We can always hope.” I chuckle.

“Speaking of brothers,” I follow Talia’s gaze to the spot where Becks is still listening to whatever Gen and her friends have to say. “I didn’t know you had a brother who played hockey.”

Her smile fades as she catches Gen whisper something in Becks’s ear, her manicured hand splayed on my brother’s chest.

She looks at them for a couple of seconds and then averts her gaze. Talia chews on her bottom lip for a couple of seconds before her gaze returns to mine.

I’ve noticed that she bites her bottom lip when something makes her uncomfortable and she’s trying to pull herself together.

I know. The amount of time I’ve spent observing her borders on obsessive, but I swear I’m not a creep. I can’t help but find everything about Talia fascinating.

“Yeah, since he decided to go play for Bridgeport, I thought it was better to keep things on the DL. Becks was a freshman last year and he didn’t get a lot of ice time. To be honest, I was sorta relieved about that. Can you imagine the amount of shit the others would have given me for having a brother who played for our biggest rivals? I mean, a few teammates asked me if we knew each other, but last year’s Bridgeport was far from the team it had been in the past. They ended last in our conference. So I guess no one paid that much attention to their roster.”

She listens intently to my explanation, but I don’t miss the way her eyes keep drifting to the spot where my brother is standing with that ridiculous neon blue drink in hand and my ex by his side.

Is it possible that Talia likes Becks?

The thought hits me with the same violence and the same unpleasantness of being slammed against the boards by a two hundred pound defenseman skating at breakneck speed.

No. Fuck, no.

I would hate to see Talia date anyone who isn’t me, but my brother? Just the idea makes me want to walk up to him and punch him in the nuts.

Jesus. I need to get my temper under control. God knows that Becks and I have had our fair share of brawls growing up. Neither of us is a stranger to punching the other in the most painful places. But we’re supposed to be adults, and we should reserve our aggression for our opponents on the ice, not focus it on each other.

I have no idea how Becks feels about Talia and if he’d be crazy enough to risk pissing off Tucker by hitting on his sister.

As far as I know, he could even have a girlfriend. Even though it’s unlikely since he’s here with Gen, but he’s looked at us a couple of times, and they seemed to have some sort of banter between them the other day after class. I can’t risk it.

My best course of action, the mature thing to do, is to talk to him and tell him that I’m into Talia. Not to call dibs, Talia isn’t a possession and we’re not middle schoolers anymore. But a man-to-man conversation to make sure he knows I’m interested in the woman who’s been the star of all my dreams for months at this point.

Chapter 13

The Kiss

MACKLIN

The background music stops, and the DJ’s voice pulls me out of my mini meltdown.

“Ok, Zetas, Gammas and guests. It’s time to play some party games. Let’s get some people onto the dance floor and play musical partners. For those of you who haven’t played before, the game is quite simple. Choose a partner and dance with them, but pay attention to the music. If the music stops, you’ll change partners by switching with the nearest couple to you first. Each person has one veto they can use to reject one partner or stay with their current partner until the next switch. If you’re rejected, you can’t go back to your previous partnerbut have to find a new one. When the music starts again, you’ll kiss your current partner, old or new, for one minute if the song has changed too. If you find yourself without a partner, or your partner refuses to kiss you, you’re eliminated. The last couple on the dance floor wins bragging rights and a bottle of Champagne. Couple up, people. We start in thirty seconds.”

I’ve played a few versions of this game over the years.

When I was dating Gen, I used to hate games like this one. I always tried to find something else to do. Any games where there was kissing involved weren’t worth the drama with Gen if she thought I was enjoying kissing someone else a little too much. Knowing that she did way more than kiss someone else behind my back, her jealousy now feels fake and totally hypocritical.

But tonight, I can’t believe my luck. This could be the perfect opportunity to kiss Talia.

I just have to play my cards right. “Want to dance?” I offer her my hand.

There’s a beat of hesitation before she places her hand into mine and follows me to the makeshift dance floor on one side of the pool.

My plan is simple.

I’ll use my veto to stay with Talia through the first switch. I’m confident the music will change more often than not. The goal of this game is to get as many people kissing as possible. If for some reason luck isn’t on my side and the music doesn’t change after the first break, I’ll find another partner on the next switch and then make sure I’m the person on Talia’s right when the music stops again.

The second the music starts, I pull Talia into my arms.