Mister Hockey (Hellions Angels #1)(45)

Chapter Seventeen




Breezy squeezed her eyes shut but when she opened them her living room was still the same. Neve stood in the middle of the area rug with a “what the hell just happened” look stamped on her face.

“Before you say anything. Can I see it?” Neve crossed the room and grabbed her wrist. “The hand that decked Jed West.”

“Don’t try to make a joke and make me feel better.” Breezy couldn’t laugh, cry, sigh or even yell at her sister. How was she supposed to feel? There’d been no warning the day was going to be like this. When she woke up it had been sunny. Jed had kissed every square inch of her body. It had even been a good hair day.

No sign that the universe was sending over a giant shit storm of epic proportions.

Neve walked to the window. “He’s talking to Channel Seven.”

“Should you be out there?”

“Yeah. Probably. But I should be here more.” She turned around. “I’m not even going to bother asking if you’re okay. But seriously. What the hell? I know what Mom told me, but I want to hear it from your lips. You and Jed West got together?”

Breezy nodded miserably.

“And you didn’t mention that you were his number one fan.”

Breezy shook her head. Apparently head gestures were all she could muster the energy for at the moment.

Neve blew out a breath. “And he told you that he planned to retire.”

More nods.

“Wow.” Her sister digested the information. “He must have really trusted you, sharing information like that.”

“Except now he thinks that I sold him out. Tried to cash in on the story. I get how it must look. I’m related to you, a sports journalist. I lost my job the other day. I’m worried about money. I want to open a bookshop. But I didn’t say a word. I swear. Like, I think I’m falling in love with him. Real love. Not being starstruck and in lust.”

Neve sank down to the floor, folded her legs crisscross applesauce, her cheeks pale. “Whoa. Okay. That’s a lot to unpack. You lost your job this week? Oh my God, Breezy. And of course you are worried about the mortgage. You just bought the cottage. And what’s this about a bookshop? And sorry, you are in love with Westy?”

“Yep to all of the above.” Breezy sprawled starfish on the floor beside her sister. “That about covers the situation.”

“You need to tell him the truth.” Her sister gripped her wrist. “That it wasn’t you.”

“For someone so observant, maybe you missed the whole part from a minute ago where I said that and was essentially called a liar. I’m sorry for you too. For causing more trouble between you and the coach.”

Neve snorted. “Tor Gunnar? He doesn’t scare me.”

“Why do you guys have such beef?”

“Beef? No, no, no. Beef is delicious, especially served medium rare.” She reached over and tickled her sister. “What we have is like chicken left on the counter for a week in August. Toxic. Deadly. Makes you feel sick.” Her joking tone held a note of seriousness.

“But why?”

Neve’s gaze locked on hers and for a moment, just a fraction, her usual confident demeanor slipped. “I have theories.”

Breezy perked. “So there is a reason? You’ve never said. I just wasn’t sure if Coach didn’t like you in the locker room. He’s youngish, but that seems old-fashioned.”

“Understatement,” Neve said. “But for real, there’s bigger fish to fry at the moment. You dated Rory for how long? Years. You even got engaged. But you know what, in all that time, I never heard you to declare that you loved him.”

“Never once?” Breezy wrinkled her brows. “Come on, are you sure?”

“Cross my heart. I wanted to bring it up when you announced the engagement, but Margot ordered me to mind my own business, said that everyone is entitled to have relationships in their own way. In her case, that means going to a remote section of Baja with two six-foot professional surfers for a getaway.”

“Ah, yes.” Breezy smiled in spite of herself. “You saw her last Instagram post too?”

“Her life, I swear to God.” Neve shook her head. “I consider ordering a Blizzard and not doing my breakfast dishes a big free-spirited move. She’s probably having a threesome in a beachside bungalow as we speak.”

“Well, if she was to spare us a thought, I’m pretty sure she’d expect me to be hosting Toddler Reading Hour, not deleting my Facebook account while Jed West announces his retirement from the game.”

Neve looked thoughtful. “Who is going to take his place, you think? As captain, I mean? Think Patch Donnelly is up for—hey!”

Breezy had half sat, grabbed a pillow and was now smacking her sister.

“Ouch!” Neve threw her hands over her head. “What’s this for?”

“Can you not be a Hellions Angel for two seconds. Forget he’s . . . you know . . . Jed West . . . and think of him as like . . . Jed West.”

Neve raised her brows. “I’m going to need help deciphering that.”

“Think of him as a guy, just a guy that I am really into. Beyond all the rest of what anyone else says, least of all random strangers on the internet. Or the people out there wondering about his retirement.” Breezy waved her hand in the direction of the closed up window. “I understand if it freaks him out too much that I was a huge fangirl and didn’t tell him. Because that is creepy. I was creepy.”