“Got it.”
She picks up one of the larger boxes, and my jaw clenches. I take it out of her hands. “Add another one on top for me and stick the lamp under my arm. You can grab something light. The truck’s out front.”
We head down and step out into the chilly overcast afternoon. The sidewalks are mostly clear, but it’s supposed to snow again tonight so the sooner we wrap this up the better.
At the SUV, I adjust my load. “Shit.”
She raises a brow, and I shake my head.
“Keys. Perimeter sensor doesn’t work, so you have to click the button.” I should have given them to Piper before we came down. I try to balance my stack against the tailgate, but it’s no good.
“Which pocket?” She’s got the laundry basket propped unsteadily on her hip and a hand out, waving for me to hurry up.
“What? No.” More like, fuck no. “Just, lean into the boxes to brace them.”
“Nuh-uh. Those are fragile. Pocket?”
I’ve seen that look before. There’s no fighting her. Grudgingly, I answer. “Front right.”
She steps closer, shifts her basket, and reaches for me. I brace for contact, thinking about Boomer’s nasty ball and the time Grady puked in the showers. Last season when Axel’s kid blew out his diaper after a game and the guy made me carry that toxic stink to the trash while he changed him— anything but the soft brush of my best friend’s little sister’s fingers sliding down the front of my pants and the tug of the denim across places I don’t want to be registering at all.
She gets the fob free and clicks the button to open the gate.
We load her stuff and then hoof it back upstairs to do it again. On the third trip, the only thing left is her jacket and a plastic container from the fridge that she pushes into my hands as she calls goodbye to her roommates. There are hugs, and then we’re done.
Outside, I open the passenger-side door and give her a hand up, trying not to notice the low hum where my skin meets hers.
Jesus.
I just need to get her to her new place and then we can go back to seeing each other as little as possible.
She’s rubbing her hands together, so I hit her seat warmer and crank the blower to warm her up.
“Where to?”
The defogger blows.
“What do you mean?” she asks, her voice sounding choked in a way that has me turning to her. She’s staring back at me like— hell, I don’t even know what that look is about. Except, it’s not good.
“Your new address? Where am I taking you?”
Her eyes go wide and then squish shut so tightly I’m reaching for her before I have a chance to think better. And damn, that skin at the back of her neck is so soft, I pull my hand back like it burned me.
Looking at her lap, she starts to breathe funny. “Boomer didn’t talk to you at all, did he?”
The panic I’m seeing means it’s time to come clean. The staff at the hospital can protect him if they have to. “No.”
Shoulders slumped, she turns to me with an apologetic look. “Your place. Boomer told me I could crash with you guys.”
“Boomer, I’m going to haul you out of that fucking wheelchair and kill you.” Glowering through a video call, I storm out of Wade Grady’s building where I’ve just dropped Piper while I figure this out. “Something you forget to tell me?”
“Hey, lover.” He rubs a hand over the chest of his hospital gown and gives me a dirty wink. “That any way to greet your number-one man?”
Yeah, he’s having a field day with the speculation that our relationship goes beyond platonic. Another day, I’d be laughing too. But not today. Not after this bullshit.
“Your sister is not moving in with us.”
He clucks his tongue and nods. “Ehh, yeah. Guess I forgot to mention it.”
I glare, and he shrugs.
“Dude, it’s a couple of weeks.”
I choke. Weeks? “Oh, hell, no.”
I search the sidewalk for someone to back me up. Tell me this is a joke. Something.
“Where are you anyway?” The humor leaves his voice. “Where’s Piper?”
“Up with Grady and Otto. He’s babysitting.”
“Dude.”
“I needed a minute, okay?”
The look my buddy gives me says no. No, it is not okay that in my fucking panic I dumped his little sister on our teammate. Or maybe that’s just my own conscience calling me out.
“Well, it’s been a minute, asshole. Go back and get her.”
Excuse me? Leaning into the phone, I croak, “I’m the asshole?”
He waves me off. “Fine, I should have told you. But I figured I’d be there to smooth things over when she moved in.”
And if he had, maybe it would be different. But he isn’t here. And he won’t be. Which means me sharing an apartment with Piper Boerboom. No buffer between us, just the friction that’s been there, rubbing us wrong for years.
Boomer nods to someone, and then a nurse comes into view. “One sec, man.”
The view tips toward the ceiling, and I cringe because I’m pretty sure his nut is getting a look-see while I’m on this call.
There’s a quick exchange about pain levels and then a dictate to keep the call short.
The guy needs to rest, but here I am giving him crap because I can’t handle his little sister crashing at our place for a few days.
Boomer comes back into view. He straightens his gown. “Where else is she going to stay?”
“With you at your parents’ place? Ben Senior and April would be beside themselves having both their kids home.”
“She’s got three jobs in the city and no car.”
Three jobs? The girl everyone rolls their eyes about being so irresponsible?
Why didn’t I know that?
“Look, she’s in a bind.”
A bind like when she got evicted year before last? Is that why she’s working three jobs? She can’t cover rent?
“Does she need money?” I’ve offered before, but it gets shut down every time.
“No. Or at least not a loan. Just a place.” He sighs. “The friend she’s subletting from had a change of plans and the place won’t be free for two months.”
“What!?” I stagger to the SUV and get in. “You said weeks.”
“Yeah, like eight. Or so. I don’t know. Don’t be a dick. She needs a place. We’ve got one. And if you squint hard enough, you can pretend she’s me.” His usually carefree face is starting to look pinched around the eyes. There’s a reason the nurse wanted him to keep it short.
“Clothes on the floor, trash covering the counters.” No chance in hell of anyone, least of all me, mistaking Piper’s feminine curves for her beast of a brother.
“Pretty much,” he chuckles, but it’s time to wrap this up.
I take a breath and let it out in a measured stream. “Okay. Rest. Don’t worry about Piper. About anything.”
“You mean like my place on the team, the precarious future of my nut, or how many minutes it’s going to take of living at home before my parents drive me insane?”
“Whatever, momma’s boy. April’s going to be baking all your favorite shit. I’ll bet she even tucks you in and kisses your head before bed every night.” I don’t mention the team because we’ve both been around long enough to know that we’re always fighting to keep our spot in the lineup. And as for his nut? That little fucker needs to get in line.