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Anger burned hot in Gavin’s body as he stared at his brother’s smirking face. “Thad,” he said warningly, his voice strained.

“Seriously, what have you been up to tonight? Checking out the hotel amenities ?” Thad asked.

He managed to make that sound dirty, somehow, and Gavin bit back a curse. “Yes. Dakota and I ran into each other on the pool deck.”

It was a flat-out lie, but he refused to give his brother any fucking ammunition. He’d learned that lesson the hard way too. Then again, were there any lessons in his life he hadn’t learned through a mixture of blood, sweat, tears, and considerable pain?

“It was a nice night for a dip in the spa,” Dakota said hastily. He immediately seemed to realize his mistake but froze.

“Yes, seemed like a good night to do laps too,” Gavin said. “You know I like to get my exercise in.”

“You’ve never been much of a swimming guy,” Thad said. And they didn’t have to have shared a womb for Gavin to pick up on the disbelief in his tone.

“Well, I’m always open to change,” he said stiffly.

Thad scoffed. “Since when ?”

“It doesn’t matter . Dakota went for a dip in the spa, I used the pool. It was a coincidence we even ran into each other tonight,” Gavin said calmly, though under the surface his emotions roiled like someone had cranked up the jets in that spa, furious and agitated. “You understand what I’m saying?”

Gavin stared into his brother’s eyes—his face both familiar and unfamiliar with the cut over his eye he’d gotten in prison—willing him to understand, to play along. To not take his vendetta against Gavin out on Dakota.

Because whatever bullshit was between Gavin and his twin, he was loath to drag anyone else into it. What the hell had he been thinking getting Thad a job in the organization? It had been a mistake from day one, but it was impossible to take back now.

“Sure, I can see how a coincidence might happen,” Thad said, smiling faintly, as if amused by the whole thing. “How was the temperature up there tonight? Hot , I’d imagine.”

“There was a nice breeze,” Gavin shot back. “Very relaxing.”

“Funny. When I went up a bit ago, it seemed pretty steamy to me. You know what else is weird, I didn’t see either of you out there.”

Gavin could hear Dakota’s sharp, indrawn breath beside him.

Gavin doubted Thad had actually gone up to the pool area at all. He was testing the waters, poking around for a vulnerable spot. He was good at that, always had been, though his time in prison had honed it to a razor-sharp edge.

He couldn’t possibly know what they’d done. Could he?

“You must have gone up there before we ran into each other,” Gavin said tightly. “But it’s getting late now, and I have some work to do before bed.”

“Me too,” Dakota said.

“Yes, lots of urgent yoga work at ten at night on a road trip, I’m sure.” Thad’s voice was silky and laced with innuendo.

Dakota bristled. “I am constantly creating and tweaking training plans for the team based off their fluctuating needs and injuries. Whatever you think of my work, I put a shitload of time and effort into it.”

Thad’s smirk deepened. “Undoubtedly. Pulling late nights with the team’s GM. Definitely a sign you’re dedicated to your work and the organization.”

“Stop it,” Gavin snapped, his voice cracking loudly through the empty hallways. Loud enough the guys in the rooms nearby might overhear it. He cursed under his breath, then spoke more quietly. “Don’t, Thad. Please. Whatever disagreements we have, leave Dakota out of it.”

But, like a shark smelling blood in the water, Thad smiled. “Certainly. I wouldn’t want to upset whatever relationship you two have.”

Gavin turned to face Dakota, who looked a little wild around the eyes, like he didn’t know what he’d ended up in the middle of. “Dakota, this is between me and my brother. Please go. I don’t want you to be dragged into this any more than you already have been.”

Dakota’s jaw tightened like he wanted to argue, before he huffed. “Fine. But you might want to move this to somewhere a little less public.”

“I intended to,” Gavin said grimly.

When he turned back, Thad was grinning at him.

“My room. Now,” Gavin hissed, grabbing his brother by the arm and tugging him down the hall. Thad came willingly enough, though Gavin was under no illusion that if he wanted to put up a fight, there wouldn’t be much Gavin could do about it.

At least not without turning it into a knock-down, drag-out brawl.

When they reached Gavin’s room at the end of the hall, Thad lounged against the wall while Gavin fumbled for his key card.

“Aww, you know, it’s nice of you to invite me over to hang out. I haven’t even been to your condo in Boston.”

Gavin forced himself to take a slow, deep breath.

Everything was fucked up between them and he didn’t have a clue how to fix any of it. He’d thought maybe this job would help Thad, help him find some stability in his life, and maybe lead to a better relationship between them.

But it felt more fraught and chaotic than ever.

“Please, make yourself comfortable,” he said grandly as he gestured for Thad to precede him into his room.

“So, what was it you wanted to discuss?” Thad asked a few minutes later, lounging in a chair by the window, sipping one of the overpriced bottled waters from the mini fridge he’d helped himself to. “Brother dearest .”

So much for the orgasm wiping away Gavin’s tension headache. It had come roaring back with a vengeance now.

Gavin took a seat on the edge of the bed and forced himself to take a few deep breaths and soften his jaw.

“I want to discuss why you were so rude to Dakota and me.”

Thad grinned. “It’s fun watching you get riled up.”

“For one of us, maybe,” Gavin said drily.

“Can’t win them all,” Thad said with a shrug.

“You came to me begging for a job and I got you one. What more do you want from me?”

“What do I want?” Thad laughed hollowly. “I want all those years of my fucking life back. I want my record clean. But since I can’t get any of those, how about an apology?”

“You made your decisions,” Gavin said tightly. “I never forced you to?—”

Thad rose to his feet. “And I’ve spent every goddamn day since that summer we turned eighteen regretting them. So. Fuck. You. ”

Without another word, Thad stormed out the door, leaving Gavin stunned and reeling in his wake.

It wasn’t until Gavin began to shiver that he realized he’d been sitting on the edge of the bed in damp shorts, chilled from the air-conditioner and staring blankly into space.

He stood slowly, every part of his body feeling heavy and unwieldy as he walked into the bathroom. He’d known Thad resented the way things had gone, how much their lives had diverged, but he’d thought … he hadn’t known how angry he truly was. How much he resented Gavin.

And Gavin had no idea how to fix that. No idea how to apologize or repair it or …

With numb fingers, he stripped off his shorts, stepping into the shower and turning it on as hot as it would go. Even as the room filled up with steam and his skin turned pink from the water, he stood there, staring blankly at the tile.

Eventually, when staying upright cost him more effort than he could manage, he turned off the water and got out. Wrapped in a too-tight robe the hotel provided, he towel-dried his hair and sat heavily on the bed. His phone slid toward his hip, sliding across the sheet.

A notification flashed on Gavin’s screen, and he stared at it blankly for a while before he mustered up the energy to check it.

It was from Dakota. A text saying, Hey. Everything okay?

Something about the normalcy of text messaging settled him, made the strange, vague feeling begin to fade.

Gavin shook his head to clear it, then typed out, No. But mostly I’m sorry you got dragged into it.

It was a few moments before another message popped up. To be honest, I’m not even sure what the hell I got dragged into.

I wish I could tell you.

You can. If you want.

Gavin hesitated, not sure how to explain. He finally settled on, No, I mean I don’t even fully understand it myself.

Oh. Well, fair enough.

It’s … complicated.

No shit.

Gavin managed a small strangled laugh. I know. Understatement of the century.

Little bit.

For a few moments, he hesitated, before he typed out a response, writing and deleting and writing and deleting before he sent, Like I said at the club, things got really ugly between my brother and me the summer after we got drafted. Our lives took very different directions and every time I try to fix it, try to help, it backfires on me. Thad, he’s not a bad person. He’s … angry. And he takes that out on everyone. Especially me.

That does sound complicated. What does that mean for us though?

Gavin raised an eyebrow. Us?

I mean, with the ownership group or whatever. Is he going to out us to them or something?

Ahh. Gavin relaxed. No, I don’t think so. He likes to fuck with me but I don’t think he’s actually feeling vindictive.

Are you sure?

Yes, Gavin said with a surety he didn’t feel at all. We’ll be fine. Trust me.

Okay. I’ll try.

Good. I should let you go though.

Bedtime?

I wish. More work.

Don’t forget to do your stretches before bed.

Gavin huffed out a laugh. I won’t. Thanks for the reminder.

Happy to help. G’night.

Night , Gavin sent back.

He tossed his phone on the sheets beside him. What a mess . With a sigh, he reached for his laptop.

Whatever disasters were going on in his personal life, the work wouldn’t stop. It never did.

The following morning, Dakota felt like he might throw up as he walked into the conference room for breakfast.

Several of the coaches were there, along with a few of the players. Graham and Kady were both there and eating, looking appallingly bright-eyed for this hour of the morning.

Dakota nodded at them, murmuring a quiet “good morning” on his way to the buffet set up along one wall.

He filled his tray with oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and tea, and carried it over to a round table. Leah walked in the door. She grabbed a cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito, then made a beeline for where he sat. She looked bleary-eyed as she slid into the seat beside him.

“Rough night?” he asked, tone sympathetic.

“More like fun night, rough morning,” she said with a faint grin.

Despite himself, he laughed. “Yeah, fair enough. You met up with a friend from college, right?”

“Yeah, she lives in the area.” Leah scrubbed a hand over her face, then dropped her voice. “And she was a little more than a friend. We had a thing in college.”

“Ahh.” Dakota hadn’t realized she was bisexual. Or pan, maybe. He’d assumed she was straight, but clearly, he’d been wrong.

“So was this a friendly meet-up?” he asked.

“More like a friendly meet-up over drinks that turned very friendly when we got back to her place,” Leah mumbled, her fair skin a little pinker than usual. “And didn’t end until this morning.”

“Oh. That does sound friendly,” Dakota admitted.

She shot him a faint smile. “No complaints here.”

“Other than the fact that she lives across the country?” Dakota guessed.

Leah waved it off, wrinkling her nose. “Nah. We were terrible in a relationship. The sex part we were good at. The actual communication bit, not so much.”

“I hear that,” Dakota said with a sigh. In the end, wasn’t that what torpedoed most relationships?

They fell silent for a few minutes while Dakota ate his food and sipped his green tea.

Leah slurped her coffee, poking uninterestedly at her burrito.

“What did you get up to last night?” she eventually asked.

Dakota jerked in surprise. “Uhh. Well, I uh, went for a dip in the spa on the roof.”

“Nice. I’ve heard it has a great view.”

He thought about Gavin’s voice in his ear, the thick, hard slide of his cock between his thighs, and the sting of his teeth on his shoulder and had to resist the urge to touch that spot and press on it, feeling the tender ache.

“It was incredible,” he said, but he wasn’t sure which of those things he was even talking about. Maybe all of them.

He stared down at his half-eaten bowl of oatmeal, glad he wasn’t prone to blushing.

“Hey, so, not to pry, but what was up with you and Danny the other night at the club?” Dakota asked quietly. “You seemed pretty into each other.”

He hadn’t had a chance to ask her yesterday.

Leah’s glance darted around the room. “Uhh, I dunno. We had fun dancing is all.”

“Really? Because it seemed like a little more than fun to me.”

“He’s a great guy but we work together,” she hissed.

“The organization doesn’t have a no-fraternization policy, right?”

“No,” Leah said slowly. “But like, there is the Code of Conduct we signed.”

Dakota winced. “There is that.”

“And like, let’s be honest, I’m a woman, which makes this extra complicated. There aren’t exactly a lot of female coaches in pro hockey. I should be setting a good example, not screwing around with my co-workers. I mean, you’re a dude, but you have a sister in the head office and you’re gay. You must get how much more complicated that makes things for me. We don’t get to play by the same rules straight men do.”

Dakota swallowed hard. “Yeah, I get that.”

As if on cue, Gavin walked in the room.

Dakota’s heart leaped, feeling like it was beating in his throat for a moment, before Gavin swept his gaze across their table, sliding across Dakota like he wasn’t even there.

Dakota frowned down at his half-eaten bowl of oats and yogurt again, stirring it, because he wasn’t sure he could manage another bite with the sick feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. “I guess it would be really risky to get involved with someone like that.”

“I mean, don’t think I’m not tempted,” she said with a sigh as she glanced over at Danny, who was laughing about something with Jesse and Kady. “He’s great and all. I just don’t want to get myself into a bad situation, you know? Or screw it up for the rest of the women who want a role in the organization.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dakota said quietly as Thad arrived a few minutes later with a couple of the other people who did the team’s social media. “Trust me. I know.”