Page 7 of No Rhyme or Roughing (The Golden Guardians Hockey Hearts #1)

CHAPTER SEVEN

SYDNEY

I wasn’t alone in bed. I realized that before I even opened my eyes.

An arm draped over my midsection, holding me firmly against a hard chest and… other hard things. I stifled a moan and tried to shift away.

Ryder mumbled something in his sleep, and his grip tightened.

This was a problem.

Not because I didn’t like it—I very much did—but because I knew the moment he woke, he’d regret falling asleep beside me. Ryder liked to think he was a completely different person now, but he was still that teenage boy who used to dress up my Barbies for the ball I’d organized when I was sick.

Safe, calm, collected. Steady Ryder. Hard-to-embarrass Ryder.

Definitely not the "groping his best friend’s little sister early in the morning" type. Even if said little sister wasn’t little anymore.

Shouting erupted in the hall, and before I could extricate myself, the bedroom door banged open.

“You better be dressed, Syd, because I’m coming in,” Teddy called, one hand clamped dramatically over his eyes.

“Oh, shit.” I scrambled out of Ryder’s arms and practically fell out of the bed.

At my curse, Teddy ripped his hand away.

His eyes darted between Ryder, still asleep in bed, and me.

I could practically see the gears turning in his head, anger building with every second.

Teddy had always been too much like the old me—quick to emotion, quick to bad decisions.

No one had ever told him it was wrong to be loud, emotional, or too much.

“It’s not what it looks like, I swear.”

He crossed his arms, steam practically pouring from his ears. “Is that so?” To his credit, he didn’t pull out his patented Sydney screech—the yell that always warned me of his anger when I was little and had stolen something from his room or tattled to Mom.

“We were watching videos and fell asleep, and?—”

“Stay away from Ryder.” With that, he turned on his heel and walked out.

Stay away from him? I wasn’t ten years old anymore. A smart person would have taken the lack of a fight as a win, woken sleeping beauty, and sent him on his way.

But I’d never claimed to be smart.

I marched after Teddy, following him down the stairs into the kitchen, where Rowan was cooking at the stove. I knew little about the goaltender, but he was about to find out more about me and Teddy than he’d signed up for.

“Stay away from him?” I growled when Teddy finally stopped. He’d known I was following him. He always knew.

His shoulders tensed, and he gripped the counter in front of him, his back still to me. “You heard me.”

“I’m—”

He cut me off, whirling to face me. “Not a child?”

“I wasn’t going to say that. You can’t?—”

“Tell you what to do?”

“Stop it.” I stomped my foot, very aware of how childlike I appeared.

“You think that just because you can predict what I’m going to say, you know me.

But you don’t. Not anymore, Teddy. We haven’t lived in the same city since I was ten years old.

Well, guess what—I grew up. You can’t boss me around anymore.

If I want to fall asleep with your—” I winked,“—very large friend, I will.”

Red crept into his cheeks. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment, I couldn’t tell.

He pointed a finger at me. “See? We may not have lived near each other as you grew up, but we used to talk every day, Syd. I know you. I know how you are with… relationships. You’re shy and closed off, and you think that makes what you do okay. But really, you’re a?—”

“Don’t say it. ”

“Destroyer of worlds.”

I scrunched my face.

“See!” He threw his hands up. “You can’t even disagree. I don’t care who you screw, Syd, as long as they’re not on my team. Especially Ryder. He’s…” Teddy sighed. “Delicate.”

I snorted. “He isn’t a flower, Ted.”

He waved away my implied question. “It doesn’t matter. Just… not him.” His eyes met mine, softening. “Please not him.”

His tone was sincere now, pleading, and my irritation drained away. I wanted Ryder, sure, but Teddy was my brother. The only person who had always wanted me around. Mom often wished I wasn’t there, but never him.

I reached for him, and he pulled me into one of his patented Teddy bear hugs. Most people only saw the side of him that didn’t care about anything, but I knew better. He cared too much. I just hated that he felt the need to protect Ryder from me.

A throat cleared behind us, and we turned to see Rowan shaking his head. “Never thought I signed up for rent and a show.”

Teddy and I sent him matching scowls, but then I let my face soften and pulled away. I dipped into a playful curtsy and walked off, feeling more exhausted than anything.

When I got back to my room, the bed was empty and made with perfect precision.

I heard the shower running in the hall and tried not to imagine stepping into it with its current occupant.

“I’m so screwed.”

I heard you’re in town.

I stared at the text from Mom, trying to read between the lines. Figuratively, of course, since it was the only line of text she’d sent me in months. Teddy just had to tell her. Next, he’d probably let our sisters know.

The same sisters who blamed me for our parents splitting up.

Dad always said it wasn’t my fault, that it was entirely on him. But I’d known since I was ten that Mom couldn’t look at me without thinking about him and his actions. Because I told.

I saw. I barely processed. I blew up their marriage.

Teddy claimed it was Dad who blew it up. He was the one who spent years cheating on Mom. I just told her the truth after I saw him with one of his mistresses. So, why did I always feel guilty? Why did Mom’s eyes cloud over with depression whenever she looked at me?

Those last eight years of living at home until I could go away to school were hard. Teddy and our sisters were already gone, leaving just me and a mom who couldn’t look at me.

I was still staring at the text when a knock on the door jolted me out of my self-pity haze.

“Come in,” I called, rolling over to sit up.

The door opened slowly, and then Ryder was there. “Hey.”

He gave me a dimpled smile that kicked my heart up a notch. Why did he have to be so beautiful?

Gripping the top of the doorframe, he stretched in the doorway. His gray polo rose up, revealing a sliver of tanned skin and a trail of dark hair.

I swallowed. “What’s up?”

“So, um… about last night…”

I bit back a grin at his obvious discomfort. “Ryder, I’m going to stop you right there. It wasn’t a big deal. So, what, you’re a sleep groper. We’re both adults. We can forget about it. And everyone gets morning w?—”

He let go of the doorframe and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Is it your mission in life to say the wrong thing?”

“Only to you.” Because I never let any of it slip around others.

A low, deep chuckle rumbled from him. “I was going to politely ignore all of that. I just meant about the videos we watched and your idea.”

“Oh.” My face heated. Right. “Oops.”

He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’ll do it.”

“Wait… Really?” I jumped off the bed and approached him, unable to contain the excitement buzzing through me.

“Yes.”

“Open your eyes and look like you want this. I don’t want you doing it just because of whatever bad news you got.”

He sighed again, meeting my gaze. “It was a wedding invitation.”

“A…” My throat closed as I realized who it must be. “Sullivan.”

He nodded, and I noticed the faint redness lining his eyes. “He tried to tell me the other day. They’re getting married in a month. ”

“Holy… a month?” I reached for him. “Ryder, are you okay?”

He was quiet for a moment before shaking his head.

“Let’s talk about something else. You dared me to consider this, really give it thought, so I did.

I need this to work, Sydney. Mr. Mac has always been like a father to me.

This team deserves to stay here. I’ll literally crawl across the ice with my tongue stuck to the surface if it means saving it. ”

His abrupt tone shift didn’t surprise me. Nothing did anymore. Instead, I went along with his avoidance of emotion. It was what I was good at, after all. “I don’t know who taught you your dance moves, but that is definitely not one we’ll be using.”

“We?”

“Yes, absolutely. We’re in this together now. I’m an artist who has to mold this ugly lump of clay into something passable.”

One brow lifted. “That’s… an analogy.”

“Tell me your dance moves aren’t ugly, and I’ll retract it.”

He didn’t look like someone who hit the clubs regularly.

His body was built for hockey, honed to perfection for one sport.

As I studied the long lines of his legs, his thick thighs, and his tapered waist, I realized he had more potential in his body than I did.

I could absolutely make a dancer of him.

“This is going to be torture, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Probably. And we need to move fast. If we’re really going to save your team, you have little time to practice before your first performance.”

“Oh, great. ”

“I had an idea, but I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”

“Your ideas are going to be the death of me.”

I grinned and repeated, “Probably. But this one is gold. You can’t tell anyone—not Teddy, not your coaches. Eventually, we’ll want them involved. But our priority is to make a video of you go viral. What better way than capturing their ridiculous reactions when you start dancing?”

He sighed. “You’re right, I know you are. And I very much think I’m going to regret this.”

Yet, he didn’t back out, which was impressive in itself. Ryder was willing to make a complete fool of himself to save the team he loved.

It was hot.

Had I ever been that passionate about anything? Maybe dancing, but it didn’t love me back. Choreographing, though—that I could do.

Stay away from Ryder.

I’d try, big brother, but I wasn’t making any promises.

“Go get your bathing suit on,” I said, shoving him toward the door.

“Why?”

“If this is going to work, you need to trust me. Don’t question it. Practice starts today.”