Page 56 of Three Pucking Ex's Brothers

“Why don’t you tell me what you’re really pissed about?” I say. “Because I know it ain’t the fact that I kissed Nora last night.”

Freddie glares at me. “You kissed her?”

I square my shoulders proudly. “Yeah. So what if I did?”

True to his nickname, I don’t even see him coming. His hand wraps around my throat almost instantly, and I nearly stumble back as he pushes me against the plexiglass.

“Youkissedher?”

I look him in the eye, noting the darkness rimmed there. It’s not anger or frustration I see, but something else.

Jealousy.

But what the fuck would Freddie have to be jealous about? Why would he be jealous because I kissed Nora?

And then I feel the tremble of his hand as he tightens his grip, and I remember the way he looked atherthis morning. Offering her a ride. Breakfast.

Maybe I’m not the only one in the Eleanor Brighton fan club. Maybe Freddie’s just as interested in the little minx as I am, which is both equally shocking and strangely comforting.

“Yeah, I did. And she kissed me back.”

Freddie grinds his jaw as his hand shakes, and I claw at his fist. Then I hear the team skating toward us.

“Put me down and we can talk about this,” I say.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Freddies says, but he lets go, nearly throwing me on the ground. I slide down to the concrete, coughing to clear my airway.

“Everything okay over here?” Chris asks.

“Just peachy,” I say as Freddie gets up, heading back to the ice.

“We’re just finishing up,” Chris says. “Going to hit up the club after this. You want to join?” He offers me a hand and helps me to my feet.

“You know I’m in,” I say as I let out a cough.

“You guys go,” Freddie says. “I think I’m going to do some more laps.”

Freddie nods at me as he heads off for the ice, and Chris and I head for the showers.

I stare at the drink in my hands. It seems no matter how many of these damn rum and Cokes I drink, I can’t seem to shake the memory of what happened last night, with Nora. Or what happened earlier, at practice with my brother.

It’s not like Freddie to get worked up over…well…anything, if I’m being honest. The last time I saw him this agitated was after he found out his ex-fiancée was pregnant with that idiot Kreuss from the Badgers, and that was years ago.

I know cheating is a trigger for the guy, and I would’ve just attributed that to the reason he’s pissed had it not been for that fucking look he gave me or his hand around my throat when I told him I kissed Nora.

I know from that one look that he was jealous.

Of the fact that I kissed her.

Because Freddielikesher too. Even if he doesn’t say it out loud.

Suddenly I find myself pouring over every family event and dinner we’ve ever been to, wracking my brain for those signs. Did I miss something, somewhere? I don’t fucking know.

I pull out my phone, staring at it as the rum settles in my stomach.

I haven’t spoken to Nora since she left, mostly because I just haven’t had the time. It’s the beginning of the season, and as such, most of my day is spent working out and getting back into the swing of playing. I love the off-season, if only because I get to hang out with my friends and my brothers more often. Well, mostly Freddie and Tommy because Brett and I have never been close, and I don’t see that getting any better now that I have a real reason to hate him.

Seriously, what kind of asshole cheats on their girlfriend, and not just any girlfriend, but one as perfect as Nora?