Rush the Edge: A Brother’s Best Friend Hockey Romance (Blue Devils Hockey Book 3)

PRESENT

“What are you doing?” My older brother has one eyebrow raised while he stares at me in my lotus position.

“Meditating,” I answer before closing my eyes again.

Deep breaths.

In through my nose, out through my mou–

River snickers. I peek one eyelid open and see that he’s smirking.

“Stop it,” I hiss. “You’re ruining my calm aura.”

River chuckles and rubs a hand over his scruffy face. “Sorry, but since when do you meditate?”

On steady legs, I hop to my feet and cross my arms. “Since I had to drop out of college and pack up my entire apartment and move to the arctic.”

I’m tempted to kick the half-packed cardboard box at my feet just to prove a point.

“Chicago isn’t that bad,” he says. “They have…”—he thinks for a second—“hot dogs.”

“I can’t even have hot dogs,” I argue.

River makes a face. “Oh, right.” He shrugs. “Sucks to be you.”

I huff. “Jerk.”

He grins, and I feel my lips wanting to turn up at the sight.

River and I are close in age, and though we’re in our twenties now, we still act like we’re children. If we ever go anywhere with Mom and Dad, we’re forced to sit in the backseat together where he pinches me, and I punch him.

It’s our little bit.

Despite continuously arguing and teasing one another—usually him teasing me—we have a great relationship. If I’m ever in a sticky situation, it’s him that I call, not our parents.

Mom is anxious most of the time, but Dad is as chill as they get. That’s probably why they’ve been married for so long—they’re perfect for each other.

“Mom has called me three times today.” I place some more books into the box and start to close it.

River takes over, shoving my hands out of the way. “She’s called me four times, so I win.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t know why she’s so worried about me moving up there. You’d think she’d be happy.”

“You know how she is. She worries about you.”

“Maybe she should meditate,” I joke.

River laughs as I toss him the packing tape.

“How did you get her to calm down?” I ask.

I wince at the sound of packing tape echoing in my empty apartment. River taps the box a few times before resting his arm on it. “I reassured her that I have friends in the area that can watch out for you and help you if I’m busy with my residency.”

Silence fills my tiny apartment before I smile. “So you lied? Because I know you don’t have friends.”

River gives me a look. “I do too.”

I roll my lips. “Whatever you say.”

“Just because I’m at the hospital more than anywhere else doesn’t mean I don’t have friends,” he argues. “And you’re welcome, by the way.”

“For?” The list is endless.

My brother scowls. “For letting you move in with me.”

I throw my hands up. “That was your idea!”

If it weren’t for the connections he’s made within his residency, I would have never even considered moving to Chicago.

“It’s within walking distance to Dr. Gibson’s office too.”

Right. The entire reason I’m heading to the Windy City.

“How are you feeling?”

The worry slips out of River when I don’t answer right away. His hands freeze with a piece of tape stretched across a box.

“I’m fine,” I say.

River, knowing more about Lupus than even myself, is well-aware of my particular triggers for flare-ups. Stress is a big one, so moving to a completely new city without a job and only a halfway completed college degree is worrisome.

If I ever want to get back to having a semi-normal life, I have to continue to manage my Lupus on top of finding a job and continuing to work toward the target. I had dreams and goals, all of which came to a screeching halt with my diagnosis.

Not to mention, I have to balance the financial aspect of it all.

I can’t expect my brother to pay for the apartment on his own, and though our parents have always been there to help, I feel like a helpless child allowing them to continue to support me.

It’ll be fine.

I need to figure things out on my own.

“You sure?” River asks, pulling me back from the edge of insanity. “You know what stress does to you.”

“I’m fine, River.” I hold up my pinky. “Pinky promise.”

He squints. “We haven’t made a pinky promise since we were, like, six.”

“But I kept it,” I argue, smiling.

River leaves my pinky hanging and goes back to packing boxes. “I sent word to my friends to see if anyone knows of any job openings for you.”

I purse my lips. “But you don’t have friends.”

“Shut up, or I’m getting you a job at a hot dog stand on the side of the road.”

I laugh silently because he would do something like that.

The rest of our time is spent listening to music, packing boxes, and dodging our mother’s phone calls.

“You ready to go?” River asks after finally taping the last box shut.noveldrama

I freeze. “For…?”

He grins. “For your going away party.”

My eyes light up. “Going away party?”

River snatches his keys off the counter and tosses me my jacket. “You think Natalia was going to send you off without a proper goodbye? You clearly don’t know your best friend well enough.”

Natalia was my roommate in college before I had to drop out.

We’ve been best friends since.

“Let me guess…” I smile and zip my coat. “The Bex?”

River snaps his fingers at me, and I follow him out of the empty apartment.

The Bex was the ultimate hangout spot during college, and although we’re at least forty minutes away, I’m not mad. I might even get a basket of fries to end the night off, knowing damn well they’ll probably make me feel sick come morning.