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

I trail her every move. My attention to her angelic laughs never wavers, and each time she smiles at a child, I grow even more impatient.

How could I possibly be jealous of a fucking child?

I want her to smile at melike that. Instead, I get hurtful looks covered up by dirty glances and scowls.

Daisy makes a beeline for the exit as soon as the media leaves. She has to know I’m going to follow her, no matter how fast she walks. I openly ignore my teammates calling my name and chase her down.

You can run, little devil, but you can’t hide.

The locker room door latches behind me, and I spot her turning the corner. My chuckle echoes within the narrow space, and she spins to face me in an outrage. “You know that just because we had a small slip in time, you don’t own me, right?”

Own her. Those two little words shoot right below my belt.

Daisy is blazing with anger when I approach her. Heat fans from her body, making me sweat. “A slip in time?” I stand right in front of her, towering above her shorter frame. “Is that what you’re calling it?”noveldrama

Daisy makes a noise that resembles sarcasm. “No. I’m calling it a mistake.”

I sigh with impatience and take a step closer to her. That mighty chin of hers tips so she can keep her scathing glare on me. Before she can escape into her dressing room, I wind one arm around her back and rest my other on the door above her head.

“You’re only saying that because you’re hurt.”

“Hurt?” The word races from her mouth with poison, but it’s a poison I’d gladly take. “I’d have to care to be hurt.”

My chest tightens, my stomach tensing.

“The truth is, I don’t care. You’re free to be whoever you want to be with and do whatever you want. If you want to seduce every woman on the planet, then go for it. Sex meant⁠—”

“Everything,” I finish for her. “It meant everything.”

Daisy’s pink lips slam shut, but the furrowing of her brow is still there. I can’t expect her to take my word for it, but I wish she would, because now I’m stuck toying with the idea of letting her in again.

“Did it hurt you when I stayed at the club? Were you up all night, wondering what I was doing and who I was with?”

Because I was up all night, wondering what I’d do if the roles were reversed. I came to the conclusion that I’d end up behind bars.

Before she can answer, I grip her chin tightly. “And don’t lie to me.”

Daisy exhales, and I have the urge to open my mouth so her breath lands on my tongue.

I wet my lip. “I’ve thought of nothing but you since the other night.”

Actually, I’ve thought of nothing but her since the moment I stepped in the elevator weeks ago.

Daisy rolls her eyes, and my grip tightens in hopes that it’ll drive my point further.

“I didn’t stay at the club for the reason you think.”

Silence lingers, and the longer Daisy peers up at me with her pretty blue eyes, the more I’m willing to come clean.

Nerves creep along my neck. “Despite what you’ve heard and what my reputation is, all I wanted to do is follow you back to the apartment and wait until your brother left so I could have you again.”

“Get a room,” someone jokingly shouts from down the hall.

Daisy and I both jerk.

Look at us, so lost in each other’s presence that we can’t even pay attention to our surroundings.

I grip the door handle behind her and shove us both inside her makeshift dressing room.

It smells like her in here, flowery and sweet like honey.

Having been snapped out of the stupor, Daisy immediately puts space between us. She’s a thousand miles away, though I could reach out and touch her if I tried.

I watch as she furiously digs into her bag for her regular clothes.

“If you didn’t stay for what my brother was implying, then why did you? I can’t think of any other reason why you’d stay.” Daisy rips the Blue Devil horns off her head and tosses them through the air. They land on my shoes. Her warm-blonde hair spills over her shoulders, surrounding her face. She’s so goddamn pretty, even when she’s angry.

I open my mouth, less confident than before. My pulse thrums quickly as I prepare for her disappointment with the real truth behind why I stayed.

“You know what”—Daisy rolls her eyes—“it doesn’t even matter. It’s not like what happened between us will happen again. I won’t let it.”

“Miles,” I blurt his name, and Daisy drops her clothes.

Her angry browline softens into confusion. “What?”

“I stayed because of Miles.” My arms fall to my sides, and suddenly, I’m eighteen again. I nervously lick my lip and begin to pace in front of her, just like the last time I confided in her. “He owed money to someone. They were meeting me at the club so I could pay them the remainder. I’d forgotten all about it until we were heading back to the apartments.”

I drag my hand across my face, suddenly hit with exhaustion.

“It hasn’t stopped. The gambling. Every time I think it’s the last time, and he leaves me alone for a while, he comes right back and asks me to bail him out again. The last time I refused, he was beaten to near death.” My voice cracks, but I cover it with more of the truth. “I even moved him in with me for a while until he healed so he could hide it from Mom, with the promise of getting help, but turns out…”

I need to breathe. The room sways, and my lungs beg for air.

I’m in a state of panic, until I feel her arms wrap around my waist.

I raise my arms and stare down at her small frame pressing against mine. Her head rests against my racing heart, and her arms tighten even more.

“Just breathe,” she whispers against my shirt. “In and out.”

I do as she says.

When my chest settles and I can feel my legs again, I let my arms land on her slender frame.

We stand for so long I forget how we got here.

But unfortunately for me, Daisy has questions.