I inwardly cringed at his self-deprecating words. He said them with a wry smile, and I knew his lack of playing time hurt. He’d been a backup goalie for about five years. Brick, the starting goalie, was an ironman. He never got sick or injured, so Jock never played in a game unless the team was so far ahead the coach pulled Brick.

I stood and hugged him. Neither of us was overly demonstrative, but a hug seemed to be just what my brother needed. He hugged me back and smiled down at me.

“I’m glad you’re here. I need you, and so do the kids.”

My throat constricted uncharacteristically, and my eyes burned with unshed tears. I turned away from him so he wouldn’t see my display of emotion. No one ever needed me, maybe my body, but not me as a person, but Jock needed me, depended on me, and that meant a lot to me. I’d do anything within my power to help him and the kids heal and get their lives back on track.

Even if it meant sacrificing my own happiness and wants. I knew what I wanted—Axel—and I wouldn’t do that to my brother. Axel had slept with Bria. He wasn’t denying that.

Axel was another one of those guys like my last boyfriend that I’d be better off without. I still wondered what happened to Weasel after my father and some of his biker cronies got ahold of him. I doubted he walked out of there on his own. I hoped they didn’t kill him, but over the years, I’d learned to look away when it came to my dad and the dangerous element hanging around his repair shop. My father didn’t belong to the Sacred Hearts, but he did business with the group almost exclusively and had many friends among them. He even rode with them at times, as I had a few times also.

This equipment job had come at the right time. I’d never played hockey, but I appreciated the sport. What good Canadian didn’t?

I worked hard, learned all I could, did my job well, and here I was working for the Sockeyes. They’d given me a chance, and I would prove I deserved that chance. Sleeping with one of the team would be the worst way to thank them, not to mention my brother for his kindness. My thoughts drifted back to Axel, no matter where they went.

Hooking up with him would be a disaster beyond the normal disasters I invited into my life, intentionally and not. I had a way of creating chaos and wreaking havoc wherever I went. When I’d moved to Seattle, I’d promised myself my bad choices ended there. I’d make wise, thought-out decisions, not knee-jerk emotional ones.

So far, I’d been doing well until Axel joined the team. Road trips would be pure torture.

I knew the attraction was mutual. I’d seen the lust burning in his deep-brown eyes, but I refused to be consumed by it. The Geneva of a month ago would’ve already seen Axel naked and done plenty to his body. This Geneva was wiser and more careful of the company she kept.