I should’ve stayed out with the bros. After all, I was the guy who’d come up with the idea in the first place. I’d miscalculated. I was better off being seen as a partier than with Jock’s sister.

I’d rectify the situation next time.

Chapter 10—Nothing Going On

~~Geneva~~

“What’s going on between the two of you?” Jock hissed as soon as Axel was out of earshot.

“Absolutely nothing.” I was the picture of innocence, or so I thought, but my brother wasn’t buying it. I guess I didn’t wear innocence well.

The waitress delivered my hamburger and glanced around with a sigh, clearly disappointed Axel had left. I dug into my late dinner, ignoring my brother’s harsh stare. He reminded me of my father when he behaved like this.

“Bullshit. You have it bad for him.”

I chewed another bite of burger and met his gaze. “Let’s make something clear. You do not control me. You do not have a right to tell me who I sleep with and who I don’t. You’re my brother, and I love you, but my life is mine. If I want to hook up with Axel, it’ll be none of your business. I’ll do as I please with who I please. Got it?”

Our stare down lasted several seconds before Jock looked away. I saw him swallow, then he buried his head in his hands. Everything went still inside me. Jock was stoic and strong like my dad. He did not cry, but was he crying right now?

“Jock?” I touched his arm, and he stiffened. “Are you okay?”

He refused to look at me, but a shudder went through his body. Of course he wasn’t okay. His wife of sixteen years, the mother of his five children, fooled around on him, with a teammate, no less. In fact, if Axel was telling the truth, she’d gone to the hotel bar in hopes of finding a guy to pick up. Confronted by her infidelity, my brother could no longer deny what she’d been doing while he was on road trips. I was certain she’d been messing around for several years with very little consideration for his feelings or for her children’s well-being.

“I loved her once,” he said huskily. “She’d been my life.”

The woman didn’t deserve the love of a man like my brother.

“Hockey is your life. So are your children.” She’s merely a pain in your ass, I wanted to say but didn’t.

He looked up at me. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and sadness was written all over his face. He swiped a napkin across mouth. “I’m lonely, Geneva. I want a partner for life, someone to share the joys and sorrows, someone to be my rock at times, and I’ll be theirs.”

“Was Bria ever that person?” I said carefully, not wanting to stomp all over his damaged ego.

“At first, I thought she was, or I fooled myself into believing what I wanted to believe. We talked about our future, about the kids, stuff like that. But it didn’t take long for me to see I’d made a colossal mistake. By then, we had two kids and two on the way. I wouldn’t deny them their mother. I tolerated her for my kids’ sake.”