“Hell yeah.”

He shook his head. “One of us in deep shit with the team at a time is enough.”

“I was joking.” Well, maybe not completely. I wanted to have words with this bitch, and it wouldn’t be pretty. Not at all.

“Is this the kind of shit she’s going to start pulling? She warned me she wasn’t done.” Axel leaped to his feet and paced the floor, pausing on occasion to rake his fingers through his messy hair or rub his eyes. He downed his drink and poured another, carrying it as he wore a track in my rug.

“We have to do damage control.”

“Yeah. Thanks for being here. I regret the day I ever met that woman.” He looked at me. I smiled stiffly and raised a fist to him. We fist-bumped. He smiled back at me, and my world tilted on its axis.

Shit. I couldn’t let him do any world tilting. This was even worse than before, and who knew how my brother would take it.

Axel’s smile faded to something more serious, way too serious. I broke eye contact and took a long gulp of my whiskey. The room had probably tilted not because of Axel but because of my drinking too quickly and too much.

Yeah, that was it.

“You having my back means a lot,” he said.

“Anything I can do to help.”

Axel nodded grimly and moved toward me, and we came together in a tight hug, holding each other and giving comfort. We didn’t kiss or turn this into something sexual, even if we both wanted to. Now wasn’t the time.

This had to be okay. We had to fix this.

Chapter 13—Damage Control

~~Axel~~

I didn’t know what the morning would bring, and I wasn’t looking forward to finding out. I’d spent a sleepless night going over everything in my mind, formulating plans, and fretting about outcomes. There was one bright light in this very dark tunnel I was traveling through—Geneva.

I’d left a message for my attorney to see what options we had regarding content on Bria’s personal Facebook.

I’d contacted Coach Gorst for a meeting before breakfast.

I’d blocked Bria on my Facebook, and I’d done what little I could to fix this mess. Next, I had to talk to Jock. He had to hear this from me before the media and social networking grabbed on to this juicy bit of gossip.

Jock slept like the dead, for which I was grateful. He had no idea what was coming when he woke up.

Not only was I worried about Bria’s next move but I was doubly worried about Geneva and my growing attraction to her. She crossed my mind several times every day. I’d be lifting weights and suddenly she would be my spotter rather than Easton. I’d run on the treadmill, and I’d picture myself running after her, tackling her, and tickling her until she agreed to anything I wanted. It was a good thing my sweats were baggy. I didn’t know whether to continue with my denial, which wasn’t working well for me so far, or come clean with Geneva and discuss our elephant in the room.