I crossed my arms and stared at him for a moment, letting him sweat a bit. After all, he was partially responsible for ruining my relationship with Axel five years ago. I finally said, “Thank you for your apology, James. I’ll talk to Axel about it.” That was as far as I was willing to go at this point.

He was obviously at a loss for what to say next, so he asked, “So how’ve you been? Do you have a job?” From anyone else, that might sound like polite conversation, but from James, it was a passive-aggressive jab. Cam looked at me with his best is this fucker for real? look.

“Blaire’s a doctor,” Cam said tersely. “In fact, she graduated number one in her class from medical school and landed one of the top residency positions in the nation. Her specialty is orthopedic surgery.”

I had to stop myself from grinning at James’s shocked expression, though it made me feel smugly self-satisfied. But also a little bit sad. Axel and I had dated for almost two years, and his father seemed to have no clue that I had intended to go to med school. He had me pegged in his mind, and that was it, the stubborn ass.

“I’m sure that doesn’t quite jibe with the whole gold-digging whore scenario you’ve built up in your mind,” I said. Okay, that was probably a bit much, but I had never said a single cross word to Axel’s father. I wanted him to know that I would stand up for myself. I appreciated my brother threatening to maim him for insulting me, but I would be defending myself from now on.

James at least had the grace to blush and stammer in embarrassment, but I turned my back on him and walked calmly back toward our seats. I was done with him. Grabbing my brother’s hand, I squeezed it and smiled up at him. “Thank you, Beau. And I’m glad I don’t have to come visit you in jail.” That got a grin out of him, and he squeezed my hand back. The big, sweet jerk hadn’t even broken a sweat.

After the game, Axel walked over to where we were sitting and crooked his finger at me. I swung my legs over the barrier, and he grabbed my waist and hoisted me down. His lips were on mine before my feet even touched the ground, making Carrie giggle and Beau and the guys groan.

“You were awesome, baby,” I told him when we finally broke apart. “It still makes me hot and wet to see you play,” I whispered in his ear.

“Mmmm, I’ll be home late tonight, but you can come over if you want. I’ll take care of it for you.”

“I can’t. Evan is still out of town, and I have to get Carrie to bed.”