Caspian (Carolina Reapers 8)

I snorted. “Little bird being London, no doubt. For fuck’s sake you guys have been home from your honeymoon for what? Two days?”

“Little bird being Langley calling London.” He shrugged and slid his helmet on. “And it’s been three days, but the first that the jetlag hasn’t kicked my ass.”

I grunted.

I’m not with Chuck. My eyes slammed shut like that would help block the sound of Ryleigh’s statement from playing over and over in my head.

What the fuck did that even mean?

“Just give me a second to get warmed up and you can use me for target practice, brother.” Sterling slapped my back and then laughed. “I guess brothers,” he said, emphasizing the plural.

Maxim snorted and grabbed another bag of pucks.

For the next half hour, we drilled and shot, Brogan taking it easy on us and letting us slip by his defense enough times to actually get some shots on Sterling.

I’m not with Chuck.

I shot. Jansen saved it glove side.

I’m not with Chuck.

I shot again. Jansen blocked it with his stick.

“Fuck!” I shouted, ripping off my helmet and sending it flying across the ice.

Brogan stopped suddenly, sending snow flying against the boards.

Maxim stilled.

Sterling leaned back against the goal, bracing his arms on the top bar. “You ready to talk about it, now?”

“There’s nothing to fucking talk about.” I looked around at the arena. Rows and rows of empty seats that would soon fill with fans who declared they loved me but didn’t know the first fucking thing about me.

Just like Ryleigh.

“You sure? Because London told me I’m supposed to say one sentence to push you over the edge,” Sterling tilted his head my direction.

“And what would that be? Because this isn’t some married-guy intervention. Besides, you’ve been married all of a month, what the fuck would you know about…anything?”

“She’s not back with Chuck,” Sterling said, then put his hands up like he was under arrest. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I fucking saw her all lovey-dovey with him in front of his mom’s café. The whole town knows they’re giving it another go, or whatever.” I gripped my stick so hard I half expected the thing to shatter.

“Right, so that was them saying goodbye and him signing the paperwork to get out of the house,” Sterling said slowly.

I blinked. “Are you serious?”

He nodded. “Yep. And don’t even get me started on how weird it is that I get hauled out of my house to deliver Cherry Creek gossip to the rink.”

“She’s not with Chuck.” My mouth formed the words with extra care.

“Nope.” Sterling shook his head.

“She flew all the way out here to tell me that she’s not back together with Chuck?” I clarified.

“For the love of God,” Brogan groaned. “You’ve said Chuck so many times that it doesn’t even sound like a word anymore.”

“Yep.” Sterling took off his helmet and shook the sweat out of his hair like a dog. “She flew out here and said you were a total and complete asshole, and that your mom should probably fly out because you’re keeping a huge secret stashed away in your house.”

Every head swung my direction.

I blew out my breath and looked skyward, like the jumbotron would sort this mess out. “Langley answered the door, and Ryleigh flipped out that I’m hiding my secret baby.”

“Fuck that,” Brogan muttered.

“She thinks Langley is pregnant with your kid?” Maxim asked before breaking out into obnoxious laughter. “Axel might have something to say about that.”

“It’s not funny, jackass.”

Maxim wiped every emotion from his face. “Right. Sorry.”

“If she honestly thinks I’m the kind of guy who would leave my pregnant girlfriend at home so I could fly off to Iowa and have a month-long…” What was the word? Relationship? Fling? “Thing with her, then she obviously doesn’t know me.”

“Wait. You didn’t correct her?” Brogan asked. “Because if someone thought I’d knocked someone up, I’d clarify that shit quick.” He looked horrified at the thought.

“Hell no. If she wants to think the worst of me, then she’s going to. I mean, I grew up next to her! How does she think I’d be the kind of guy who would turn his back on his kid? His woman?”

“Well, you grew up next to her and you thought she was the kind of woman who would get back together with her douchebag ex under your nose,” Maxim retorted, shrugging when I glared in his direction.

“And she’s not. We covered that,” Sterling added.

“Hey, everyone!” Brogan shouted at the empty stands. “Ryleigh isn’t dating Chuck!”

“Wait,” Maxim said slowly. “Are you telling me that she flew all the way to South Carolina to clear up a misunderstanding that you ran away from, only to stumble into another situation that you could have cleared up with a simple sentence, but chose not to because you were too stubborn to let her fully explain what happened in Iowa?” He took off his helmet and lifted both brows at me.