Juicy Rebound (IceCats 1)

The funny thing is, I only want to be on Amelia’s radar.

“When are you flying in for the wedding?”

“I don’t know. I have to see when—” I stop myself before I say Amelia’s name. “Uh, I gotta check my mom’s schedule.”

“Cool. I gotta see when Amelia is flying in. I still don’t believe she’ll come.”

Shit. My heart kicks up. “Why?”

“I don’t know. She’s being really vague with my mom. She hasn’t really talked to me except through text, but then she seems all in with Sofia. She even sent her a picture of the dress she’s wearing, since Sofia said she could choose anything red. I don’t know. Amelia makes me nervous.”

“Yeah,” I say since that’s all I can get out.

“I want to find that bastard and whoop his ass. I know she left him, but I think there was more to it. I feel like he ruined my sister.”

It kills me. If Ryan knew how great she was doing, he would be just as proud as I am. At first, yes, I knew Drew had damaged her. But now, I think she’s way better.

When he gives me a grin and then points to me, I hold my breath. “Want to help me bury a body?”

“Anytime.”

He nods as he looks over at me, his eyes burning into mine. “Have you seen her lately?”

Well, yes. Last night. On FaceTime. She showed me her new lingerie, and I whacked off until I couldn’t see straight. My mouth was dry because I wanted her so bad. “Yeah, I have.”

“When? How’s she doing?”

“Great, really good.” I lick my lips, leaning on my knees as I dig my nails into the label on my beer bottle. “Um, and I actually saw her on Thanksgiving.”

I don’t have to look at him to know his face is scrunched up and confused. I hear it in his voice. “Thanksgiving? Weren’t you in Florida?”

My stomach starts to roll. “Yeah.”

“Moon.”

I don’t want to look up, but I have to. When I meet his blazing blue eyes, my heart drops into my stomach. Maybe I was too eager to do this. Maybe I should have waited until I asked Amelia to marry me.

But I’d have to ask him first.

Fuck me.

“Are you saying my sister came to Florida to have Thanksgiving with you?”

“Yeah,” I say simply. “My parents flew her in.”

He blinks. “Why?”

“She didn’t want to be alone.”

“She could have come home.”

“Yeah, I asked her if she was going to go home with you guys, but she said she wanted to come to Florida. With me.”

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. It’s so thick, it’s suffocating me. His eyes haven’t left mine, and his neck has a redness creeping up it. A heaviness settles in my gut as I brace for impact. I might die here. I didn’t even get to tell Amelia I love her. Damn it.

“Dude, what are you saying?”

“What are you thinking?”

He narrows his eyes. “I feel like you’re telling me my sister chose to spend a holiday with you rather than her family.”

“Okay, well, I don’t know if she chose me over you guys, but she did spend the holiday with me. She told me she wasn’t ready to face your whole family yet, and she didn’t want the stress that came with going home.”

“So, there is no stress with you?” he snaps, and I swallow hard.

“No, you know I don’t do stress. And I figured whatever made her happy was for the best.”

A tic appears in his jaw. “You care about her happiness?”

I lick my lips. “I do.”

“You’re not keeping an eye on my sister in the way I wanted you to, are you?”

I slowly shake my head. “If you wanted me to keep an eye on her while falling in love with her, then yeah, I’m doing just that.”

Silence stretches between us as he holds my gaze. He looks like he did the day one of the guys on our team said he wanted to bang Amelia. That insane, I-want-to-rip-your-limbs-off-and-beat-you-with-the-bloody-ends look. Crazy thing is I’ve seen him fight a guy just for saying he was going to hit Amelia from behind. It was right after his dad’s birthday, and I think it was more a freak-out than anything. The dude did hit him first, so in Ryan’s defense, he was standing up for himself.

If he swings at me, I guess I’ll deserve it, but I won’t stop seeing her.

I clear my throat as my skin tingles. I want to look away, but I am insane and want to see the punch coming. “That’s actually why I wanted to come by.”

His face is turning red. Damn it.

“When you called and asked me to keep an eye on her, I had already asked her out. She turned me down for a solid week before she finally agreed. Since then, we’ve been inseparable.”