Puck Drills & Quick Thrills (CU Hockey 5)

“Tutoring your brother.”

“And waiting to fuck the other one?” He folds his arms and leans into the doorframe.

“I know the agreement, and I’m not here to see West. But I made a commitment to Rhys that I intend to keep.”

“So you’re stealing all my brothers. Should I get Em and Ben too? Might as well finish off the set.”

I spare a quick look Hazel’s way, and she’s staring at her computer screen way too intently to not be listening. I have to be careful with what I say given her concerns and the promise I made to her to back off if Asher’s upset, but I’m in no mood to pander to him being a child. If he can’t see that I was only doing my job, then he still has a lot of growing up to do.

“If that’s all you came here to say, Rhys and I have work to get through.” I keep my voice as professional as possible.

“You know, I have a right to come home and not have to see the professor who hates me.”

I’m about to point out that I don’t hate him when Rhys beats me to it.

“Would you get over it? You don’t like him, we get it. But I like him, and everyone else likes him, but more importantly, West likes him. If West is stuck here with all of us, doesn’t he at least deserve that?”

“I never said—”

“This is his one selfish thing,” Rhys says. “Let him have it.”

Asher stares me down. “Why my brother?”

“Why Kole Hogan?” I ask pointedly. “There’s no logic to relationships.”

“Yeah, but West isn’t … he’s not …”

“The fact you can’t even finish those sentences just proves West is everything.”

The scowl that mars Asher’s face isn’t as harsh as I’m used to seeing. “I guess I’m outvoted.”

“By a lot,” Rhys adds. “I know you’re shit at math, but you do know that six to one isn’t good odds, right?”

“Whatever.”

“Asher …” Hazel slips her headphones off and looks up at him. Her eyes are all big, and her mouth is pouty. “We love you, but Jasper is good for West. Please don’t make us choose between our brothers.”

His shoulders slump, and it’s obvious the exact moment he knows he’s lost. “You suck,” he mutters and turns to leave. I hear him as he passes West in the kitchen. “Your boyfriend can stay, but I swear, any sex noises and I’m out.”

Wow.

When I look back at Hazel, she has a smirk firmly in place. “You’re welcome.” Then she slips on her headphones and ignores us all again.

Yeah, she’s going to be just fine.

“How are we doing in here?” West asks.

“Good. But I’m beginning to suspect Hazel is an evil genius.”

The three of us turn to her.

“Yeah,” West says. “But we still have a couple of years before we need to worry about that.”

I don’t point out that after how easily she played Asher, I think he’s wrong.

West leans down to kiss me.

“Really?” Rhys groans. “I see enough of that with Asher and Kole. I’m impressionable, damn it.”

West bats the back of his head. “If you’re impressionable, I’m the math genius. Jasper can tutor me.”

“I’ll teach you some stuff later.”

“Hazel is totally listening,” Rhys points out.

“I’m totally not.”

I laugh, loving that I can be a part of this with them. Sure, Asher will take time, but I have plenty of it. I’m never expecting things to be easy when it comes to Asher, but from the way the others talk about him, I know he’d never stand in between his siblings and their happiness—even West.

After a tense dinner, Kole and I clear the table while Asher and West deal with the kids. It’s weird how natural it feels, and I can’t imagine a time when they had to do it all alone. As it is, there are nine plates, cutlery, glasses, and then the dishes used to cook. Even without me and Kole here, it’s a mountain of work.

Kole scrapes the leftovers in the trash, while I rinse and place the dishes in the dishwasher. We work in silence for a couple of minutes before Kole speaks.

“Asher doesn’t hate you, you know.”

I snort. “His actions say otherwise.”

“Sometimes I forget people can’t read Asher as easily as I can. He always seems so obvious.” Kole shifts. “It’s just, things between Asher and West have always been tense.”

“West told me.”

“Did he tell you it was only very recently that they started to work past those issues?”

I frown, trying to remember exactly what he’s said. “I know things are better than they used to be. Well, were. I’m not sure West appreciates his brother’s hostility right now.”

“I know. And I know Asher is behaving like a baby, but the thing is, he knows that too.”

“Then you know the solution,” I point out. “He can stop.”