Offside (The Barker Triplets 1)

Logan eyed his friend closely, suddenly rankled and not sure why. “She’s not Bobbi, you know that right?”

Shane’s eyes darkened as a scowl crossed his features. “I got that.” His friend was silent for a moment. “What do you care anyway?”

[i]What kind of question was that?[i] He was just looking out for the kid is all. “I don’t. I’m just saying.”

Except for whatever reason he did. The thought of Shane Gallagher anywhere near Billie, had his gut tightening and that only irritated him more. Since when had he decided to become her all around protector and bodyguard? He was losing it. No question. He needed to deal with the Sabrina problem, and get a good night’s sleep.

“Sure,” Shane said slowly. “Okay.”

Logan reached into his pocket and tossed Shane a key to his place. “I’ll see you later.”

“But aren’t we going to at least grab a drink?” Sabrina pouted, not understanding.

“Let’s get out of here.” His intention was to have, [i]the talk[i], the break-up chat. She was getting too comfortable and that led to problems. The signs had been there for a while. That last time she’d spent the night at his house he’d woken up to find his clothes freshly laundered and folded. Bad sign. Hell, she’d probably have put them away except he’d stopped her cold.

Yep, too damn comfortable, which, for some guy out there would be cool, but not for him. [i]She[i] wasn’t for him.

Sabrina glanced toward Billie once more and smiled, a sly, sexy smile. “Sounds good to me,” she purred.

He knew she thought they were heading straight to bed and if he were some other guy, he’d take the offer, use her body to alleviate some of the frustration he felt and blow her off the next morning. Except Logan wasn’t that kind of guy. He didn’t want to hurt her. It wasn’t Sabrina Fairfax’s problem that his feelings didn’t run down the permanent road she was travelling. He sighed and nodded toward the door.

It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Four

Billie loaded her hockey bag into the back of her car and placed two sticks alongside it before slamming the door shut. She was running behind, after taping both sticks. A quick glance at her watch told her she had to be on the ice in forty-five minutes, so she needed to get her butt in gear.

“So, you’re really going through with this.”

Billie turned from her vehicle and faced her sister. They’d not talked at all since their disastrous dinner a week ago. Both of the girls had gone out of their way to avoid the other. It was for the best considering the Barker triplets’ tempers had always run hot and they’d learned a long time ago to leave each other alone when things got dicey.

Billie studied her sister. Bobbi and Gerald were taking a weekend trip to some swank bed-and-breakfast an hour north of town. They were leaving within the hour. Billie had hoped she’d be able to escape without a confrontation, but she supposed it was too much to ask for and maybe it was time to clear the air.

She just needed it to happen in less than two minutes.

“Looks like it.” Billie quipped before moving around her sister and heading toward the wide porch steps. She’d left her Gatorade in the kitchen and once she had it was good to go.

“Did you know that Jackie Everett isn’t sleeping with her husband?”

Billie rolled her eyes and turned back to her sister. [i]Here we go[i].

Bobbi stood at the bottom of the steps, dressed to the nines in a fitted moss green coat with a fur ruffle at the collar and indigo-blue skinny jeans tucked into simple black leather boots. Her hair, straight as ever without even one piece out of place, curved around her perfectly made up features. She looked so cold…so [i]plastic[i], like there was nothing real inside her anymore. For a second, a sliver of remorse rifled through Billie. Was she somehow responsible for the woman her sister had become?

Billie smoothed her hands over the soft, denim at her hips and arched a brow. “I’m not sure why you think I care if Duke and his wife actually sleep together.” Though to be honest, she was surprised. Duke and Jackie were two people who’d always been madly in love, but she supposed that kind of flame was hard to keep burning.

Bobbi’s eyes narrowed. “This is a recent development and it’s your fault.”

Okay, her sister was bordering on crazy. What the hell had Gerald done to her?

“My fault?” Billie threw her hands up in the air, when all she wanted to do was wrap them around her sister’s neck and squeeze until Bobbi’s head popped off. “I’m sure you’re dying to fill me in on why it’s my fault, but to be blunt it’s none of my business and I don’t care.”

“You should care. They’re fighting because of you.”

“Me?” Billie took a step down, visualizing her hands tearing into her sisters perfectly coiffed hair. A smile touched her mouth at the thought. Maybe she could smudge her poppy red lipstick while she was at it. “How is the fact that Duke’s not getting any, my fault?”

“Because they’re arguing about your need to play hockey with a bunch of men, that’s why. Duke, like most of us, thinks you’re being ridiculous and apparently Jackie thinks he’s being an asshole.”

A slow burn erupted inside Billie and she took the last step until she was only a few inches from her sister. “Well, if that’s what he thinks then I’d say Jackie’s got it right. He [i]is[i] being an asshole.”