Page 11 of Rival Darling

“Yes. Yes, I do.” He sat back, smirking as he waited for my response. I knew he’d happily sit there all night until he got the answer he wanted.

“Okay, she was hot.”

“Knew it.” His eyes lit with satisfaction.

“But that wasn’t why I stopped.”

“Sure.”

“It wasn’t,” I insisted. “She kicked her car.”

“Ah, of course. Car abuse simply cannot be tolerated.”

I shook my head in frustration. “She kicked her car and fell over. I went to check she was okay.”

Gray was still smirking at me.

Could he tell how much I’d liked Violet even though I’d barely said a word about her? He knew me too well. “I don’t like her.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don’t. Anyway, she hates hockey players, and she has a boyfriend.”

“Ah. Completely unavailable.”

“That’s right.”

“And probably not interested in you.”

“No.”

“I like the sound of her already.”

“Funny.” I folded my arms across my chest, unimpressed. “But comedian just isn’t a good look for you, Gray.”

Amusement briefly flickered in his eyes. “It’s probably for the best,” he said. “You don’t need to go and get mixed up with some girl from Sunshine Hills. Not when our season is just kicking off and they’re our main rivals for the championship.”

“Yeah.”

“And you know what happened last time you let a girl distract you…”

“I’m not being distracted.”

“Hmm.”

He didn’t seem to believe me, which was fair because, despite what I said, I was struggling to get Violet off my mind. It had been a long time since a girl had caught my attention this way. Since the last time I’d gotten distracted, as Grayson put it, I’d kept my mind laser focused on hockey, allowing very little room for girls to occupy my thoughts. Violet, however, seemed to have forced her way in and made herself at home.

“I’m going to jump in the shower,” I muttered.

Grayson nodded and took another sip of his beer. “Try not to steal all the hot water. Cammie’s due home from training soon and might actually cut off your balls this time.”

I swallowed. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Our sister was always threatening to permanently dismember one of us. I might have joked about it with Grayson, but I’d never do so in front of Cammie. She was the baby of the family and our only sister, but she was ten times scarier than the rest of us. And while my brothers and I were somehow still intact despite her threats, I wasn’t willing to take any risks.

I made my way into the house and was greeted by our Golden Retriever, Stanley. He’d been our family dog for as long as I could remember, but not even his old age stopped his tail from wagging powerfully as he covered me in licks.

“I haven’t been gone that long, boy,” I said, chuckling as I tousled the hair behind his ears. That was Stan though. You could be gone only a few minutes, and he’d still be overjoyed to see you when you got back.

I walked through the kitchen as I headed for the stairs. Parker was in there, raiding the pantry—just for a change. He was a year younger than Grayson and I, but I swore the kid ate more than the two of us combined.