Page 88 of My Brother's Teammates

Standing in the middle of the living room in my underwear while my brother stares at me from the still-open front door wasn’t on my bingo card for this morning. But here we are.

I stare back at him, and for all the confidence I have, all my sass and snark, I shrink into myself.

I’ve never felt so exposed, so tiny.

So fucking dirty.

The surprise etched across his features morphs to curiosity before it quickly turns to anger. His face falls as he looks around the room. “What the hell is going on here?”

No one moves. No one speaks. Fuck, I don’t think anyone’s even still breathing, because all the oxygen made a break for it as soon as Harrison opened the door.

“Charlotte!” His voice is clipped, heavy with poorly restrained anger.

I blink at him, not really sure what to say, not sure I can say anything. My chest hurts, there’s a ringing in my ears, and my head is spinning.

The weight of the three stares from the men sitting on the couch behind me as they wait for me to answer my brother, their captain, makes my knees tremble.

When he takes a step toward me, there’s an explosion of action behind me. Mateo rushes to the door, closing it tightly, and I appreciate him shielding the rest of the world from what’s about to go down.

Jace jumps in between Harrison and me, and Roman bolts to his feet, yanks off his T-shirt, and pulls it on over my head.

Harrison’s eyes bulge wide as he takes in his three friends assembling around me like the fucking Avengers. “What the fuck?” He’s blinking quickly, like he’s not sure he believes what he’s seeing. “Y-you think I’d hurt her?” He points his finger at Jace, who hangs his head and steps out of the way so I’m facing Harrison again.

Roman’s disappeared, hopefully to get me some pants, and maybe a sword of some kind, maybe a dragon. I need all the help I can get. If he can bring back my voice while he’s at it, I wouldn’t be mad about it either.

Mateo pats Harrison on the back. “I think he was quietly suggesting we won’t let you hurt her.”

A muscle in Harrison’s cheek twitches as Mateo’s words sink in. “You won’t… let me?” He puffs up his chest, and any chance of this exchange happening between reasonable, cool-headed, calm adults goes straight out the window.

“What the fuck does that even mean?” Harry searches the faces of his friends, confusion clear on his face—along with anger. “You won’t let me? Are you fucking serious?” He looks back at me. “What did you do?”

The room is as cold as the stern, steely-eyed glare my brother’s giving me, and a shiver shoots up my spine, making me shift my weight.

“Charlotte, for fuck’s sake, say something, anything.” Harrison gestures at me before running his hands through his hair. “Why are you standing in your fucking underwear with these guys?”

He says ‘these guys’ like they aren’t his best fucking friends, like they suddenly mean nothing to him, and my heart shreds in my chest.

“Don’t you have any self-respect? Your fucking underwear?” His voice is heavy with disbelief. “What the fuck? Give me something here, Charlotte. What are you even doing here?”

“She lives here.” It’s Roman who answers the question as he crouches to the floor in front of me, holding out a pair of sweatpants for me to step into. When he’s done helping me put my pants on, he stands next to me.

“She…” Harrison points at me. “Lives… here?” He points at the floor. “With you?” He points to the three hockey players now flanking me on either side.

Roman nods as his arm touches mine. “She lives here, Harrison.” His voice is so fucking calm I might scream. How? How is he so stupidly calm when my insides are twisting so badly I might puke?

Harrison doesn’t look back at Roman. Instead, he turns his attention to Jace. “This can’t be fucking true, right, Jace? Right? My sister can’t possibly live here because you looked me in the face and told me you’ve only sent her a few texts. There’s nothing at all going on between the two of you. Isn’t that what you told me, Jace?”

Jace opens his mouth, but Mateo speaks. “She’s lived here for a couple weeks, Harry. We were going to?—”

“A couple of…” When Harrison trails off, he looks back at me, nothing but fire and venom in his eyes. But it’s not me he’s furious with.

He spins back on Jace. “You fucking told me, man!” He’s so close to Jace his accusing finger is pressing into Jace’s shirt. “You said there was nothing going on. We were together for hours, and you lied straight to my fucking face!”

I swallow hard. In all the years they’ve been friends, I’ve never seen them turn on each other, not once. I need to fix this. I rub my slick palms on my borrowed clothes, trying to swallow past the tangled lump of shame, fear, and panic that’s nestled in my throat.

He swings around to me. “And you said you had it all under control. You had your life together, had somewhere to live bunking with Karina, and there was nothing else they knew that I didn’t.”

I finally find my voice. “Harrison, please…” My throat is dry, and despite the fact my legs are shaking, I take a step toward my brother and reach out to him.

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