Page 77 of Power Play

“I don’t feel like I have to do anything, Sawyer. I want to take care of you. There’s a very big difference, baby girl. Now let me grab your things and let’s head up,” Rex says as he hops out and grabs everything himself.

We ride the elevator in silence, but it’s not uncomfortable. It’s rare to find those people you can be with, even for short periods of time, and not feel like you need to fill all the space with conversation. For someone who gets exhausted after too much peopling, it’s refreshing.

That moment is shattered the second we get inside my apartment, though. It’s no longer just the two of us. I had expected Cassie to be inside. I mean, she lives here, but I hadn’t expected the visitor who is currently in a yelling match with her in the kitchen.

Max.

My brother is in my kitchen.

“You need to fucking go, Max. It’s not fair for you to show up here,” Cassie yells in Max’s face.

“I don’t fucking care, Cassie. Don’t sit here and tell me what the fuck to do after I’ve had the kind of day I’ve had. You don’t know the shit that’s happened,” he yells back.

“No, I don’t. But I also know that you guys treated her like shit. You are such a fucking dick. Sometimes I can’t believe I—” Cassie says, but suddenly stops when she sees me and Rex in the doorway. “Fuck,” she mumbles.

Max turns, following her gaze, his eyes immediately changing from cold to a surprisingly sad look when he sees me. Which, of course, immediately changes when he sees who’s standing directly behind me. His coach.

“Sawyer, what the fuck is this?” Max yells, his fists white from clenching them, and he refuses to look away from Rex.

“No, Max. You’re in my apartment. You don’t get to fucking ask questions first,” I snap, catching him off guard. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“We’ll get to whatever the fuck this is in a minute,” Max says, glaring at Rex before turning back to me. “I came here after I dropped mom off at her place. Well, after I made her tell me everything. Apparently, she’s not as great a person as I thought she was,” he says, sounding defeated.

Cassie doesn’t try to hide it one bit as she starts laughing. “I could have told you that, you moron. Your moms a fucking bitch,” she adds, shrugging her shoulders like it’s common knowledge.

She’s not wrong.

“That doesn’t explain why you’re in my apartment.”

“I came over and knocked on your door. Cassie opened it...” he trails off.

“Is that really the story you’re going with?” Cassie asks, turning to me. “No, your brother came over and was banging on our door like a barbarian, refusing to leave till the door was open.”

“That’s not the point. I wanted to fucking talk to you. But I didn’t expect to see you with my coach. So, care to enlighten me on what the fuck is happening here?” Max shouts, hurt coating each of his words as he starts mumbling something about seeing me near the tunnel and it finally making sense.

Not surprising, depending on what he learned about our mother dearest, he might feel like he just lost everyone.

Rex walks into the room then, standing beside me as we face my brother, neither of us talking as he starts connecting the dots.

“Wait. No. This can’t be. Are you fucking my sister?” Max yells at us. “That day that you were in the tunnel, Sawyer? I tried to talk to coach. You weren’t... you weren’t there, were you?”

“Max, stop. We aren’t having this conversation,” I say, trying to remain calm. Rex’s hand goes to my lower back in comfort, which just pisses Max off more. Wrong move apparently.

“Answer my fucking question,” he snarls.

“Yes, Daniels. I’m dating your sister,” Rex says, unease flowing out of him.

“No.”

“You don’t really get a say in that, Daniels. She’s your sister, not your pet.”

“Fuck you. This is so fucked up. How could you do this to me, Sawyer?”

“Do what to you? Date? Sorry that it’s cutting into your hockey life, but I didn’t do anything on purpose,” I respond.

“I won’t allow this,” Max says, an edge to his voice that I almost don’t recognize.

“I’m not sure why you think you have any right to choose who I date,” I snap.

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