Page 1 of Penalty to the Heart

Prologue

Caleb

I love my brother.

Love the fuck out of him.

But sometimes… I make it fucking hard for him to love me back.

Like right now, for instance.

By the stern look on his face, Jack sure fucking doesn’t like me, much less love my ass at this precise moment.

Shit.

He hasn’t even exited his SUV yet, but I can already sense the heavy weight of disapproval in his gaze, along with a long list of reasons why I’m always finding new ways of disappointing him.

My overprotective brother would love nothing more than to shake my shoulders and kick some sense into me right now. Unfortunately for him, my ass is currently firmly plopped on the cold concrete of the sidewalk, and no sense or reason can touch me from way down here.

Still, I can’t help feeling a tiny prickle of guilt watching him exit his car and witnessing how each step closer he gets to me seems to weigh him down and burden him further. And when Jack suddenly stops midway, preferring to lean against the passenger’s door, I don’t even question his need to keep his distance from me a bit longer.

I wish I could say that seeing the strained expression on Jack’s face was a one-off occurrence, but it’s not.

My fuck ups have always had this uncanny ability to wear on my big brother more than they ever have on me.

You see… Jack is a worrier.

It’s been like that since we were kids.

Ever since our pops died from a heart attack, way back when, Jack took it upon himself to be the so-called man of the house and vowed to always look out for our mom and me. The burden of that decision and responsibility prevented him from enjoying any carefree moments or making reckless decisions since he was fourteen years old.Hence why he worries about everything and goes to great lengths to make sure that none of his fears materialize—ever.

You ever hear about people having a plan B if shit hits the fan and goes sideways?

Well, Jack has a whole alphabet of plans right down to the letter Z, just in case something goes awry. Describing my brother as an obsessive control freak barely scratches the surface of his many quirks and attributes.

And yet, it’s worked for him.

It’s gotten him everything he’s ever wanted.

Go to college on a hockey scholarship?

Check.

Get signed to the Boston Guardians after graduating?

Check.

Marry his college sweetheart and have two-point-five kids?

Check. Check. Check.

Jack has always played life by the book, and it’s served him well.

Me, however… I poured gasoline and lit a match to that shit as soon as I could.

No way would I live my life with such confining rules and obligations.

So, for a man like Jack, who walks the straight and narrow, having me as a younger brother—someone who fucks shit up just for the hell of it—is a constant source of stress for him.

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