Page 6 of Caught from Behind

A knock behind my head.

My dad cuts off and I grind my teeth together as I open the door.

“Hey.”

My spine goes stiff when I see Knox standing there, tablet in hand.

He holds it up in my direction. “Ready to watch that tape now?”

We have no plans to watch tape at nearly three in the morning.

But I’m not dumb enough to leave the lifeline he’s tossed me floating in the waves, drifting away and out of reach.

I glance over my shoulder at my dad, thankful to see a sliver of approval in his eyes. He likes how hard Knox works, how my teammate and friend plays. He doesn’t get that we have the same routine, that we’re in the gym together often, that we usually tag team in those extra hours on and off the ice.

Knox is determined and focused.

I’m…never good enough.

It’s fine. I came to termsmany years ago with the fact that I’ll never make my dad proud.

“I’ll see you after the game tomorrow,” my dad says, clapping me on the shoulder. “We’ll break it down before you fly home to Tahoe.”

Great.

Just what I want.

At least with the team’s plane planning an imminent take-off, the verbal reaming won’t last long.

“Sounds good,” I mutter, stepping away from him so that Knox can come in.

I close the door, not bothering to say goodbye.

He’s my dad, yeah, but he hasn’t done anything to earn my respect—not in many years.

“You good?” Knox mutters, perching on the end of the bed.

I grunt and look through the peephole in case my dad’s lurking there.

Thankfully, Knox doesn’t bother to press me for more of an answer.

A good thing since I don’t have anything else to say.

And anyway, he has plenty of words to fill in the blanks for me as he flops back on the bed and starts talking about what he’s going to do with our off day when we get back home.

“Not skiing,” he says, tossing the tablet to the side, “even though Ella will no doubt be out on the slopes now that the lifts are up and running.” Because there was a Snowmaggedon not long before, dumping enough snow in the Sierra Nevadas that towns and roads were shut down and ski resorts had more of the white fluffy stuff than they knew how to deal with. “I’ll stay in the lodge and pick up some ski bunnies, I guess, since I don’t want Coach on my ass for doing something against my contract.”

Because our bodies belong to the team.

Because we’ve agreed to live and breathe and bleed for hockey.

Tearing an MCL on a black diamond run with his sister wouldn’t make the powers that be happy.

Same as Knox wouldn’t be happy knowing that his sister was open to a fuck on the side of the road—and then a fuck or three back in my bed, because I wouldn’t be happy with having her just once.

Making the horn go in repeat as I pumped up into her. Bending her over my kitchen counter. Fucking her on the stairs. Tossing her into my bed, kissing my way up her body, and?—

“Hell,” Knox grumbles. “Ella keeps telling me that she wants to ski, but I think she’s more excited about hanging in the lodge, charming the bartender into free drinks, and finding some asshole to take her home for the night.”

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