Page 101 of The Bro-code

She’s the sweetest, kindest, most compassionate person I’ve ever met but she takes no shit from anyone.

The way she puts that douche in his place makes me hard, and makes my heart sing with love at the same time.

It also floods my adrenaline saturated system with relief that I don’t have to break every bone in Topher’s body just yet. Because trust me, had he said anything offensive to her, I would have made him regret it.

I take off after Bay, but I’m surprised when I realize that someone else is hot on our heels.

Heavy footsteps sound behind me as I climb the stairs in pursuit of my best friend.

I hear more than see the door to Bay’s bedroom slamming shut and, satisfied that she’s safe in her room, I turn around to face Jagger.

He’s my best friend in the house and the team, but right now I’m struggling with the urge to plant my fist in his face.

I know how this looks but believe me, I’m not a violent man unless you try to shoot a puck in my team’s goal or you touch Bay.

Touch her and die, it’s that simple.

“Is she ok?” Jagger asks before I can say anything.

“I’m not sure. I was just about to go check on her. Can I know what the fuck you think you’re doing here?”

Jagger takes an instinctive step back, his hands raised defensively in front of him. “I just came up here with the same idea, Cole. I just want to check that Bay is ok.”

I don’t know if what Ryker said out there is true, but jealousy causes bile to burn in my throat at just the thought of Bay and Jagger hooking up.

“I’ve got her. You can go back to the party.” I dismiss him with a warning scowl.

Jagger doesn’t move. “I just want to talk to her. I feel responsible for what happened. I thought I had done a good job hiding her from Ryker when he walked in on us in the shower, but?—”

“So it’s true?” my voice goes up several octaves. “Bay was the one who blew you before the game?”

Jagger flinches but it’s not because he’s scared of me, even though he should be. “Dude, do you want to make sure that if anyone didn’t hear Ryker earlier, they hear you now? This is not the place for this conversation.”

He ushers me into his room and I follow him, struggling to calm down.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” I go on the offensive the second his bedroom door closes behind us. “Did you seriously hook up with Bay?”

Jagger looks way too calm for my own liking. “She offered and I needed help, so yeah.” He says with a shrug.

“Are you fucking insane?” I raise my voice. “First off, I don’t believe you. Bay is a relationship kind of girl. She doesn’t hook up. There’s no way she offered to blow you to help us win the game. Second, she just came out of a long term relationship with practically Satan. I swear to God, if you hurt her?—”

The threat hangs heavily between us but again, Jagger remains as calm as he does on the ice when the opponent skates toward us at breakneck speed.

“I’m not going to hurt her, Cole. Bay and I talked about her situation and she told me she’s still reeling over her breakup with Topher. She needs a rebound and I need help with our good luck stuff without letting Candace trap me into dating her, so we made a deal.”

I still have problems coming to terms with what he just told me. “You made a deal? Just like that?”

Jagger looks me in the eye and I see nothing but honesty in his gaze. “I’m her rebound guy and she’s going to help me before each home game. We realized that there’s lots of chemistry between us after you put me on the spot at the fair and we kissed. I can’t believe I had never even looked at her other than to notice that she’s hot. But now I’m starting to understand why you care about her so much. Bay is really cool.”

Fuck.

I don’t know how to feel about this.

On one hand, I want to kill Jagger because I’m fucking jealous. Just the thought that he touched Bay… my Bay.

On the other hand, maybe this isn’t so bad after all. Jagger is my best friend and he might love to hook up but he’s the most decent guy I know. He never lied to his hookup and it sounds like he was upfront with Bay too.

After watching the woman I love throw her life away with a loser like Topher, maybe some no strings attached fun with Jagger is what she needs.

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