Page 21 of Rolling with my Best Friend's Brothers

With only a minute left in the bout, the other team has a five-point lead. The crowd goes wild as Beatrix comes back out as Jammer. With the help of the definitions in the program and having Avery to explain things, I know that means Beatrix is the one who can score points, making her our shot for the win.

The other team puts up a solid defense, keeping Beatrix from breaking through this time.

“What’s she doing?” I ask Avery when Beatrix grabs Mila’s hips, skating closely behind her.

“It’s the Truck and Trailer. They’re going to try to use the front skater to break in between the defense, creating a weak point, then Beatrix will plow through behind her.”

Exactly as Avery’s explaining it, the plan works, and the other skater makes room for Beatrix to squeeze through.

“One more, you got it.” Avery jumps to her feet and the rest of us are a split second behind her as Mila peels off, making room for Beatrix to hunker down and skate with all her might. Breaking through allowed her to get four of the points they need. Passing one more skater puts the match in a tie, and then one last pass.

My heart pounds as half the audience cheers for my girl and the other half hopes she eats it.

She’s bent over, pushing hard, her attention laser-focused where it should be, on the skater from the other team who’s within arm’s reach.

I glance at the countdown clock as the crowd chants. “Ten…Nine…”

And she does it. Beatrix passes the other skater, pulling ahead to run down the clock.

On the whistle, she relaxes, wipes her brow, and deep breaths force her chest to rise and fall. I’m so proud of her. She’s rounding the corner, skating toward us.

I rush forward, grab her in an embrace, lifting her, and spinning around. “I’m so proud of you. That was amazing. I love you so much.”

And then I realize what I’ve done.

Tunnel vision attempts to help me figure out if she’s going to kill me as I set her on her skates. She’s staring up at me. I can’t read her expression.

She’ll hate me forever if I’m reading this wrong, but I’ve been wound too tight since we were together. I can’t sleep. I can’t think straight… both of which could be clouding my judgment right now.

My hands remain on her waist and I can’t hold back. “I fucking love you, Beatrix.”

In slow motion, her eyes fall shut as her head rolls to the side and she reopens her eyes on Avery who’s close enough to have heard, which is verified by the confusion in her expression. The baby in her arms fusses a little, and Avery naturally coos it back to sleep, buying a second before she reacts.

The slow motion ends and my brain sling shots ahead a beat. “Avery, could we have your permission to date Beatrix?”

Avery laughs nervously and the baby squirms then squawks. Avery raises it to her shoulder, patting its back. She’s such a natural mother.

Panic races through me that I’ve made a horrible mistake.

Beatrix skates backward, putting a few feet between us. “He’s just joking, Avery. Terrible big brother sense of humor.”

Avery’s half-hearted laugh indicates she’s assessing who to believe as her gaze shifts between us.

Beatrix’s exaggerated breaths might be the biggest hint that she’s lying, but her clenched jaw isn’t far behind, and her wide eyes are pretty telltale too.

Mammoth tries to say, but ends up slowly stuttering out, “We’re serious, Avery. Beatrix is special. We want your permission to date her. We promise that if anything goes wrong, we accept all the blame and we won’t let it impact our relationship with you or yours with her.”

This is completely impromptu, but I like his addition that we’ll take all of the blame.

Gabriel steps forward and puts his arm around Beatrix, but she slinks out of it, stepping to the side. “And we want her to move in with us.” That’s a shocker, but perhaps it will make the dating request sound less traumatic.

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Beatrix says.

Avery turns to Beatrix. “Beatrix, why do I get the feeling this isn’t just a joke?”

Beatrix looks down. A rare time she doesn’t seem composed. I might have completely fucked this up. Why the hell couldn’t I wait until we find out if she’s pregnant? The answer is easy… I’m head over heels in love with her and have been for a while.

Two young girls wearing Hot Rollers shirts skate closely past us. Avery takes advantage of the distraction. “Maybe the Hot Rollers will have to start a youth skating program instead of doing adult roller derby.”

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