Page 43 of My Brother's Best Friend

A long pause.

“I apologize for how I reacted the other day at the game,” he said, clearing his throat. “I should’ve taken what you told us seriously, and instead, I made a joke of it with Coach Jose. Nobody should go through what you have.”

My gaze snapped up to his, eyes widening slightly. “Wh-what?”

Did I even hear him correctly? He is apologizing? To me?

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “I should’ve taken it seriously, but it brought back memories of when I was back in high school. Something similar had happened to me, but with a coach. I’ve spent the past twenty-five years pushing it down, pretending like it didn’t happen because, as men, we’re … supposed to be strong.” His voice cracked. “And I’ve fallen right into that fucking behavior. I’ve failed you.”

A stray tear slid down my face, and I quickly pushed it away. I didn’t want to cry in front of him. I couldn’t. I had spent years expecting to be one way, only to come crashing down when something shitty had happened to me.

“You don’t have to forgive me, but I will be better.”

I stayed quiet because I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to forgive him or anyone else who had laughed at me when I told them that something was wrong. I didn’t want to even face anyone ever again, but I had to see all my teammates today, tomorrow, and for the remainder of the season.

“I’m okay to train today,” I said.

“Good.”

After a long pause, Coach said, “That was a pretty ballsy thing your girl did.”

“My girl?”

“Maddie Weber, Oliver’s sister.”

I stiffened. “What do you mean, my girl? We’re not dating.”

As much as I would love for all of Redwood to know about us, Maddie didn’t want anyone—especially her brother—to know that we were sorta a thing. I mean, we were, weren’t we? She wouldn’t have skipped school for someone she hated or just merely liked.

“Stormed into practice and gave us all a piece of her mind,” he said.

She stormed into practice yesterday after I skipped again? All for me?

Warmth spread through my chest, and I bit back a small smile. I didn’t know how I should feel about it because … nobody had fucking believed me as hard and as much as she had. Nobody had fucking done that for me before. But she was Oliver’s little sister.

“She was just being nice,” I said, but I knew it was more than that.

“And I suppose that she ran out to the restroom with you during the hockey game because she was just being nice to you too.” He chuckled, a smile painted on his face. He stood and gently squeezed my shoulder. “Don’t worry; I won’t tell Oliver.” He nodded to the door. “Now, get out there and make your teammates proud.”

CHAPTER26

MADDIE

“It’s getting late,” Piper said, yawning. “I gotta go, or my dad will be pissed.”

“Already?” Vera sighed. “It’s only eight.”

“She’s going to meet her man,” I added with a wink. “Give him a quickie under his desk.”

She playfully rolled her eyes and threw a smirk my way. “I am not.”

After grabbing her belongings, she slipped out my bedroom door. A couple of moments later, I watched her walk down the front walkway to her car parked in the driveway, and I turned on my desktop computer.

Vera rolled onto her stomach on my bed and put in her earbuds. Vera and I were best friends, but we didn’t need to do everything with each other while we were together. It was a certain kinda ease I had with her compared to everyone else.

I opened Vapor, an online marketplace for video games, and scrolled through the games I had bought but hadn’t played much yet. When I spotted Alec Wolfe online in my friends list, I clicked on the game he was playing.

“So,” Vera asked, turning down the pop-punk music blasting through her headphones that bad-boy Blaise Harleen must’ve turned her on to the past couple of months that they’d been a thing, “I kinda wanna open a bookstore one day.”

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