Page 44 of Not A Chance

“Don’t worry, sis. Nothing happened. I just had something to ask you that couldn’t wait,” he explained.

“Should I be worried, Theo?” Her tone was still wary. Clearly, she was unused to Theo calling her out of the blue to ask something.

I mean, Emery, Abbie, and I would rather be eaten by dinosaurs than make a phone call, so I could understand that most of their contact happened via text.

You know, like normal people.

“Listen, Em. I want to ask Indie out on a date—” He narrowed his eyes at me as if to say, “Look how much this isn’t a problem.” “—and don’t want to do it without you being okay with it first.” He winked at me, as if he was the one who’d considered her feelings first.

Jerk. A handsome jerk, but still.

“Theo. I don’t understand? What? You’re interested in Indie? Since when?” Her questions came rushing across the line.

He didn’t break eye contact as he answered her, as if he was talking to me instead.

“Since we reconnected when she started working for the Tempests. So what do you think, Em?” he pushed.

“Well, you are both adults.” She chose each word slowly. “And it’s not really my place to say.”

Theo rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, Em. You two have been attached at the hip since first grade. And with Abbie completing the three musketeers, you’re always all up in each other’s lives. Stop being polite and tell me what you think.”

“Shut up. I’m not being polite.” Her growl made him grin. I could still see that sibling thrill of getting under his sister’s skin shining in his eyes.

She continued before he had a chance to poke her further. “Fine. Here’s what I know: Indie’s an adult who can make her own decisions.So talk to her, you stupid-head. But as far as I’m concerned, I’m fine with you having a relationship with her as long as you are in itfor the right reasons.”

“And what, dear sister, are the right reasons according to you?” Theo raised an eyebrow.

Damn, was I cursed to think every move he made was sexy?

“The right reason is, you idiot, that you take care of her feelings and don’t use her because you’re bored or lonely or because she’s familiar. If you care about her forherand not as just another puck bunny–type fling, then it’s up to you two what you make of it.” Her exasperation was clear over the phone line.

“Okay, good. Thanks, Em. I do care about her, you know.” Again, his eye contact meant that he was saying the words to me, even though he was reassuring Emery.

“I know you, Theo. You’re a good man. Mom would be so proud to know you. Just… don’t break her heart, okay?” Emery’s voice had softened again with a sadness that belied how acutely they both missed their mom.

“I’ll do everything I can to avoid it. Love you, sis.” His hushed tone matched hers as she echoed his words.

Ending the call, he moved a few steps closer to where I was standing. I don’t think I’d moved a muscle in shock at how bold he was in just calling Emery up like that.

He’d circumvented a huge barrier in my mind, and I was scrambling internally to catch up.

The wistfulness of Emery’s mention of their mom cleared from his eyes, replaced by that predatory fire that I was sure served him well on the ice.

“That’s one objection down, Rocky. What else ya got?” He smirked.

If steam could actually come out of a person’s ears, I had a feeling I’d be seeing that now.

I didn’t know what had possessed me to call my sister like that. If I had given even a second’s worth of thought, I’d have considered how wrong that whole conversation could have gone.

Of course Emery might have strong feelings about me asking out her closest friend. But I’d needed to get through to Indie that I was serious about this, and I’d needed something shocking to make the point.

Well, the point had been made all right.

Usually, I loved watching Indie’s fire come to life. The difference was I was a bystander in those cases, not the person who she might be fuming at.

She could very well tell me to go to hell since I’d called Emery without talking about it with her first.

I was putting all my eggs in one basket, and it could still go to shit on me. I had the feeling that her other reasons weren’t as easily fixable as Emery being the wonderful, understanding person that Icould count on her to be.

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