Page 4 of My Ex's Brothers

“You don’t have like…practice or?—”

“No,” he says sternly. “And even if I did, family is more important than any game.”

His words are not lost on me, but they don’t make me feel better. Instead, they only tear at the fresh wounds left by hisfamily.

But I don’t want to argue with Dane. Not today.

“Did you want to bring her over, or?—”

“No,” I say without thinking. The thought of going to the Roses’ home, after everything…is just too much. It’s bad enough, hard enough knowing I’m going to seeDane. I’m not sure I can handle the entirety of the Rose clan so soon after everything that’s happened.

“I’m uh…I’ve got a place over at Little Creek. You can watch her here.”

Dane breathes a contented sound, and I hate to admit that it makes my stomach flip. I swear the guy should have been a voice actor instead of an athlete. I bet he’d make a killing with his voice saying dirty things.

My cheeks flush as I realize I’m thinking about his voice saying dirty things, which is highly inappropriate.Focus, Mia!

“Sounds good. Text me the address and time, and I’ll be there,” he says.

“Fine. Thanks.” I hang up before I can spiral deeper from this conversation.

I sigh as I tap out the address and time before heading to grab my daughter. She looks at me with those big, round blue eyes.

“I hope I’m not making a huge mistake,” I say, but I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince.

The doorbell ringsat precisely eleven a.m. on the dot. I stop, mid gloss application, realizing this is it. He’s here.

I suck in a deep breath, every step through my apartment feeling like an eternity. Exhaling, I tell myself it’s fine. It’s just a couple hours. And then I open the door and suddenly it’s like I’ve gone right back to that night.

The night I met Dane.

The night my life changed forever.

2

DANE

I knowI shouldn’t be nervous about seeing Amelia, but fuck…just hearing her voice has me feeling like we’re going right back to that night. The one that changed my life forever.

The entire walk up to Amelia’s apartment, I can’t deny my heart is in my damn throat. I play hockey for a living, and I swear even trying out for the Badgers didn’t make me this nervous, but the minute the door opens, I forget about everything else.

My gaze meets those deep blue eyes and the world stops.

She’s here. In front of me, after all this time, and somehow she looks even better than I remember. Even despite everything that’s happened…

My brother is a fucking idiot.

“Hi,” I say like a dumbass, with the smallest wave. Her dirty-blonde hair looks freshly curled, her lashes thick and full against her bright eyes. That perfect pout of hers, glossy and plump enough that it makes my damn cock twitch. I shift my stance, because that’s not what I’m here for.

I don’t miss the way those bright eyes widen at the sight of me, or the way her gaze flashes to my mouth, but as much as it makes my heart skip a beat, it also cuts me to the bone. Because I know she isn’t reacting tome.She’s reacting because I look just likehim.

My brother, her ex.

Sometimes being a twin fucking sucks.

“Hi,” she says, blinking away the surprise on her face. “Come in.” She waves me into the apartment. I take two steps in, feeling more on the spot than I think I’ve ever felt in my life.

The place isn’t all that put together yet, which tells me either she hasn’t had time to unpack, or perhaps she just got here. I’d put money on the latter, being as Barrington is a small town and I know pretty much everyone in it. Being a local celebrity of sorts tends to have that side effect.

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