Page 10 of Slash & Burn

And hell, I’d feel the same way if someone like me was looking at Lexi the way I’d looked at Jill—before I knew it was her.

He nodded, slowly. “So, you’re going to be working with her on this thing all summer?”

“Yeah. Nothing crazy, just reading books to kids.”

“She tell you about what’s going on over there?”

I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. “What do you mean?”

Joey and LeAnn exchanged a look, and I leaned closer.

“Library’s looking at some cuts this fall. Jill’s job might be on the line.”

“Shit. I’ll help however I can.” Jill said she needed the program to be a success; this must have been what she meant. “I already told her she can lean on me for the speaking parts and stuff. If there’s more I can do, just tell me.”

“Can you get more of your team stuff to give out?” LeAnn asked, hers the only hopeful expression among us. “Kids love that kind of stuff. The more you can get to show up, the better it’ll look for her.”

“Of course. I’ll call the PR team tomorrow.”

LeAnn smiled brightly at me, leaning into Joey’s side. “Jeez, didn’t she just luck out that you’re the one they sent for this? It’ll be so much easier for her now with someone she knows.”

“Yeah,” Joey added, his tone far less cheerful than his wife’s. “Someone we all know.”

I laughed it off, but I saw the look in his eye. He wasn’t as happy as LeAnn that I’d been picked to be the Brawler’s rep for this one.

My selection made sense, of course, and a few of the other guys were doing similar charity type events. But I knew mine was the biggest initiative we’d agreed to, in part so I could get some headlines leading into the season after being absent at the end of last year.

“Not just someone we know,” LeAnn went on, ignoring Joey’s wariness. “A hero.” Her expression softened, her eyes widening with some sort of pride that made my stomach twist. “You saved that guy last spring. That had to be so scary.”

I was already on edge after my workout, I didn’t need this. “It wasn’t a big deal.” Shifting on my feet I spotted the same teenagers that had come by us before. They were standing off to the side, as if waiting for us to finish.

“But, still. He would have died without your help. His poor wife and kids would have never been the same.”

LeAnn was saying the same thing dozens of people had said to me the last three months, but instead of being filled with a sense of pride, all I felt was sick. My palms started to sweat as my skin went ice cold. No one else knew the whole story. Julian Huller had never told the press what really happened out in that water and I wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t remember or if he didn’t want to tarnish this ‘hero’ bullshit everyone kept repeating. Either way, the whole thing felt like dragging an anchor behind me. All I wanted was to get away from it.

“I’m glad I was there,” I answered, hollowly.

In all this time, I’d never figured out anything else to say. It wasn’t like I had a choice in saving the guy. But the one I’d made had cost me—andwas stillcosting me every day. I felt like an asshole for being pissed about that, and it only drove my anxiety higher every time I had to talk about it like I wasn’t. Like I should have been just as grateful. I wished that was how I felt.

“I’ve got to get back for a call with my coach,” I lied, taking a step back toward my cart. The teenagers were still waiting in the wings and I spun so I could head down the aisle in the opposite direction. I was back in the sour mood I’d come in here with, and another fan interaction was more than I could handle. “It was good seeing you two.”

Joey’s flat expression lifted slightly, suspicion still in his eyes. “We still on for some ice time?”

“Yeah, sure,” I tossed out, already walking away. I’d agreed to some pick-up games with the local mens’ league months ago. But now that seemed like a terrible idea. I was still getting my arm to work right, I didn’t need an audience for how bad things were.

“Alright, I’ll text you the schedule.”

“Sounds good. See you around, LeAnn.”

“You bet, have fun with Jill.”

The look on Joey’s face had me laughing under my breath as I spun to the front of the store. Clearly, he was not on board with me and Jill having any sort of fun together.

With my bags in the backseat of my car, I tugged open my driver’s door only to have it stop midway as a hand thumped on the metal and held it in place. When I looked over my shoulder, I wasn’t surprised by who I found.

“You know better than to touch my sister, right?” It was less a question he expected an answer to, and more a statement he needed to hear said out loud. Joey was a rules kind of guy and it had been all over his face that my being close to his little sister this summer was going against one his foundational tenets.

“I would never,” I told him, but my smirk hinted otherwise. It wasn’t that I’d do anything with Jill, but getting Joey all knotted up was kind of fun.

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