Page 83 of Puck You Very Much

They grabbed plates, knives, and forks and walked through the narrow hallway back to the living room as Anna’s voice drifted over.

“…oh no. They’ve always acted a bit like Neanderthals,” she said, laughing. “Dax threatened to beat any guy with his hockey stick who gave me as much as a smarmy smile, or to unleash his mafia friends on him.”

“Dax had mafia friends?” they heard Lucy ask in surprise.

Anna snorted. “No, of course not. His mafia friend was Jack, who picked us up from school now and then with sunglasses and a hood on his head, and pretended to have a gun, saying nothing and just looking angry. Our classmates didn’t know he was our brother.”

Lucy laughed. “Wow.”

“I know. But it helped. People in high school were a lot nicer to me than to the other kids who showed up in hand-me-down clothes. So, having Neanderthal siblings has its advantages.”

“Oh, definitely. My oldest sister once used superglue to seal the car doors of a classmate who had groped me in gym class. There was a note on his windshield that said:On the walk home, you’ll have time to think about what you did wrong. I loved her for that.”

“I believe that, and although I don’t know her, even I love her a little for it,” Anna replied warmly. “You know, right now, I’m just…happy Jack and Dax both came. That they can be in the same room together again. The last few years have been terrible! Jack always asked me how Dax was, and I felt guilty when I answeredfinebecause I knew that was too much information for Dax.” She sighed heavily. “I’m hopeful things might finally…get better now.”

Dax’s heart sank and clenched painfully as his eyes wandered to Jack. His brother appeared equally unhappy. They just silently stared at each other for a few seconds. Then they nodded.

They would be friendly to each other tonight. For Anna. It was a silent agreement between hockey players.

And, for the first half hour at least, it worked.

“Your teddy bear was called Poodle?”

“It looked like a dog,” Dax replied, defending himself as he speared another piece of paneer onto his fork.

“It didn’t,” Anna contradicted. “It looked like a bear.”

“A bear dog,” he insisted. “Then Jack washed him with too much fabric softener and Poodle was born.”

“Hey, I was eleven. I didn’t know you couldn’t put a whole carton of fabric softener in the washing machine.”

Dax grinned. “Just like you didn’t know that tostadas don’t belong in the toaster.”

“It happened twice, just twice,” he grumbled.

“And I thought one fire in the living room would be enough for you,” Anna remarked.

Lucy chuckled. Dax’s gaze slid to her. He saw her lips twist, felt the sound of her laughter wash over him, warm and soft…and in that one moment, he was so disgustingly happy, his heart so honey-sweet, it felt ridiculously sticky in his chest. God, it was absurd what emotions Lucy could unleash in him just with her laughter, more than any other woman could with her whole body.

Maybe he should have told Lucy by now that they were in a relationship. Then she wouldn’t have had to introduce herself as a PR consultant. But the bubble they were in was too damn good. He didn’t want to burst it with a false, pointed comment.

“I’m honestly still a bit shocked that Dax cooks,” Lucy said, giving him an apologetic look.

“He’s a fantastic cook,” Anna said, quick with a response.

“Yup. Could cook better than Temple Senior and Mom combined,” Jack said.

A small, angry pang started in Dax’s sticky heart when Jack said Mom—because, man, he’d lost the right to say a single bad word about her!—but he ignored it.

“Oh please. I was terrible back then. I only made pasta, nothing else.”

“But with different sauces,” Anna countered.

He raised one corner of his mouth. “I didn’t get better until…you left, Jack.” He added the last words hesitantly, trying not to sound hostile. Still, he noticed Jack’s shoulders stiffen.

“Hey, at least my departure did something positive,” he replied lightly, but his voice sounded strained.

Dax couldn’t laugh at that, and he noticed Anna nervously shifting in her chair and looking to Lucy for help.

---