Page 144 of Wicked Ends
“Better luck next time, Sinclair.”
He might have lost, but he’d played well, even I could admit that… but not to his face, obviously.
“With a different team, maybe you could be great, but you and your brother don’t have the support system in place to shine,” I teased, twisting the knife a little deeper.
“Fuck off, Bailey,” he muttered.
“Oh, I will, but consider my friendly advice.”
“And what’s that? Get a new team?” Brody stopped in the hall, the harsh fluorescents glaring down on us both.
“Or try being less of a dickhead so your current team likes you more and wants to assist you, you know?”
“This is all big talk for a guy who was expelled from a game, and from what I hear, nearly suspended from the team altogether.”
I nodded. “Fair enough, but I learn from my mistakes.”
“So high and mighty now you’ve managed to coerce some poor innocent woman into marrying you. Take your bullshit advice and shove it. I’m sure your winning streak will last as long as Professor Whatever takes to leave your trailer park ass.”
I tutted and shook my head. “Don’t be salty because Daddy’s big bucks couldn’t buy you a win this time. I’ll let you in on a secret: There’s more to life than what color Amex you flash. A lot more.”
Brody laughed, but it sounded sad somehow. “If money was my problem, Bailey, I’d be as carefree as you. Disappointing my father in hockey, school, or business isn’t something I’d wish on my worst enemy.”
I stared at him, surprised by the sudden confession. He seemed to be, too, as he clicked his mouth shut so hard, I wouldn’t have been surprised to find out he’d chipped a tooth. He shook his head, as if he could take back his last statement. I knew how that was, when the adrenaline of the game passed and you were exhausted and disappointed and the filter was gone. It didn’t mean I wasn’t going to take advantage of him, though, fuck no. He didn’t deserve a pass.
“Your daddy issues aren’t my concern, Sinclair, but I can imagine. By the sounds of it, I’d rather have my dad than yours, and considering mine is in prison, that’s saying something.”
I reached out and clapped him on his padded shoulder, and his expression hardened into a murderous one.
“I could wish you terrible things, Sinclair, and God knows, I want to, but really, I wish you’d fall in love with a woman who puts your petty little rich-boy concerns into perspective. I only hope she has a high tolerance for your big-man bullshit, or you’re going to find out what suffering really is.”
“Problem here?” Beckett appeared by my side. He glanced between us, taking in the bristling tension.
“No, no problem. Brody was just running along, weren’t you, big guy?” I grinned at him.
He took a step toward me, only to bounce off Beckett’s unmovable chest. He wasn’t the best defenseman in the league for nothing.
“Have a good evening, Sinclair.”
We watched Brody walk away and join Callahan, his brother, who was sulking quietly by the locker room door, waiting for his brother in dark silence.
“Those two are trouble,” Beckett said quietly.
“You know them? Are you both part of the Rich Boys with Daddy Issues Club?” I teased my friend.
He shot me a glare and shrugged. “Rich people know each other, especially when their dads have done business in the past. Brody’s next up to be the CEO of his father’s company,even though it seems like his idea of a successful negotiation is cutting the throat of the other side. Callahan, well, he’s the one Brody would send to do his dirty work in the dark. A creepy motherfucker, and absolutely nuts.”
“That might have been nice to know before I talked shit to him,” I remarked.
We made our way into the Hellions’ locker room.
“Would it have stopped you, really?” Asher pushed past us to get there first.
I laughed. “Not for a second.”
“Lily’s meeting friends in town at the diner.” Cayden tucked his phone away. He was already mostly dressed.
“I’d kill for a tuna melt,” Beckett said happily. Mr. Billionaire, and his favorite restaurant was still the one he used to go to stare at his best friend’s sister as she worked, and pretend not to be obsessed with her.
