Page 74 of She Wolf

The line goes dead, along with my heart as I scramble to try and lay the pieces back together. I can tell Nick’s used the garden shears to destroy the jersey and it looks like they’ve gone straight through our family name.

Why the hell would he do this?

But there’s no need to ask the question. He did it because he’s as green as the jersey I’m holding with envy. Jealous of Casey and of how close we are. Or were. He did it because he knows how to hurt me.

Right here—this is how you make sure there’s no fight left, you use and take away the only thing I care about. My family.

If he can do something like this to me then what is he capable of doing to Jack?

I spend the rest of the lead-up to the game inspecting every single inch of each of the pieces from the shirt, making sure it’s the same as the one Casey gave me after he was drafted. The newer one is smaller in size and so, after folding the pieces of the newer one away and splashing my face with cold water to lessen the redness, I pop the old one on and strategically place some hair clips making it seem more fitted.

I try to draw strength from our sibling bond to brighten my eyes. I take a picture of me smiling with the TV on in the background, and then send it to him with a thank you and a good luck message.

Casey scored a goal for Jack that night. His brilliant movie star smile lit up the screen, the camera panning to my mom, clasping her hands to her heart with my dad standing tall, puffing his chest out in unadulterated pride. Jason looked on in awe as his oldest brother was embraced by his new teammates.

Nick didn’t bother coming home for two days and we never spoke about what he had done. But I lived the rest of our time together walking on eggshells, always intercepting deliveries and keeping anything I deemed sentimental out of his way.

The only time we ever saw Casey after that was when he turned up unannounced or when Nick wanted to use Casey as means to an end.

Chapter Sixteen

Coralie

Two days and ten arguments with Jack over what he should and should not take to the ‘fully-Jacked’ family beach house later, Casey’s horn sounds from outside and Jack finally runs out of his bedroom.

“Everyone is here, Mom,” he says as he opens the front door.

I smile and take a peek out of the window. As suspected, there are four cars parked outside the cottage. Rex’s SUV, Callan’s Mustang, Gunner’s truck, and Casey’s Range Rover all line the street.

As well as the cars we’ll also have the boat and the jet skis that Dad will have taken out of storage. My parents spend a lot of time at the beach but leave the ‘toys for the boys’ as my mom says.

My parents left over a week ago to get things set up and we will join them in a couple of days. It takes around thirteen hours to drive to Wilmington, but we’re all looking forward to the stops we’ve planned along the way.

My belly fills with butterflies as Gunner gets out of his truck. His huge frame stepping

out has my eyes taking him in from head to toe—grey shorts hug his thick thighs, and a tight black t-shirt stretches across his solid chest. The finishing touch? Aviators shading his eyes.

Urgh, he looks so damn hot. I don’t know how men do it. I look down at my yoga pants and tank and consider changing, but Casey has already burst through the door, deadlifting Jack, Anna in tow.

“You ready then?” he asks.

“Yep,” I say as Anna rushes to the bathroom. Casey chuckles as he puts Jack down, shaking his head.

“She literally went twenty minutes ago.”

A moment later, Gunner is filling the doorway.

“Ready to vay-cay dude?” he says as he pulls Jack into a side hug and bends to kiss his head.

“I was born ready Gunner! Let’s hit the road.”

He turns to me. “Hey, you. Need help with the bags?” He takes his sunglasses off and makes a roving sweep of my body. I feel the heat creep across my cheeks and quickly bend down motioning to the bags.

“These are all to go, but this one I need by my seat please,” I say as I lift my oversized bag and Gunner reaches for it. He also grabs a suitcase and Jack's hockey duffle, while Casey grabs the rest.

I make my way into the kitchen to fill up the cooler, packing the cookies and the chips first. Opening the fridge to grab the fruit, veggies, and chicken snacks I made up, two strong warm arms circle my waist. I spin in Gunner's hold and lift my face to look at him.

“We’ve loaded the stuff into the car, and I told Case I’d help you lock up. Jack is also sorted.”

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