Cheap Shot by Brittney Mulliner
Reid
I’d dreamed about her.I hated myself for it, but it wasn’t like I had control over my subconscious. The gorgeous, mysterious brunette had appeared in front of me like a mirage in a desert of monotony. Same people, same party, same forced smile. As much as I wanted a break from my daily stress, those parties usually ended up feeling like I was babysitting the other guys. I didn’t want any of us to get in trouble, so I was constantly watching them and making sure they stayed in line.
Then I saw her in the center of the patio, backlit by the unnecessary fire in the pit behind her. She seemed so out of place. One of the only faces I didn’t recognize. And she didn’t give off the vibes that she was on the prowl like most girls. It took a moment for my brain to accept that she was real, not a figment of my desires manifested. The first time I completely let go of my reservations and forgot about what I should do or how I should act, and it led to the greatest kiss of my life. An instant connection that felt like a piece of me was returning.
And now I was waxing poetic about a complete stranger.
She vanished before I could ask her anything. If she was a student, where she lived, when I could see her again, or her number. I asked a few of the guys if they knew who she was, but no one that was paying attention to us recognized her. I searched the house but never found her.
I didn’t even get her name.
The perfect kiss from the perfect girl, and I had no way of finding her.
I rolled over and sighed when I saw the time. I needed to hurry and get ready if I wanted to make it to class on time, but I didn’t. Nothing about Macroeconomics at eight in the morning, or ever, appealed to me.
Moments like this, I regretted my decision to take the college path rather than playing in the major juniors, but I’d been fifteen and had listened to the advice of my coach. He suggested I use my high school years to hone my skill and wait to draw the attention of scouts until I was performing at a higher level. I wouldn’t know if he’d been right until next summer at the NHL draft. Until then, I was working on my backup plan. A boring business degree to lean on if I didn’t make it into the pros or got injured early in my career. Going into business was my dad’s idea, and I couldn’t muster the energy to argue anymore. If my dream of playing professionally didn’t come true, I could go into the management side. Be an agent, or something equally painful, to remind me every day of how I came up short.
Maybe I should just go back to sleep since I’d clearly woken up in a foul mood.
Ethan’s alarm went off, and his hand appeared from under the blankets, patting down the edge of his desk until he found his phone and pressed a button to silence it.
“What are you waking up for?” I stretched my arms over my head as I sat up and dropped my feet to the floor.
“Sister coming,” he grumbled from under his pillow.
Ah. That made sense. There was no other reason good enough for him to move before ten. Unlike my parents, Ethan’s didn’t doubt he would make it to the league. They didn’t push him to get a “useful” degree, so he looked through the catalog our freshman year and picked the major with the least amount of required credits, history. It was broad enough that nearly any class could count as a relevant elective if he charmed his counselor into it. That left him with more free time than most and the ability to choose classes based on the time they started unlike the rest of us, who had to adjust our schedules to when a class was offered and pray it didn’t overlap with another necessary course.
I wanted to hate him for it, and most mornings I did, especially because he was just one of those people. The kind that always seem to come out on top. No matter how messy or impossible, things just fell into place for him. Even if the impossible happened and he didn’t get drafted, he’d probably end up with some incredible job just because he happened to be in the right place at the right time.
It was annoying, but at least, as his best friend, his luck sometimes benefitted me. Like the time we went to Pittsburgh to fix his phone screen, and as we were walking down the street to the bus stop, a large man stopped us and asked if we’d be interested in attending a VIP party. Ethan said yes, of course, and we ended up at the birthday party of one of the Steelers, rubbing elbows with the players and who’s who of the city.
I dragged my feet into our attached bathroom and took a quick shower before running a towel over my damp hair and calling it good for the day. I pulled on a pair of jeans and was debating which T-shirt to throw on when there was a knock on the door.
Ethan didn’t move, so I figured it was one of the guys from the team or our hall needing to borrow something.
“Yeah?” I answered as I swung the door open.
A tiny gasp sounded, and I froze when I saw the woman from last night. Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing a plain shirt that had no right looking that good on her. In the daylight, she was even more beautiful than in my dreams.
“You?” It was impossible. How had she found me? I hadn’t told her anything last night. I never had the chance.
She cocked her head, mouth agape, as she lowered her eyes to my bare chest.
“Haley?” Ethan’s voice was groggy. “Sorry, I fell back asleep.” He stumbled into the wall next to me and grinned at her.
Haley? As in his sister?
Oh no.
“Reid, you remember my sister, right?” He pulled her in for a hug, and her wide, brown eyes stayed on me the whole time.
I had a split second to decide how to handle this. Tell him I’d kissed her and beg for forgiveness or pretend like nothing had happened.
“Yeah, freshman year.” Pretend. That was the only option that guaranteed I’d live another day.
“Right.” Her eyes narrowed just barely. “Hi.” She glanced between the two of us before her gaze dropped to my bare chest. The primal side of me wanted to flex, but Ethan smacked me on the back a bit more forcefully than the situation called for. He should have gotten up and been ready to answer the door himself if he didn’t want his sister seeing me like this.
I stepped back, grabbed the closest shirt in my closet, and pulled it on before stepping into my shoes, all while stealing as many glances at her as I could.
Why did the woman of my dreams have to be Ethan’s sister?
Because that was my luck. Of course, things would be complicated.
“Come in, I’ll change real quick.” He pulled her into our room before closing the door and picked out clothes from the pile near the foot of his bed.
“Are those clean?” she asked.
He sniffed them, then shrugged. “Think so.”
Her nose crinkled, and I let out a laugh, bringing her attention back to me. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then just stared at me.
Ethan walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
“You’re his sister?” I knew that, but I felt like I had to say it aloud for my brain to accept it.
“And you’re Reid.” She licked her lips, pulling my attention to the mouth I’d craved in my dreams all night and reminding me of the moment before we kissed. “His roommate and best friend.”
I nodded dumbly.
“But someone called you Red last night.” She narrowed her eyes.
“Benjamin calls me Read, like the past tense of r-e-a-d,” I explained. “He thinks he’s clever.”
She breathed out a laugh. “That actually is kind of funny.”
I couldn’t stop studying her. How was this the same girl I’d met three years ago? She didn’t resemble that awkward teen at all. “I didn’t recognize you.”
Her cheeks flushed red. “I was really hoping you didn’t remember that.” She ducked her head. “Thirteen to seventeen was a really rough time for me.”
“Well, you look beautiful now.” I snapped my mouth closed, immediately regretting my words. It wasn’t that they weren’t true, but she was Ethan’s sister!
“Thanks.” She smiled. “You look different too. I didn’t even recognize you from the team headshots.”
I cringed. “I don’t think I’ve had a good one the entire time I’ve been here.”
Plus, I’d put on at least twenty pounds of muscle and grew facial hair since the time we’d met. At least we could both say the kiss had been an accident. A coincidence fueled by mutual attraction and not intentional. If I’d known who she was, there was no chance things would have gone the same way. I would have introduced her to the guys and made sure they also knew who she was. I would have treated her like family.
Family didn’t kiss like we did.
Family also didn’t dream about each other.
I really needed to remember that.
Last night was a mistake, one neither of us could be blamed for, but it couldn’t ever happen again.
“This doesn’t have to be weird,” she said in a low voice.
I started to agree when the bathroom door opened and Ethan stepped into the room. I leaned back against my closet, creating as much space between me and Haley as possible without making it obvious.
“Ready?” he asked her while putting his wallet and phone in his pockets.
“Yeah,” she answered while watching me. She wanted to say something, but Ethan turned her around and practically shoved her out of the room.
“I’ll be out in a second. Go get the elevator,” he told her before closing the door. He spun to face me, and my stomach knotted. He knew something was going on. “I meant to talk to you about this before she got here, but I put it off, and now I don’t have time.” He pulled his long hair into a bun and tied it up. “Just promise me you’ll watch out for her. She transferred here after a pretty crappy year.” His expression turned dark, and he sighed. “I don’t want anything else happening to her.”
“Of course.” I wanted to ask what exactly happened, but it would have to wait.
“Thanks.” He reached for the doorknob. “And could you let the guys know too? It would make me feel better knowing they have her back, but make sure they know she’s off limits.” He smiled. “No dating sisters.”
I nodded and watched him leave. I planned on making that clear to them since I saw her last night, but for very different reasons.