“No, I’m not!” I yank him into me, knocking his helmet off. “It’s more—”
“You said you were gonna take her to Pound Town!”
Our legs tangle as he wraps an arm around my head, and my helmet pops off as we go tumbling to the ice.
“She said it first!”
“Yeah, well now I’m gonna take you to Pound Town, and not in the fun way!”
“Too bad you’re already there,” I grunt, rolling on top of him, pinning his flailing body to the ice. My fist barely connects with his mouth as his hand covers my face. “Because I just…fucking…took you!”
“Jesus fuck,” someone mutters.
“Fucking embarrassing,” another voice adds.
“Let them work it out. They’ve gotta play together tonight.”
“I’ve got a hundred on Beckett. He’s in it for blood. Andersen fucked his sister.”
“I’ll take that bet. You gotta be fucked up to test Beckett like that. I think Andersen’s got it in him.”
Carter’s eyes darken, his battle cry echoing across the ice as he rolls on top of me. “You’re fucking my sister!”
“I fucking love her!”
His mouth pops open as his grip on my jersey loosens. “What?”
I karate chop his wrists, gulping down air. “I said I fucking love her, okay?”
He sits up but doesn’t get off me. “But I thought—”
“Because you don’t fucking listen!” I scoop up a glove and chuck it at his face. “It’s not about you, Carter! This was about me and her finding each other!”
“But she’s my sister. You can’t—”
“Why not? You don’t think I’m good enough for her?”
“What? No, I—” His eyes shine with guilt. He shakes his head. “I didn’t say that.”
“Then what is it? Because all you wanted was for Olivia to give you a chance, and now you’re not giving me one.”
“You might…you might…” His chest rises and falls rapidly, a speckle of blood pooling in the center of his bottom lip. “You might hurt her!”
Another damn glove to the face. “You’re the one hurting her right now, Carter! She can’t handle you cutting her out like this. And why should she have to? You’re her brother. Hasn’t she lost enough in her life?”
Carter’s throat bobs, and that guilt in his eyes starts to drown them.
“She’s spent her life feeling overshadowed by you, thinking all she had to offer anyone was being Carter Beckett’s little sister. She was finally realizing she had people in her life who wanted to be there for her, not for you. She found love, after everything she’s gone through, all the fucking heartache, and what do you do? You leave her. You tell her she can’t have it.”
His head wags. “No, I…I would never say that.”
“But that’s what your silence sounds like. Don’t you get that? You’re allowed to be mad, but you’re acting like a child. Jennie doesn’t need you to protect her. She needs you to stand by and be her friend and her brother and watch her lead her own life because she kicks ass all on her own. You should want her to be happy no matter where she finds that happiness.”
“I do want her to be happy,” he whispers, finally climbing off me, sprawling out on the ice beside me. “Jennie deserves the world.”
“And I want to give her it.”
His head flops so he can stare at me.“Ollie said I wasn’t being fair. Made me sleep on the couch.”
“You have, like, three spare bedrooms.”
“Four. She said I didn’t deserve a bed.”
I sigh, running a hand through my soaked hair. “I haven’t talked to my best friend in almost two fucking days.”
Carter watches me carefully. “Best friend?”
“Jennie’s my best friend, Carter.”
“What if she takes the job in Toronto?”
“Then we’ll figure it out. But to be honest, I don’t even think she wants that job. I think the only reason she’s considering taking it is because she thinks you don’t want her here now, and that without you, she’ll lose everyone else she loves.”
“Shit. I fucked up.”
“That’s putting it lightly, yeah.”
“Beckett,” Coach calls from across the ice. “Get off the ice! You’re done!”
Carter rockets up to sitting. “What? No, we were just—”
“Coach, it’s all good. We won’t—”
He stops in front of us, spraying Carter with ice, grinning. “You’re needed at the hospital.”
Carter’s spine straightens. “What?”
“You’re about to be a daddy.”
“Holy shit!” Carter rolls over, throwing himself on top of me in some sort of hug before he scrambles to his feet, throws his arms out wide, and screeches, “I’m gonna be a dad!”
Adam hoists me to my feet as Carter flies across the ice.
“Olivia! I’m coming, baby!”
“Is this your first?”
The receptionist at the desk watches Carter with a smile. It’s one of those humoring kinds, probably because he’s pacing the hallway, flapping at his face. Cara’s been recording to show Olivia later. Right now isn’t the time to shove it in her face that her husband is falling apart.
“Baby? No.” He lays a hand on his chest. “Dog dad.”
Holly narrows her eyes. “Carter.”
“What?” He looks at her. “Oh, human baby? Yeah, this is our first human baby. And our last.” He laughs anxiously. “Just kidding. We’re gonna have three, probably. Maybe five.” Another shrill laugh. “Five human babies.” He runs a shaky palm over his mouth, his skin exceptionally pale. “Hey, you got any buckets around here?”
The receptionist’s brows pinch. “Buckets?”
Carter points across the room to a trash can, striding toward it. “Oh, that’ll do.” He grips the rim and promptly empties the entire contents of his stomach into the bin.
Alannah, Carter and Olivia’s niece, nudges me. “About time, huh? I thought Uncle Carter was gonna puke an hour ago. He’s so dramatic, and he’s got a weak tummy when he’s scared.”
“I’m not scared!” Carter yells, then heaves into the bin once more. “It’s the oatmeal I had for breakfast!” Another lurch of his stomach. “It must’ve been bad!”
Alannah lifts her brows in a told ya so kind of way. “Scaredy cat.”
Carter’s been here four hours, the rest of us two. He’s been in and out of that room thirteen times, and each time his pitch has gone up an entire octave. His face is red, forehead drenched with sweat, and his hair is pointing in a thousand different directions. The man isn’t scared; he’s fucking terrified.
“I knew this was going to happen,” Holly mutters, digging through her purse. She produces a packaged toothbrush and a tiny tube of toothpaste, shoving them into Carter’s chest. “Here. Go brush your teeth and don’t leave your wife’s side again.”