7. Twatwaffles

Willa"s kiss hit me like a linebacker, stealing my breath and making my head spin. For a moment, I forgot where I was, forgot my own name. There was only her. Her soft lips moving against mine, her fingers tangling in my hair, the sweet vanilla scent of her invading my senses.

Fireworks exploded behind my eyelids, a kaleidoscope of color and light that rivaled any touchdown celebration. I"d never been kissed before, and if anyone had told me this was what I was missing, I might have fucking figured out a way to fit girls into my rigid schedule.

This intensity, this bone-deep rightness made me feel like I"d finally found a missing piece of myself. No book or article by a dating coach or even a dating dude's FlipFlop could have prepared me for this.

My hands found her waist, tugging her closer as I angled my head to taste more of her. She made a soft noise in the back of her throat that set my blood on fire. I could have happily drowned in her, let the rest of the world fade away until it was just us, just this perfect moment stretching into eternity.

"What the fuck?"

The angry shout jolted us apart, Willa nearly tumbling off the counter in her haste. I steadied her automatically, my gaze snapping to the seething figure in the doorway.

Xander Rosemount glared at us, his fists clenched at his sides, jaw tight with barely suppressed fury. "Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Willa slid off the counter, putting herself between her twin and me. "Xan, calm down. We were just?—"

"Just what? Playing tonsil hockey in the middle of the café?" Xander took an aggressive step forward, his eyes never leaving my face. "Real classy, Kingman."

I bristled at his tone, my own temper sparking to life. "Watch it, man. You don"t know what you"re talking about."

"I know you"ve got your hands all over my sister," he snarled, trying to shoulder past Willa.

She held her ground, planting a hand on his chest. "I"m not a child, Xander. I can kiss whoever I want."

He barked out a harsh laugh. "Oh, so you want this lying sack of shit? The same guy who ditched me—ditched our team—without a second thought?"

I frowned, a trickle of unease winding through my anger. "What are you talking about? I didn"t ditch anyone."

Xander sneered at me over Willa"s head. "Right. Because getting drafted as a junior and running off to play pro, leaving the rest of us high and dry, that"s totally not ditching us."

My stomach sank as understanding dawned. I"d always known Xander was angry with me for going pro early, but I"d thought it was about the competition, about him wanting to be the first picked. I never considered that he might have felt... betrayed.

"Xan, that"s not... I didn"t mean to hurt you or the team."

"Bullshit," he spat, shrugging off Willa"s restraining hand. "You never even looked back, did you? Too busy bathing in glory and chasing your next headline. Well, guess what, buddy boy? You don"t get to have it all. You don"t get my sister."

Willa whirled on him, her expression thunderous. "Excuse me? I"m not a trophy for you two to fight over. I make my own damn choices."

A muscle ticked in Xander"s jaw, but he kept his glare trained on me. "I mean it, Kingman. Stay the hell away from her."

I opened my mouth to argue, to tell him that I cared about Willa, that I would never hurt her the way I apparently hurt him. But the words lodged in my throat as I caught sight of Willa"s face.

Beneath the anger, there was a glimmer of raw pain in her eyes that cut me to the quick. The last thing I wanted was to come between her and Xander, to make her feel like she had to choose sides.

Every cell in my body told me to knock Xander the fuck out, throw Willa over my shoulder, and haul her off to my bed, to claim her as mine and only mine. But I wasn"t some wolf man, and Willa deserved better than that.

So I swallowed my protests and took a step back, my hands held up in surrender. "I don"t want to fight with you, man. Not about this."

Xander blinked, clearly taken aback by my easy capitulation. He"d been spoiling for a fight, and I"d just yanked the rug out from under him.

Willa turned to me, her brow furrowed. "Hayes, you don"t have to?—"

"It"s okay," I said softly, trying to inject some reassurance into my tone. "I get it. You two need to talk. I"m gonna go, but I will see you later."

No way I was walking away without letting her know this wasn"t over just because her brother was mad.

I hated leaving her to deal with his misplaced anger, but I didn"t see any other way to defuse the situation. Pushing back against Xander now would only make things worse.

I held Willa"s gaze for a long moment, trying to silently communicate everything I couldn"t say. That this wasn"t over, that I wasn"t going anywhere, that she was worth fighting for.

Something softened in her expression, a hint of understanding mingled with gratitude. She gave me a tiny nod, so subtle, if I hadn"t been entirely focused on her, I"d have missed it.

With a final pointed look at Xander, I turned and walked out of the café, my hands shoved deep in my pockets to hide the fists I couldn"t help. It took every ounce of willpower not to look back, to stride away with my head held high like the bigger man Willa deserved.

But I needed to answer another question and messaged Gryff and Flynn promising to pay for dinner if they"d meet me. Food was always the best bribe with those two.

An hour later I slid into the booth at Gino"s Diner, just across from campus. I nodded gratefully as the waitress set a steaming mug of coffee in front of me. I needed the caffeine boost after the emotional rollercoaster of the day. But one sip and I made a face. This needed a whole hell of a lot more cream and sugar. How the hell had I ever drunk it black?

Across from me, my brothers Flynn and Gryff exchanged a curious look before turning their attention to me.

"So, what"s with the cryptic summons, bro?" Flynn asked, snagging a menu from the holder. "Not that we mind an excuse to grab a bite, but you never offer to pay."

"I never had money before, you twatwaffles." I wrapped my hands around the mug, letting the warmth seep into my skin. "I need to ask you guys something. About the team, about... Xander."

Gryff"s eyebrows shot up. "Rosemount? Aren"t you guys friends? What about him?"

"We used to be. I ran into him today, and he said some things..." I hesitated, trying to find the right words. "He basically accused me of ditching the team, of betraying you guys by going pro early."

Kingmans were ultra-competitive, but we were raised to adamantly support the hell out of each other. Even though I was ten months younger than they were, they"d never indicated that they"d been anything but happy to have another brother in their classes or on the team with them when I"d skipped a year in school. But maybe I was the one who was a dick, and it hurt them when I jumped ahead of the pack.

Flynn and Gryff stared at me for a long moment before bursting into laughter.

"Is he serious?" Flynn managed between guffaws. "That"s the stupidest thing I"ve ever heard."

Gryff nodded, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "Bro, no one was mad about you getting drafted. We"re stoked for you. Hell, we"re still fucking bragging about it."

A knot of tension unwound in my chest. "Really? You guys weren"t... I don"t know, resentful?"

"Not even a little," Flynn assured me, clapping me on the shoulder. "You"re living the dream, man. We"re proud as hell of you."

"Even though I"m your little brother?"

"You"re the best of us all, man. Anyone who is resentful of that needs to take a long look at themselves. And I, for one, like it way better when other people are looking at me." He pointed his fork at a girl at another table and winked at her. She rolled her eyes but smiled at him. "And when I say other people, I mean the ladies."

Gryff shook his head. "We know, dude. Everyone knows. You just let me know when you can get the shes, theys, and gays sliding into your DMs."

"Just because you"re bi and I"m not, doesn"t mean you get more action than I do." Flynn stuck his fork into his pie with way more force than was necessary. Even in matters of love—or bed—they were competitive, but supportive.

"Xander"s always been a bit... intense." Gryff looked at me and ignored Flynn"s pout. "We knew he had a bug up his ass about something, but we never guessed it was about you."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I fucking hate the thought that I might have hurt you guys, even unintentionally."

Flynn leaned forward, his expression uncharacteristically serious. "Hayes, listen to me. You did nothing wrong. You earned that spot in the draft honestly. Anyone who says otherwise is jealous or delusional or both."

"Especially Xander," Gryff chimed in. "I love the guy when he"s scoring a ridiculous number of points, but he"s got a real problem with always wanting to be top dog. Your success probably just rankled him."

Right. Xan always pushed the edges of extreme, which I"d always assumed was the same kind of passion for the game that I had. Competitiveness could be one hell of a bitch if you let it get under your skin. My brothers" support and validation that I wasn"t the bad guy here meant more than I could say.

"Okay. I needed to hear that."

Flynn grinned, signaling the waitress for another round of coffees. "Anytime, bro. Now, onto more important matters..." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "What"s this I hear about you and a certain barista getting cozy?"

I nearly choked on my coffee. "What? How did you?—"

"Please," Gryff scoffed, smirking. "You think news like that doesn"t travel faster than a wide receiver on game day? Spill, lover boy."

Flynn and Gryff peppered me with good-natured teasing and increasingly invasive questions. I remained closed-lipped, giving them nothing more than a grin. I was a hundred percent sure I knew who"d told them about Willa anyway, and Jules was eternally exempt from all repercussions of being the family gossip.

They gave up when it was clear I wasn"t going to be the kind to kiss and tell, and after another piece of pie each, we headed for the parking lot.

"Uh, bro. Is there a cat in your ride?" Gryff pointed to my car, and yep, sure enough, a certain gray and white furball was sitting on my dashboard like an off-brand guard dog.

"Shit. How the hell did he get in there?" I sprinted over and carefully opened the door, hoping he wasn"t going to make a run for it. I could never face Willa again if I lost her cat on the DSU campus. "Gotta go, guys. I need to see a girl about her cat."

Gryff was already laughing his ass off, and Flynn shook his head. "That had better be code for getting laid."

I wished it was. Wait, it could be. All depended on what happened when I arrived at Willa"s door.

Seven, my favorite little escape artist, climbed up on my shoulder and meowed like he was either having the time of his life or hated me for taking him home. I couldn"t tell which.

"You"re lucky you"re cute," I informed him, reaching up to scratch his chin. "And that your mom is even cuter."

I pulled up to Willa"s house, a man with a plan. This was the part where I swept her off her feet. Maybe literally if she let me. I scooped up Seven and marched to her front door, rapping my knuckles against the wood, then leaned in the doorframe as if showing up unannounced with her cat in tow was what all the cool kids were doing.

The door swung open, revealing a pajama clad Willa. And holy shit was I going to have dreams of her wearing those cat nap jammies, or rather taking them off. "Hayes? What are you?—"

Her eyes landed on the furry bundle in my arms. "Seven? How did you...? You little rat, I"m going to assimilate you."

"Found this little guy lounging in my car..."I handed him toward Willa and our fingers brushed. Electricity zinged up my arm and I almost dropped the cat to pull her to me. "Wait, wait, wait. I can"t believe I didn"t get this before right this second, but did you name your cat Seven because of Voyager?"

Willa laughed, cuddling Seven close. "Yes. His full name is Seven of Nine Lives. He"s pursuing you like a rogue Borg cube, and I"m going to have to have a serious talk with him."

Seven squirmed like he knew exactly what that talk was going to entail and he wanted nothing to do with it. He promptly scampered off to parts unknown. "I"m pretty sure resistance to him is futile."

That made Willa smile, and god did I love the sparkle in her eyes and the curve of her lips.

"Listen, about earlier," Willa began, scratching her bright blue painted toes across the doormat. "I"m sorry about Xander. He had no right to go off on you like that."

I shrugged and put my arm up on the doorframe just to be another inch closer to her. "It"s not your fault. Xan"s always been competitive. I get it. But that"s not going to stop me from... pursuing you."

She"d been staring down at the rug, but her head snapped up and she stared up at me. "You, I mean, I, it"s just?—"

I reached forward and ran the back of my knuckles along her jaw line. "Did you talk to your uncles? About staying, about running the café while they"re on their world tour of love?"

"Yeah. They"re already packing."

We stared at each other for a long moment, the air between us crackling with tension. I wanted to pull her into my arms and pick up where we left off. But there was something in her eyes that told me not to push.

So I settled for running my thumb across her bottom lip. "I"m really glad you"re staying, Willa."

She clasped my fingers and held them still. "It"s just temporary. The minute they"re back, I"ll be out of here."

"A lot can happen in that amount of time." I leaned in closer, not able to resist her pull. Hello flame, this is the moth calling.

"Don"t, Hayes. Don"t fall for me. This can"t be more than," she shrugged, "a few months thing. A fling."

"I"ll take every minute I can get with you." Besides, it was too late. I was already falling for her.

Her cheeks flushed prettily, and I couldn"t resist any longer. I bent my head and brushed a feather-light kiss across the corner of her mouth.

"I"ll take every one of these I can get too," I murmured, my lips a hairsbreadth from hers.

Willa"s breath hitched, and she stood up on her toes to close the space between us. "Don"t make me fall in love with you either."

The enthusiastic consent mantra rang through my mind. I had more work to do, because I wasn"t going to take anything she wasn"t willing to give me. But I wasn"t afraid of hard work.

With a groan, I forced myself to pull away, to saunter back to my car with a casual wave. "No promises. See you tomorrow, Willa."

Willa was staying. And I was going to make damn sure it was worth it.As I drove away, my lips still tingling from our almost-kiss, I couldn"t wipe the goofy smile off my face.

Until my phone buzzed with a text message from a number that hadn"t popped up for a long time.

Stay

The Fuck

Away

From my sister