Dean

“Did you hook up with our sister?” Theo strolls into my bedroom, giving me a disgusted look. He plops down on my bed next to me and waits for my response.

“It was for a game,” I admit, leaning my back against the wall. “Kat and I are friends. Don’t read anything into it.”

The truth is that I loved every second of the kiss I shared with Kat. I didn’t want it to end. But we are friends. If anything, the kiss only complicated our relationship.

“Don’t let it happen again,” Tucker says, sitting on the opposite side of Theo.

I laugh at him. “What are you going to do about it, tough guy?”

He makes a fist, with his face twisted in mock anger, and punches me in the arm.

I guess I deserved that much for kissing Kat. Being with her gave me the worst case of blue balls. After I walked Kat to her dormitory, I stood under the water in the shower for at least an hour. Nothing I tried had helped.

The worst part is that I cannot stop thinking about her mouth and those luscious lips. I dream of what she would taste like and how good she would feel beneath me. I want all of her. But I need her friendship more.

Ever since Kat’s twin brothers joined the Senators this year, I have become just as close to them as Kat. She wasn’t joking about them being overprotective. Kat’s brothers would kill for her.

Growing up with no siblings and a single mother who worked three jobs to keep me in skates, I never knew what it was like to have a big family. I spent most of my time at other people’s houses or playing video games to keep myself entertained. My mom did her best, and she still busts her ass to make my pro hockey dreams become a reality.

But seeing how a close family operates makes me wish I was part of one. That’s why I cannot screw things up with Kat, despite my feelings. Kat has become family to me, and by extension, so have her brothers.

“Kat texted me.” Tucker sits up to read the message. “She wants us to meet her at the SAC to play air hockey.”

“Kat likes her air hockey,” I deadpan.

He shrugs. “We played it all the time at home when we were kids. It’s our thing.”

“I noticed. Kat makes me play with her almost every night that we don’t have a game or practice.”

“I’m hungry,” Theo says to Tucker. “Tell Kat to meet us in the cafeteria first. And make sure she brings some cash with her. I’m out.”

“You’re rich,” I say, stating the obvious. “How are you out of money?”

“I put the rest of my cash down on us winning the game tomorrow night. I only need to borrow a few bills for dinner.”

“If dad finds out that you’re placing bets, he will kick your ass.” Tucker, the eldest of the twins by two minutes, gets up from the bed and stares down at his brother. He’s the more responsible of the two. “You are such a dumb ass. Don’t go gambling away your trust fund on sports betting. Remember what happened to Uncle Steve?”

Theo nods, deflated. “Yes, Dad. I won’t do it again.”

Tucker snorts. “You know I’m right. Stop jerking off and focus on staying on the team.”

Theo rolls his eyes at his brother. “My game is fine, thank you very much, and my spot on the team is secure.”

“What do you think happens to players that take bets on their team, Theo?” Tucker points his finger at his head. “Think with your head for once. If you get kicked off the team, there goes your shot at the NHL, and Dad will kill you if you blow your shot over a stupid bet.”

“Okay, enough fighting, boys.” I push myself up from the bed and to my feet, holding out my hand to help Theo up.

He takes my hand with a sigh. The Baldwin twins go at each other like this for hours. Sometimes, one of our teammates who live in the house with us has to break up their arguments. The one thing every member of the Baldwin family has in common is their tempers, Kat included.

* * *

After thirty minutes of non-stop fighting, I get Theo and Tucker to stop yelling at each other long enough to drag their asses to the Student Activity Center to meet Kat. The scents of herbs and fried foods assault my nostrils as we go through each station. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until we got here.

We fill our trays in a hurry and set off toward the table in the back of the room, the one where we normally meet up with our friends. Kat peeks up from her plate, locking onto me. She pats the seat next to her.

Now, she’s the one beckoning me. We still joke about the day we met. Back then, I used my usual tricks on her, not even thinking that they wouldn’t work on a girl like Kat. She has me so whipped that sometimes even I wonder why we never took our relationship to the next step. Until last night.

But I have to set those feelings aside for the sake of our friendship. As much as I would love to explore more with Kat, it could never work with her brothers around to block us at every turn. She’s never even had a boyfriend because of them.

I sit next to Kat and slide my chair into the table.

“What did you get?” Kat scans my plate. “I’m still hungry.”

“Cheesesteak and fries. You want half of it?”

She lifts a fry from my plate and stuffs it into her mouth, speaking between bites. “Maybe just a bite of your steak.”

“You owe me a few bucks for this joker,” Tucker says to Kat, pointing at Theo with a goofy smile.

She pulls a twenty out of her back pocket and throws it across the table at Tucker. He picks it up, looking victorious.

“I’m not a joker,” Theo says, defensive, but he’s too busy eating his food to argue.

Kat and her younger brothers only have a one year age difference between them, but you would assume by their behavior that the twins are years apart from Kat. While she’s mature and sensible, they’re both wild and think after they act. Tucker surprises me on occasion, but that doesn’t happen often.

Then, there’s Duke and Austin, who are over five years older than Kat and rough around the edges. The Baldwin’s are a dynamic bunch. Never a dull moment around any of them.

I break my steak in half and give it to Kat. Instead of taking it from me, she grabs my hand and sinks her teeth into the sandwich. She pins me down with an intense stare, making it harder for me to focus on anything other than her face. I watch each movement of her mouth, thinking of how her lips felt pressed against mine. I miss being that close to her already.

Does she feel it, too?

Can we make this work between us?

For better or worse, things have changed between us. I cannot deny the connection I have to Kat. It was always there. But how do we move forward?