Trouble : Boston Bolts Hockey

Beckett: We’ll be there within the hour. Is everything set for Melina to stay with you?

I nod at the text and flip my phone over on the bar top.

“You realize the person who’s texting you can’t see your nod, right?” my best friend Cade says from the stool beside me.

With a grunt, I study the menu.

“Why bother looking?” he teases. “We both know you’ll order the same thing you always get.”

My phone vibrates, so I turn it over. Naturally, it’s my pain-in-the-ass brother-in-law again.

Beckett: She’s coming to the event with Ford and Lake, but her stuff will be in the car. Can you have one of the guys grab it and bring it into the station?

With another nod, I set it face down again.

“Seriously, Dec, they can’t see your response. Why the fuck can’t you just reply when people text?”

I arch a brow, amused that this bothers him so much.

I’m saved from having to respond when Hailey, the bartender who also happens to own the place, turns her attention to us, ready for our order. “Hey, Chief, how are you?”

“Good.” I glance around the bar, taking in the crowd. The place is filling up quickly. This is my favorite hangout, but only after the summer rush. I can’t stand crowds, and not many people other than the locals are interested in sitting around a small-town bar on the water in the middle of winter.

Clearly, I underestimated how many people the event today would bring into our town.

Stupid mistake.

“You have enough staff working to handle the crowd? Fire code⁠—”

Cade places his hand on my arm, the contact stealing the words from my mouth. “What he means is that we’re here if you need help. Not that he’ll shut you down if you’re unprepared.”

I pull away, ignoring the niggle of guilt that hits me when he grimaces. “I was getting to that. Do you want me to call Shawn?”

Shawn works for me at the station, and he’s engaged to Hailey’s twin sister. A twin she didn’t know existed until not too long ago. But that’s a story for a different day.

Hailey’s responding smile is bright. She likes the crowd just as much as I hate it. I suppose that makes sense. Where I see bar fights, people being trampled, and fire hazards, she sees dollar signs.

“We’re all set. Amelia is working tonight, and Nate and Jack will be here to help after the festivities.” She turns her warm gaze on Cade, her voice going sugary sweet. “We really appreciate the Bolts doing this. It’s going to help the town out more than you know.”

Cade leans his forearms on the bar and slides his barstool in closer. The wood dragging against the floor is almost as grating as his shameless flirting. With a bat of his eyes, he smiles, allowing the dimple on his left cheek to pop. The one on his right cheek only appears when he’s laughing. When he’s truly happy. It’s never aimed in my direction, because I don’t make people laugh.

“The guys are happy to do it.” He winks. “Got them out of practice this weekend.” Cade is the goalie coach for the Boston Bolts hockey team. The hockey team that is, unfortunately, owned by my pain-in-the-ass brother-in-law’s family. I honestly can’t get away from the man. Beckett seems to be everywhere I turn.

Scowling, I nudge him with my elbow. “Can we order? I need to get downtown shortly.”

Hailey straightens. “Of course, Chief. The regular?”

Cade snorts. “Bacon cheeseburger, medium rare, with onion rings and fries.”

Hailey’s eyes dance, and a smile creeps up her face. “Exactly. You forgot the Coke, though.”

Tutting, Cade shakes his head. “If I ate like that, I’d be huge.” He lifts the hem of his shirt, flashing his washboard abs, then offers her another flirtatious wink. “I’ll take the salmon, steamed, with brown rice and broccoli. And a vodka tonic on the rocks with a lime.”

With a nod, she disappears to put in our order.

My phone buzzes again. I turn it over, this time pulling it closer to read it.

Liv: You know Beckett hates it when you don’t respond. He’s been going on about it for the last fifteen minutes. Please promise me you’ll try to have a personality when we get there. And text him back!

I get a perverse joy out of knowing I’ve annoyed Beckett Langfield. He’s like a forty-year-old toddler. A billionaire who’s always meddling in the lives of the people around him. He married my sister in Vegas two years ago, and while I assumed he’d taken advantage of her and I thought I’d have to kill him, my sister is happy, and he’s turned out to be an amazing stepfather to my nieces and nephew. That’s all that matters to me.

Me: Tell him to park at the station. Tell Ford to do the same. I’ll have the guys put Melina’s stuff in my office. Of course I’m set for her to stay. I told you she could. Excited to see you and the kids.

“Holy fuck, he texts,” Cade deadpans.

I glare at him as I put the phone down again.

“You never reply to my texts,” he prods, ducking down and turning my way.

Jaw clenched, I tamp down my annoyance. “I don’t like to text. You know this.”

“So who’s the chick who finally got you to reply?” he asks, waggling his brows. He’s such an idiot.

“Liv.”

He grins. “The hot younger sister.”

“I’m not even going to growl at you for that one. I’ll just relay your comment to Beckett.”

“Don’t you fucking dare. The man is a psychopath when it comes to his wife, and I like my job.”

“I’d be more concerned about your eyes than your job. If he thinks you looked at his wife in any sort of way, he’ll gouge them out.”

Cade barks out a laugh. “It’s hilarious how Liv married a man just like her brother.”

My jaw locks.

He nudges his elbow against mine. “Come on, if you won’t reply to my texts, the least you can do is smile at my jokes.”

“Why are you so obsessed with how I communicate?”

He leans back, hand to his chin, assessing me. “It’d make it easier for us to catch up. We barely talk unless I come to Bristol.”

Hailey sets our drinks in front of us, and Cade immediately sips his, staring at her ass as she walks away.

“Don’t,” I warn.

He doesn’t take his eyes off her. “Why?”

“She proposes to everyone who sits down at the bar.”

He pulls back like I’ve just waved a fire stick in his face. Exactly as I expected. The man is as averse to relationships as I am to texting. “The fuck?”

“Something to do with needing to be married to inherit the bar. I don’t know,” I grumble. “Point is, you don’t do relationships, and she doesn’t do one-night stands.”

Cade smirks, and I can’t help but zero in on that right side, waiting for the damn dimple to pop. It doesn’t.

“I don’t do one-night stands either,” he says. “Not unless it’s against the wall, or in the shower. Hm, have you tried out the fire pole?”

With a roll of my eyes, I push away the visions that hit me.

“I much prefer the use of a bed,” he admits. “Not that I’d turn down a woman on her knees.”

Before I can tamp it down, an image flashes through my mind. Cade gripping a ponytail, our hands linked as he guides her onto my cock.

When I don’t reply, he gives my shoulder a squeeze. I flinch beneath his touch. I always flinch at his touch.

“None of that shit with Melina in the house this weekend,” I grit out, silently berating myself for my reaction to a simple touch. “She’s going through enough. She doesn’t need you bringing home a random woman and keeping the rest of us up all night.”

Cade pulls back, scowling. “Give me some fucking credit. I’m not twenty anymore.”

“I know that, but I wasn’t sure you were aware.”

He rests his elbows on the bar and drops his head. “Fuck, you’re in a mood tonight.”

Internally, I wince. I don’t want to be an ass to my best friend. We rarely see each other, and he’s one of the very few people I like.

I roll my neck and angle my barstool so I’m facing him. “Sorry, I’m stressed and not handling it well. These damn fires keep popping up everywhere, and with the event tonight, there will be even more people to worry about. On top of that, Melina Fucking Rodriguez will be staying at my place for who knows how long. I haven’t lived with a woman since Liv was in high school. And I’m pretty sure eighteen-year-old Liv was nothing like a world-famous pop star.”

Cade’s eyes widen. “I think that’s the most words you’ve ever strung together at once.”

Huffing, I turn back to facing the bar. I don’t know why I try. Everything is a joke to this guy. Nothing is serious. He’d say I’m too serious, but becoming chief because the guy before me died in a fire makes it hard not to take fire safety seriously.

With a laugh, Cade pulls on my arm.

I go rigid as he squeezes, completely unaware of the effect he has on me.

“I’m teasing,” he says, lowering his voice. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate. And I promise I’ll help keep Mel safe.”

“Not in your bed,” I growl, my neck heating.

He laughs like I’m joking. “She’s twenty-eight years old, Chief. She can make that decision for herself. Besides, she’s a pop star. If anyone’s going to be calling the shots, it’s her.”

“She’s got a stalker,” I remind him. “That’s why she’s staying with me rather than with her best friend. She wants to spend the holidays with Lake and her family. Instead, she gets to put up with the town’s fire chief as her babysitter. Don’t complicate it.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Cade sighs. “You’re always ruining my fun.”

Fun? I don’t even know what that means anymore. It’s been years since I’ve even considered having fun. Honestly, the last time Cade and I had fun…

No, I shake my head to rid myself of the memory. Thankfully, Hailey appears, snagging my attention as she sets our food in front of us. I’m not thinking of that night ever again.