Free BrickWall_Kobo by Steph Page A

killed.
    “Leave the guy alone.” Jake knocked his controller against Shane’s in a show of solidarity as they sat on the floor, backs against the couch. “He has obviously taken too many shots to the head. Addled his brain.”
    With the press of a button, Shane killed off Jake’s character. “Yeah, fuck you, too, Jake.”
    With a burst of Czech that probably called Shane’s parentage into question, Jake tossed his controller over his shoulder to Lad. Jake had no doubt Lad would catch it. The guys were more in sync than an old married couple. It made them a great defensive team on the ice.
    “So I take it the sex was amazing.” Joey Constantino sat on the couch beside Lad. “Why else would you subject yourself to a wedding, especially when you won’t know anybody there?”
    Shane elbowed Joey’s thigh, hard enough for the guy to flinch. “I didn’t say anything about sex. And…what the fuck, man? I thought you were on my side.”
    Joey smirked as he got his character up and running. The wiry forward skated with a blinding speed that totally contradicted his laid-back personality.
    “I am on your side. But not if you’re gonna be a total dickhead. You haven’t stopped talking about her since you got here. You only met her last night. You got laid. The sex was obviously great or you wouldn’t have agreed to go to a wedding with her because, yeah, who goes to a wedding with a girl they just met unless they’re expecting more awesome sex?”
    Okay, Joey might have a point but still… “Fuck that. I haven’t talked about her that much.”
    Had he?
    When the other three guys exchanged a look then started laughing, Shane wanted to grab the nearest stick and slash the hell out of all of them.
    “Yeah, fuck you, assholes. Just because you aren’t getting any—”
    “Who says we are not getting laid?” Lad punched him on the arm.
    Shane snorted. “You spend most of the time we’re not on the ice here playing video games like twelve-year-olds.”
    Jake stuck his elbow in Shane’s side. “And aren’t you sitting here, right now?”
    “Visual acuity exercise.”
    Joey burst out laughing. “You’re so full of shit. You don’t have anything better to do than sit around with us. Why didn’t you go home anyway?”
    Shane shrugged. Didn’t want to admit that he was avoiding his Hallmark parents.
    Lad and Jake wouldn’t understand. They would’ve been on the first plane out if they’d had enough time to fly home and get back in time for the next game.
    Joey… Well, Joey’s parents were a living nightmare so he didn’t go home. Ever. He wouldn’t understand why Shane wanted to avoid his perfect family.
    “I needed to work on some things and Cary said he’d help. So I stayed. I need the practice.”
    “Don’t sweat the past few games, man.” Jake shrugged. “This shit will work itself out.”
    Jesus, he hoped so. Otherwise… “I just want to stay focused on the game and not get caught up in all the family stuff.”
    Jake snorted. “And nothing says focus like screwing around with some girl you don’t know.”
    “It’s not like that. She’s…” Amazing. Sexy. Smart. “Nice.”
    Silence.
    Shane looked over his shoulder to see Joey staring at him with wide eyes. When he looked at the other guys, they had identical expressions of what-the-fuck.
    “What?”
    “Nice?” Jake said. “This girl is so nice , you told her you would go to a wedding with her?”
    Jake’s accent got thicker with each word and his blond eyebrows rose until they were hidden by the fringe of pale hair that fell over his forehead.
    Shane shrugged, feeling a little WTF himself over the guys’ reaction. “Yeah, she’s nice. So what?”
    Jake and Lad exchanged a glance then they both looked at Joey, who started to shake his dark head.
    “Nice girls are the ones you really have to watch out for, “Joey said. “They’ll screw with your head and you’ll never know what hit you. Seriously. You should run now.