“In order to get in her pants,” Drew finished. “C’mon, I’ve seen you run game a million times, and it’s never been because you wanted a new friend.”

“You know what—fuck you, Drew.”

He was furious. He didn’t deserve an actual shot with Leila, but constantly throwing it in his face, and then not even trusting his word, was starting to push the limit with his patience.

“Honestly, Henrik, I don’t mean to sound so cruel—”

“Then just stay out of it.”

“Normally, I would. You and I both know Leila would be the first in line to kick your ass if you tried something on her,” he said simply. “But that isn’t the Leila we know right now. Whatever happened between her and Derek was bad. She’s hurting, and I can’t be sure she’s in the appropriate state of mind to make rational decisions.”

“Hooking up with me being an irrational decision,” he stated for clarification. When Drew didn’t respond, he merely continued. “Look, everyone knows Leila hates me, for whatever psycho reason girls make up. I know that, all right? I also know she’s your best friend, and she’s my best friend’s sister. So, it doesn’t matter how much I despise the prick who screwed her over, I’m not trying to get back at him by getting in her pants. So please believe me when I say I’m not trying to sleep with her.”

“Then what are you doing?”

That brought him up short. He stared, dumbfounded, at his little brother like he’d just asked him an unsolvable equation. “I don’t know,” he admitted honestly. “But whatever it is, I’m doing it with good intentions.”

That was the truth, and it was as far as he had allowed himself to think it through. He just wanted to give her the puck in the hope it would make her smile.

Drew’s mouth opened to respond when footsteps echoed behind him, and Austin yelled down the corridor at them. “Hey, there’s the man of the hour!”

Henrik turned to see Austin and Leila walking back toward them down the hall. “Thanks,” he replied, effectively ignoring Drew, who muttered warnings at him under his breath. “I thought we were meeting you at O’Rileys.”

“I forgot my keys,” Austin announced, setting his bag down. “You guys can go ahead if you want. Leila and I will catch up.”

“Okay,” Drew agreed eagerly, but Henrik rolled his eyes at him.

“No, that’s all right. We’ll wait.”

Drew was only trying to keep him as far away from Leila as possible. He’d already lost that battle. However, Drew had effectively ruined his good mood, so now he would make him regret allowing his faith in him to slide so easily.

“All right, I’ll be right back,” Austin said before running back into the locker room, leaving him alone with Drew and Leila.

“I’m glad to see you made it tonight,” he told her, pretending Drew wasn’t shooting daggers at him as he stepped closer to her.

Damn, she smelled good. Familiar. Lilacs.

“Well, it’s not like Drew gave me much of a choice.” She smiled, eyeing her friend with annoyed appreciation. She leaned toward him and whispered as if it were a secret. “He bribed me with junk food.”

He smiled, and it wasn’t the fake kind he normally used when talking to girls. No, this smile was completely genuine. He couldn’t contain it, not when she made so much effort to look exceptionally ordinary. She’d left her long sheath of red hair down and sported one of Austin’s oversized jerseys in an attempt to blend in with the regular crowd.

Blending in wasn’t possible for someone like her. Even without trying, she’d been the first person he spotted when he stepped on the ice. It had always been that way.

“What’s that?” Leila inquired, noticing the puck on the ground to her right. She bent down to pick it up, reading the writing along the tape. “This is from tonight.”

“Yeah,” he explained, his smile widening. “I was going to give it to you as a memento, but the fun patrol over here thought your panties would immediately fall off if I did, so he forbid it.”

Drew shot him a deadly look right before Leila scoffed. “Drew? Seriously?”

“I didn’t say it like that,” he retorted, his face desperately trying to hide the contempt he felt.

“Well, I guess it’s nice to know I’m not the only one receiving one of Drew’s infamous lectures.” She sighed, still shaking her head at her best friend.

“You too?” Henrik asked, surprised.

Again Leila leaned in as if speaking only to him. “Apparently, you’re irresistible,” she whispered with a smile. “And I’m too innocent to know better.”

He smirked back at her, his body reflexively closing the gap between them. “Well, according to my brother, I don’t possess a single moral attribute, so I would inevitably coerce you into my bed at some point.”

“You know—” Drew droned, crossing his arms “—it’s not nice to mock someone while they’re standing right here.”

Leila didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, she kept her eyes trained directly on Henrik. “I don’t exactly feel like going out to eat.”

Normally, he would have taken that comment out of context, but her eyes looked tired, and her voice was soft and worn. Tonight had taken a lot out of her, even if he still didn’t understand the reason. It offered him the perfect opportunity either way.

“You wanna skip O’Riley’s? Pizza and beer at my place instead?” He could practically envision Drew’s now murderous face behind him, and it made his smile grow. Drew should have just left it alone. He would have given her the puck and gone home, satisfied that his simple gesture might have brightened her day.

No harm.

No foul.

Now he would take what he really wanted. He wasn’t going to hit on her like Drew predicted, but he would get her alone, and that would be enough to make him happy and ruin his brother’s night.

“That sounds so much better,” she answered, tucking her hair behind her ear as if relieved of some great burden she’d been carrying. “Care if I wear Drew’s ratty sweat pants?”

He was close enough to touch her now, her chin tilted up at him, offering him the perfect view of her luscious pink lips. Getting her alone sounded better and better. “Not if you’ll lie and tell Austin I really ate brussel sprouts and a protein shake.”

“It’s a deal.”

Something leaped inside of him, but only a pussy would assume it was his heart—like he had one of those anyway—so instead, he merely ignored it. He quickly grabbed his bag and motioned her forward before Austin could ruin the moment. “My car is in the garage out back.”

He started walking behind her, until he finally remembered his brother. He paused, reached over to take the puck from her hand, and turned to give it to a stunned Drew behind him. “Wait. You better keep this,” he told him, his lips curling into a mischievous smile. “I wouldn’t want her to succumb to any latent desires on the way to the car.”

“You know there is a bathroom just around the corner,” she added over his shoulder, and it was then he realized she was in on the joke.

Drew’s lecture must have struck a nerve. He wondered if he had managed to insult her using the same loving tone as he’d used on him. Either way, he fought back laughter. “Oh, c’mon,” he chuckled, playfully knocking his elbow against hers, “the bathroom? I’m a little classier than that.”

The look they exchanged made him ready to throw her over his shoulder and pack her out of there. “Oh. Sorry,” she laughed, a hint of blush touching her cheeks. “Then I guess you better let Drew keep hold of it.”

Drew was utterly irate. His cheeks flushed scarlet, and his hands knotted into fists at his sides. “I hate both of you,” he bit out, apparently unamused by their antics. “And Austin isn’t going to be happy about this,” he added, yelling after them as they turned toward the door.

Henrik chose to ignore him, because it served him right. He made it a point to flip his brother the finger over his shoulder as he led Leila out of the building.