He wanted to get Leila alone. He wanted to know what caused that vulnerable look in her eyes—that fear and uncertainty. Something was bothering her, and he needed to figure it out.

Austin’s face appeared above him. “My sister has a perfect shot. So, how did it accidentally find your nose?”

“You were shooting with those damn wooden sticks, weren’t you?” Drew guessed, giving him a you-should-have-known-better look.

“Yes,” Leila answered. “How did you know?”

He could hear Drew sigh somewhere next to him. “Henrik, you should know better than to take a city girl to play pond hockey.”

Leila huffed, insulted. “Says the guy who grew up in Charlotte? Ponds don’t even freeze down there.”

“We played on ponds in Sweden,” Drew shot back. “That’s all we had. It’s not like we could afford rink time except for what we got during practices.”

Henrik rose up to gawk at his brother. It wasn’t like Drew to mention their childhood, especially so casually. In fact, he hadn’t heard him mention it at all since their mother passed away. “You remember that?”

“Of course.” He looked down at his hands. “I remember everything about home.”

The room became exceedingly quiet, and noticing the conversation had gotten uncomfortably awkward, Austin spoke up. “Well, I’m calling the team doctor. He might want to look at your nose tonight.”

Forcing himself to look away from his brother, Henrik turned to Austin. “It’s after three in the morning.”

“You’re our star player,” Austin shot back. “Trust me, they’re going to want to know you’re over here looking like something that could walk out of Mordor.”

Austin left the room with the phone already to his ear.

“I knew I shouldn’t have let you two leave together.” Drew sighed, squinting at him as if his nose were some ghastly creature that might bite him at any moment.

Leila gave him a half-hearted shove. “Like it’s your decision. We weren’t doing anything wrong.”

“Anything involving the two of you always ends in some form of drama,” he mumbled. “And don’t think Austin is okay with your little hangout sessions. He’s been asking questions.”

Leila rolled her eyes. “I’m going to get more ice. You two can bicker among yourselves.”

When Leila left, Henrik shot Drew a look. “You can’t just give me a break?”

Drew crossed his arms over his chest. “You never take girls to the pond. That’s a family thing.”

“Leila is family.”

Drew’s eyes narrowed. “She’s my family.”

“Look who’s jealous now.” He smiled, leaning back on the bed. “I don’t understand why you’re mad about us being friends.”

“Friends,” he laughed. “You honestly think that is what’s going on right now? You two having a friendship?”

“Well—yeah.”

Drew made a face of genuine disbelief. “Make sure that doctor checks you for a concussion, because you’re crazier than I thought.”

When Leila returned, Drew was still in a huff. “I’m going home. It looks like you two have everything under control. I’ll check on you in the morning before I leave.”

“Leave?” Leila questioned. “You don’t work tomorrow.”

“I have somewhere I need to be,” he said offhandedly, rushing to the door. “I’ll see you both in the morning.”

When he was out the door, Leila turned around, puzzled. “He’s being very—”

“Drewish.” He chuckled. “Trust me, you get used to it after a while.”

She climbed back on the bed, crossing her legs next to him. “Put this back on your nose. The swelling is getting worse.”

He flinched as the ice touched his skin, but he quickly recovered. She looked at him with that same adorable expression again. Like she cared about him too. “I like this side of you,” he commented, easing an inch closer to her.

“The guilt-ridden side?”

“No, more like the not-biting-my-head-off side. You’re actually kind of sweet when you want to be.”

She peered down at him, frowning. “Henrik, I still think this friends thing is a bad idea. It will never work.”

“But you’ll try. Right?”

She pursed her lips, and he braced himself, but then she nodded. “Yes, we can try to be friends. However, when I break your nose on purpose next time, I’m going to say I told you so.”

Austin walked back in, hanging up his phone. “Ice it all night, and he wants you there by seven tomorrow morning.”

Henrik groaned. “He’s going to make me miss the game. I just know it.”

“Either way, you have to let him examine it,” Leila informed him. “I’ll drive you.”

Panic immediately engulfed him, but not because she wanted to take care of him. That part actually made him excited. It’s what surely would result from her sweet gesture that scared him. “I appreciate the offer, Leila, but—”

“You’re going to let me,” she said, her voice stern as if she were talking to a child. “You can’t drive like this, and I’m not letting you take the subway. It’s my fault, so I’m taking you.”

“Again, Leila, I really appreciate your offer, but—”

Austin chuckled behind her. “He’s afraid you’ll tell them what really happened.”

Leila’s expression fell as she looked down at him. “Why wouldn’t you tell them what really happened?”

“We’re guys, Leila.” Austin was practically bursting at the seams trying to rein in his amusement. “What do you think is going to happen when they find out a girl broke his nose with a hockey puck? He’s never going to live it down.”

Her mouth dropped open and she let the ice slip off his face. “Is that really the reason?”

He shot her a weak smile because he knew he couldn’t lie his way out of it with Austin there. “They’re kind of ruthless about things like that,” he tried, mustering the most pathetic voice possible.

She shook her head, unsympathetic. “Be ready by six thirty.”

When he opened his mouth to refute, Austin laughed. “You might as well let her go. Because if she doesn’t tell them, I will.”

He shot his friend a dirty look, but Austin appeared too smug to care. He was enjoying himself.

Bastard.

Austin shrugged. “Next time, don’t sneak off with my sister.”

Under normal circumstances, he would have fought back. A snarky comment, or he might have even mustered up the courage for an inappropriate one. Not now. He couldn’t joke about the truth. That was just wrong.

He turned his attention back to Leila in hope of changing her mind. He could always blackmail Austin into cooperation later. He gave her a pleading look.

“You wanted to be friends,” Leila reminded, sticking the ice back to his nose, a little less gentle than she’d been previously.

He laid his head back against the pillow and sighed. “I know,” he groaned, already imagining the horrific nicknames in his head.

It would still be worth it.

Leila would always be worth it.

Chapter 16

 

 

HENRIK’S MOVE

Henrik made himself at home in Drew’s apartment the next morning. Of course, that was after listening to Drew lecture him about anything and everything under the sun, including the fact he’d brought breakfast with him. Apparently, providing Leila with food in any form or fashion was some kind of sin in this house.

It was just a couple bagels, for crying out loud.

Drew and Austin didn’t realize it, but he was finished following their rules. He’d allowed Austin to ruin his chances for a romantic relationship with Leila a long time ago, and he wasn’t about to let them ruin their friendship, too.

Now that Drew was gone, his fruitless effort to make him wait in his own apartment failing, he found a comfy spot on the couch and dug into his bagels. He heard the shower turn on down the hall, so he knew Leila was awake. Her words continued to haunt him, though, along with the thousands of what ifs circulating through his mind.