She laughed again, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, you’re still the only one.”

Something tightened in his chest.

“It does, actually,” he confessed, knowing it was difficult for her to admit anything to him, especially when it involved her feelings. “And I was being honest when I said I haven’t been with anyone since you.”

She made an almost hysterical laughing sound. “Okay, so that’s settled. Neither of us will be hooking up with anyone else.”

“Just to clarify,” he smiled into the phone, “that includes no hooking up with each other, right?”

“Yes, Henrik. That includes each other.”

“Okay,” he breathed, probably for the first time since they started the conversation. “Good. I can totally handle that.”

And he could.

“I trust you.”

The emotion those three simple words evoked was astonishing. It shocked him. “Thank you.”

He smiled like an idiot and was grateful she couldn’t see the inevitably goofy look on his face.

“Just one other thing,” he added, since she was being agreeable for the first time in her life.

“There’s more? Maybe we should write this down. Get lawyers involved.”

“You’re cute, Blakely. Real cute. I’m trying to be serious right now, remember?”

She cleared her throat. “Okay.”

“Since we have this new understanding, I’m going to need you to be available next weekend,” he told her, his voice a little more chipper than he meant it to be.

“For what?”

“To be my date for the Hockey Pays Forward Charity event the organization hosts every year. I’m required to go, and everyone brings a date.”

“Henrik. I’m sorry, but—”

“We can go as friends if you want. Just don’t make me show up alone.”

“No. It’s not that. I would love to be your date, but I promised Austin I’d go with him. Apparently, since his favorite wingman has been blowing him off, his datebook has suffered. However, I suspect it’s his passive aggressive way of keeping me from going with you.”

He flopped back on the bed. “Austin knows me too well.”

And he did. Austin knew he’d ask her. He’d been trying to corner him for weeks, and now he’d won. He would have to talk to him. That meant he would have to admit things. Things Austin already knew. It would be ugly, and painful.

“I’ll take care of it,” he finally decided.

Leila laughed into the phone. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks,” he sighed, slumping down on the bed.

He would need it. He silently wondered if he should wear his new face guard.

Chapter 19

 

 

HENRIK’S CONVERSATION

The team was on the way back to Manhattan, a three-hour flight ahead of them. Henrik sat in the back of the team’s private jet with Austin, Sam, and one of their other teammates, Callen, playing a game of cards to pass the time. They were halfway through their first game when Austin finally looked over at him and nudged him with his knee. “So, how long are we going to sit here and act like you didn’t ask my sister out on a date?”

Sam’s panic-stricken gaze immediately shot up to him. Henrik remained calm. At least, calm on the outside. His insides took a dive to hell and back. He studied the cards in his hands. “So, you talked to her?”

“This morning. Mentioned something about going to buy a dress for the charity event, and then asked if I’d talked to you yet.”

“Yeah, about that…” He finally looked up and gave Austin a sympathetic slap on the back. Very casual and very calm. “You’re going to need to make other arrangements.”

Austin paused, staring daggers across the small space at him. “Excuse me?”

“I’m taking Leila,” he asserted with a small smile, his foot bouncing wildly beneath the table. “She’s my date.”

Austin threw his cards down on the makeshift table between them, leaning forward to glare into his eyes with a fury Henrik had never witnessed from his best friend—at least, not directed at him. “Are you trying to fuck my sister, Rylander?”

Shit, he felt guilty. Hurt-his-soul guilty.

“Because I’m pretty sure we’ve had a conversation about this before,” Austin continued. “You know my feelings on the subject.”

“Trust me, I know everyone’s feelings on the subject.”

Austin shoved his shoulder gingerly to get his attention. “The difference between me and Drew is I’m asking you, Henrik.” He dropped his voice to a deadly register. “I expect an honest answer, or I’ll make you give me one.”

Austin studied him, his fierce features cool and distant. Henrik worried that he looked as guilty as he felt, even though, technically, it wasn’t a lie. He wanted to sleep with Leila. Again. And again. However, he wasn’t trying to at the present time, but he couldn’t exactly explain their arrangement to Austin.

“No,” he stated with total honesty. “I’m not trying to sleep with your sister.”

Austin’s eyes remained locked on him, his assessment thorough. Finally, he fell back in his seat, dissatisfied, as if he’d actually looked forward to kicking Henrik’s ass, and picked up his cards again. “Whose turn is it?”

“Wait,” Sam breathed, glancing back and forth between the two of them, his nerves obviously shot. “That’s it?”

“What the hell, Sam?” Henrik interjected, shooting him a dubious look.

“Yeah, Sam,” Austin answered. “Is there something else I need to know?”

Sam swallowed loudly. “No,” he lied. Austin looked at Sam harder, and he started to panic. “I didn’t think finding out Henrik is trying to date your sister would go over so smoothly, is all.”

“Again, Sam. What the hell?” Henrik growled, glaring daggers at his confidant.

“Look,” Austin half laughed. “This isn’t the first time this has happened. Henrik tried this shit back in college, and I’ll admit I was a bit of a hard-ass about it back then.”

“A bit?” Henrik challenged, his tone reflecting the outright shock at his friend’s admission.

“I saved you from yourself.”

Henrik rolled his eyes. “You and I both know it had nothing to do with saving me. Leila was only eighteen.”

“Maybe, but she’s always been able to handle your wild stallion ass, no doubt about that.” Austin’s expression smoothed out. Softened. “Your mother hadn’t even been gone a year at that point. You were damn determined to sabotage any relationship where a woman showed you any kind of affection. It wasn’t the right time. So, yeah—I intervened.”

Henrik gaped at him. “You say that like making her hate me for four years was a favor?”

“It was. You’re welcome.”

Henrik rubbed his hand down his face, frustrated. Austin smiled, returning the pat on the back Henrik had given him earlier. “Look, it’s obvious your thoughts about my sister haven’t changed, so let’s stop pretending like the decline in your social calendar is because you’re all of a sudden Mr. Responsible.”

He looked at his best friend through his fingers. “I’m trying to be both.” He sighed. “You’ve heard the rumors. Naming me captain won’t keep them from trading me. I have to do my part. I need to be Mr. Responsible.”

Austin cocked a surprised brow. “Color me impressed.”

“So, does this mean you’re giving Henrik permission to date your sister?” Sam asked, still a little surprised.

“Have you met my sister? Trust me, my permission is the least of his worries.” He laughed, turning to look Henrik in the eye. “Just keep in mind, though, we’re roommates. I know what your ass does twenty-four hours a day. If you screw up, she will know about it. You got that?”

He nodded quickly. “Understood.”

“And if you try and pull some Derek Deroty bullshit on her,” he added, his face showcasing that deadly stare again, “you’ll have more than a broken nose to worry about.”