His brow furrows. “No, she doesn’t.”

“Yes. She does. She avoids the attention because she’s terrified that all people are going to see is Rook Bowman’s baby sister.” I hold my arms wide, giving him free rein to go ahead and try to hit me again. “You have no idea how hard it is for her. She thinks that no matter what she does, her identity is always going to be tied up in you, and she thinks if she’s my girlfriend, it’s going to be the same damn thing.”

Rook seems to deflate. He runs a frustrated hand through his hair. “You let that video go up and did nothing about it.”

“What the hell was I supposed to do? She shut down on me and won’t talk to me; my team thinks I’m an asshole; you’re pissed, which the entire team knows, so it’s been great for team morale; and Alex took her off my PT because he doesn’t like the optics.” We’re both heaving, me rubbing my jaw and him rubbing his ribs.

“I didn’t tell him to do that.”

“You didn’t have to. I’m the cause of the dissension, as far as he’s concerned. Which means I’m messing up the team. I might be an asshole, but I care about this team.” I pace, rubbing the back of my neck. Even with everyone pissed at me, I’ve still managed to make a valuable contribution. “This entire time I’ve been so patient. I didn’t push her for anything. I kept it light. She rehabbed me and we hung out. I focused on getting better and gave her time to get over that stupid dickbag who played with her head. And that was your fault, too, by the way.”

“How the hell is that my fault?”

“She just wants a brother. She doesn’t need you to try to replace your dad. She wanted you to think she was okay, so she found a shield, and he worked until he didn’t.”

“What?” His brow furrows even more, his confusion shifting to disquiet. “How do you know this?”

“Because she told me. Because while you’ve been busy with your life and your career and being so sure I was out to screw her over, I’ve been listening. And waiting for her to be okay enough for me to tell her how I damn well feel about her.”

“You made Stevie look like a puck bunny,” he argues.

“There are pictures of you fucking around with two mostly naked women in a goddamn hot tub still floating around on the internet!” I jab my chest with a finger. “All I did was kiss her.”

“That looked like a hell of a lot more than a kiss, and you damn well know it.”

Okay. He’s got me there. “It would’ve been better if it hadn’t happened in a public place, and if someone hadn’t posted it for the entire hockey-watching nation to speculate over, but in my defense I hadn’t seen her in almost a week. Emotions were running high.” I use the same line she gave me: her excuse for letting it go as far as it did. Which was bullshit. The only reason it didn’t happen sooner was because my dick wouldn’t work effectively and I was waiting for her to be over the douche ex. Also, Alex’s orders figured in at least a little.

He crosses his arm, lip still twitching. “She told me she kissed you, not the other way around.”

“She figured you’d overreact, and she didn’t want you to try to kill me. Seems like she was right about that.”

He rolls his eyes, and then they slide back to me, narrowing. “You were there.” It’s not a question, and his voice is suddenly low.

I realize I’ve stepped in the biggest pile of dog shit ever, because I admitted, accidentally, that I was at Stevie’s the morning after the video went viral. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.

He’s in my personal space between one blink and the next, gripping my shirt. He’s maybe an inch or two shorter than me but just as broad. If I have to guess, I’d say it’d be a pretty even fight, or at least it would’ve been until a few seconds ago. “Did you sleep with my sister?”

I raise one hand in surrender and grip the wrist of the hand currently fisting my collar. His hold is tight and close to my throat. Also, he looks about ready to commit murder. “Rook, listen.”

“Answer the damn question, Winslow.”

I shake my head. “I can’t.”

“Bullshit! Answer the damn question.”

“It’s not my place to tell you that. You’ll have to talk to Stevie if you want that information.”

“You son of a bitch.” He spins us around and shoves me against the brick wall.

“Rook, man, take it easy,” Kingston says.

I’d forgotten he was here.

Rook barely spares him a glance. “Don’t interfere, King. I like you, but you get in the way, and I’ll take you down too.” He bars his forearm across my throat.

“Calm down, Rook,” I grind out.

“Don’t tell me to calm down. She’s my sister.”

“And I’m in love with her.”

He exhales angrily, like a bull getting ready to charge. “If the roles were reversed, would you kick your teammate’s ass for putting his hands on your sister?”

“I don’t have a sister.”

“Pretend you do.”

I sigh. “I can’t. All I have is a brother who name-drops me to bag women.”

“King, if Winslow slept with your sister, would you punch him out?”

Kingston’s eyes dart around like he’s looking for someone else with his name to answer. “Uhhh . . .”

“Be honest,” Rook snaps.

“I don’t use violence to solve my problems,” Kingston replies.

Rook twists his head to look at him with one eyebrow raised.

Kingston sighs. “I would probably be inclined to punch him.”

“Seriously, King?”

“Sorry.” He shrugs. “It’s a brotherly duty. Plus, there’s the video . . .”

“You suck, man. Don’t think I won’t remember this when you have woman problems down the line.”

“I don’t plan to sleep with any of my teammates’ sisters, so I should be fine.” I swear Kingston is smirking. Asshole.

“I get four shots.” Rook unbars my throat and takes a step back, cracking his knuckles with a sinister smile.

“Two, and no face and no groin.”

“No way. I deserve at least one face shot.”

“You already got in a face shot.”

He jumps around like a boxer and shakes out his hands. “That was before I knew you slept with my sister.”

“Three shots, all body. No groin or head shots. We don’t want evidence anyone can see or a concussion,” Kingston interjects.

“Whose side are you on?” I ask.

“I’m not on a side. This is about brotherly justice, and I’m hoping after this you two will finally put the antagonism to rest. We’re all pretty damn tired of it, so let’s get this done so we can all move on.” Kingston makes a get-on-with-it motion.

Rook nods and hops around a bunch more, making a show of clenching and releasing his fists.

“Just take the shot—”

He slams me with an uppercut to the diaphragm, and I stumble back into the wall, heaving.

“That was for the video.” He beckons me forward again.