Chapter four

Travis

"No." The word was ripped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

Acid burned through my chest and I suddenly felt sick. It can't be. No. No. This can't be happening to me. This was a nightmare and any second now, I'll wake up.

There was no way in hell the blond asshole was my step brother. This had to be one of the levels of hell.

"No?" Hunter placed a hand over his heart with a fake flinch. "You're hurting my feelings brother."

"Im not your brother." I whirled on him with a roar.

"Travis, that's enough!" My father barked. "You'll_"

I didn't wait to hear the rest of what he had to say. Even though I knew I'd pay for my disobedience later, I was far more desperate to get away from all of them. And so I spun on my heels and rushed back into the house.

At the last second, I glanced over my shoulder at my dog. "Mimi, come."

As if I wasn't humiliated enough, the damn dog made a whining sound and scooted closer to Hunter. It was the pitying look on his face that was the final straw. I could take his amusement and derision, but fuck him, I didn't need to be pitied.

Growling, I raced through the house, ignoring Mrs Johnson calling my name.

Jumping into my Ford, I revved the engine and tore out of the driveway before placing a call to Sammy. At that moment, I suddenly missed Matthews. He had been the only one on the team who knew my family dynamics.

Hockey was supposed to be my safe space from all of this, but damn Hunter had snuck in and was stealing everything from me. My team, my family and even my dog. I had to find a way to get rid of him.

"Man, what's up?"

"Where are you?" I could hear the sound of music at the background.

"At a little get together around the square."

"Send me the address."

He let out a bark of laughter. "Stop playing around. This isn't really your scene, man. What's going on?"

I considered telling him, but gritted my teeth instead. "I'm just a little wound up and need some stress relief. Maybe the get together will do me some good. Send the address."

"Sure thing." He said without hesitation.

I glanced down at my wrinkled outfit and made a face. I hadn't even had time to shower and change clothes. But I couldn't turn around now. I guess they were going to have to deal with it.

The location was a gothic style house at the upper east side. Cars were parked half hazardly outside, and I made my way inside to where a throng of people were dancing, drinking and chatting. It didn't take me long to find Sammy.

"Hey you actually came?" His eyes were wide as they took me in. "I really thought you were pulling my legs bro."

I forced a smile and shook my head. "Tell me there's something better than beer around here."

His eyes went even wider. All my teammates knew me as the stuck up captain. I didn't go drinking or partying with the rest of them. Hockey was my entire life and I refused to let silly distractions take it away from me.

"I always had a feeling Neal Matthews was holding you back." Sammy laughed, as he tossed me a bottle of something unfamiliar.

I didn't care what it was. I just needed it had to be strong enough to burn out the dark feeling settling in my gut.

Without another word, I unscrewed the bottle and poured it down my throat, flinching at the hot burn of it. "Holy shit. This shit is pure acid."

"It's magic in a bottle!" He whooped. "It's gonna loosen you up and make you forget everything. Well, except how to play hockey."

I chuckled.

"I was trying to stalk that new guy's socials. He's cagey as hell. There's barely anything about him on the internet. I did find out that his name is Hunter Bailey."

My drink went down the wrong way and I choked. I had come here to escape from Hunter. I didn't want to hear anything about him. I was just about to say so, when his next words reached me.

"I did find a girl though. Seems our new teammate is into goth baddies."

"He's my step brother." I heard myself say.

Sammy's jaw dropped open. "You're messing with me. How long have you known about this? I can't believe you didn't say anything!"

"I've known for about two hours longer than you. It took me by surprise too." I gritted my teeth. "And trust me, I'm not pleased about it in the least."

"How did that happen? That's crazy."

"My dad got married a month ago. I didn't see much of his new woman until the wedding." I shrugged. "I knew she had a son, but I was told he couldn't make it for some reason. I figured she had a little kid or something."

Not a six foot three, cocky, blond, pain in the ass, hockey player.

"Got home after practice and there he was." My mind suddenly provided me with an image of his abs and that line of hair through it.

What the hell.

I shook my head to dispel the image immediately.

"Forget about your step brother. He's a show off on the ice, but we're yet to see him handle the pressure of a real game." He scoffed. "If he messes up our chance to get to the championships, coach will destroy him."

"Yeah, he_"

He suddenly whistled, eyes fixed over my shoulders. "You're not going to believe who just walked in?"

"Hunter?" My heart sped up. What was he doing here?

"No." Sammy shot me a strange look. "Lana. And she's headed straight toward you. Brace yourself."

"Wait. No. I don't want to_"

But it was too late. Sammy slipped away, smirking and a second later, I felt a small, soft body press up behind me.

"Hey baby. Missed me?"

With a silent groan, I started to turn around, a smile pasted on my face. A smile that died as I took in the scene before me.

Lana's hand was caught midair in the right grip of none other than my dear stepbrother.