Rescue Me

next to him, and he should have known she wouldn’t let it go.
    She knew him too well. Knew that he was the one who usually broke things off. “She said she loved me.” That wasn’t the real reason, but his sister didn’t know about the nightmares and he wasn’t about to tell her now.
    A grin pressed across her lips. “What did you say?”
    “Thank you.”
    Autumn gasped.
    “What?” Thank you wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good, but it was better than not saying anything.
    “Then what?”
    “Then I took her home.”
    “You said thank you and took her home? Do you hate her or something?”
    Hate Sadie? He didn’t hate Sadie. He wasn’t real sure what he felt, other than some strange sort of confusion. Both gut-level panic and bone-deep relief churned and burned in his head and chest at the same time. How could he feel both panic and relief that it had ended? It didn’t make sense. “I don’t hate her.”
    “Did she yell it out during”—Autumn looked around for prying ears—“sex? ’Cause it probably doesn’t count if someone yells it during sex.”
    He almost laughed. “She didn’t say it during sex.”
    “Is she really ugly?”
    “No.” He thought of her blond hair and big smile. Her clear blue eyes and pink mouth. “She’s beautiful.”
    “Stupid?”
    He shook his head. “Smart and funny, and you’ll be happy to know, I didn’t pick her up in a bar. She wasn’t a one-night stand.” Although she’d started out that way.
    “That’s progress, I guess, but it’s sad.” Genuine sorrow turned down the corner of Autumn’s mouth. “When you lock everything down tight so that the pain can’t get out, you also keep good stuff from getting in.”
    He looked down into her eyes, a few shades darker than his, and a bemused smile lifted his lips. “What? Are you the new white Oprah?”
    “Don’t make fun, Vin. You’re so good at taking care of everyone else. So good at fighting for everyone else, but not yourself.”
    “I can take care of myself.”
    “I’m not talking about bar fights. They don’t count.”
    He chuckled and stood. “Depends on if you’re on the losing end.”
    She stood, and he wrapped his arms around her. “Now when is this wedding you’re hell bent on having?”
    “You know it’s in July so Sam’s face isn’t all messed up for the wedding pictures. All you have to do is show up and walk me down the aisle. I’ve taken care of everything.” She hugged him. “Will you still be in Texas?”
    “Yeah. I think for at least the next year.” He dropped his hands and thought of Sadie. He wondered if she was going to be sticking around Lovett or if she’d already left town.
    A red truck rolled up the street and pulled into the driveway. Autumn looked up at Vince and warned, “Be nice, and I mean it.”
    Vince smiled as Sam Leclaire, hotshot hockey player, Conner’s father, Autumn’s fiancé, his future brother-in-law, and all-around son of a bitch, got out of the Chevy and moved toward him. Sam was a few inches taller than Vince and as tough as a bare-knuckled street fighter. Vince would have dearly loved to beat his ass, but he knew Sam would never go down easy. At the moment, the guy had a purple bruised cheek. It was April. Still early in the playoffs. Another game or two, the guy would have an eye to match.
    “You look better than the last time I saw you.” Sam offered his hand, and Vince reluctantly shook it.
    The last time Vince had seen Sam, they’d both been beat up. Sam from his job and Vince from a bar fight. “You look worse.”
    Sam laughed. A satisfied man living a good life. Vince couldn’t recall the last time he’d felt like that. Before he’d left the teams, for sure. Maybe a few glimmers of it in Texas.
    Sam wrapped his arm around Autumn’s shoulders. “I need to talk to your brother.”
    “Alone?”
    “Yeah.”
    She looked from one to the other. “Behave,” she ordered. Then she gave Vince one last hug good-bye. “Call me when you get to Texas so I don’t worry.”
    He kissed the top of her head. “You got it.”
    Both men watched Autumn move up the steps to the house, then go inside.
    “I love her,” Sam said. “You don’t ever have to worry about her and Conner.”
    “She’s my sister and Conner is my nephew.” Vince crossed his arms over his chest and stared into the hockey player’s blue eyes.
    Sam nodded. “I never did thank you.”
    “For what?”
    “Taking care of my family when I ran from the