Axel Petrov had one rule.
Actually, that was a lie...
He had a lot of rules~rules about hockey, rules about fighting, rules about never letting anyone get close enough tocsee the cracks beneath the ice.
But the most important rule?
STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MAYA THOMPSON.....
Unfortunately, Maya Thompson had never been good at following rules .
"Move"
Axel didn't even look up from where he was leaning against the kitchen counter, slowly pouring coffee into a mug. His injured shoulder throbbed beneath the sling, but that wasn't what had his jaw tight.
"No"
It was the woman standing in the doorway.
MAYA THOMPSON.
His best friend's little sister.
And the one person in the world who knew exactly how to get under his skin.
"You're blocking the fridge", she said again.
Still calm. Still annoyingly patient.
Axel took a slow sip of his coffee before finally lifting his gaze.
Big mistake.
Because Maya wasn't the awkward teenager he remembered.
Somewhere between the last time he saw her and now, she'd grown up.
Dark curls fell over her shoulders, her eyes sharp and unimpressed as they locked with his. She was wearing one of those oversized sweaters that looked soft enough to make a man stupid.
Axel set the mug down slowly.
"Didn't know you were moving in" , he said flatly.
She crossed her arms.
"Didn't know you were either"
Because her brother~Axel's best friend and teammate, Ryan- has conveniently forgotten to mention one small detail.
HIS SISTER WAS STAYING HERE
"For how long" Axel asked.
"Two weeks"
Axel laughed once.
It wasn't a happy sound
"Absolutely not"
Maya raised one eyebrow, " You don't own the apartment"
"Doesn't matter".
"Oh, it does.
She stepped past him and opened the fridge like he wasn't a six foot four professional hockey player built like a tank.
Axel watched her for a moment, irritation crawling up his spine.
She was way too comfortable.
To calm
Too....grown
"You should leave", he said.
Maya grabbed a bottle of water and shut the fridge.
" Or what?"
His jaw tightened.
Or what.
That was the problem, wasn't it?
There was nothing he could do.
Because years agom standing in a locker room after one of too many beers, Ryan had looked him straight in the eye and said:
" Whatever you do, man...stay away from my sister"
And Axel had promised.
Back then it had been crazy.
Maya had been sixteen. Annoying, loud, always following them around.
Now?
Now, she was standing there feet away from him, looking at him like she dared him to start something.
And Axel had always been very good at starting fights.
"You're still annoying," he muttered.
Maya smiled sweetly.
"Oh good, you're still a jerk."
Axel felt something dangerous twist in his chest.
Because that smile?
That smile was exactly the kind of thing that got men into trouble.
And he already knew this situation was a disaster waiting to happen.
Two weeks.
Two weeks living with the one girl he had absolutely no business wanting
Two weeks of arguments..
Two weeks of tension.
Two weeks of trying to remember a promise he probably shouldn't have made.
Axel picked up his coffee again and walked past her.
"Try not to get in my way, Thompson"
Behind him. Maya's voice followed.
"No promises, Petrov."
Axel didn't turn around.
Because if he did, he might notice something he wasn't ready to deal with.
Like the way his heart had started beating a little too fast.
Or the fact that the girl he was never supposed to want was suddenly impossible to ignore.