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I had four very unhappy men staring at me, but I was only focused on one face. Kenzi’s brows dipped into a frown as she yelled at her brothers, and her eyes had already started to well up with tears. I wanted to pull her into my side, and tell her everything would be okay, but I was afraid that if I did, I’d be leaving the house in a body bag.

I’d asked myself how we got here, how things went so terribly wrong so quickly, but I knew the answer.

Kenzi and I shouldn’t have kept our relationship a secret for this long.

We should have been open about it from the moment we realized that staying away from each other was next to impossible, and dealt with the fallout, however bad it may have been. Instead we snuck around like what we were doing was wrong, and that was my partly my fault. Her brothers, Liam and Aiden, made it very clear to just about every guy on campus that their little sister was off-limits, but even more so to their teammates — including me. Unfortunately, their threats fell on deaf ears because meeting her was like running head first into a freight train. I was fucked, and I wasn’t ashamed to admit it. Kenzi’s reservations were more or less the same. She was afraid of how her brothers — all four of them — would react, but she was also afraid of how her father — and my ice hockey coach — would feel about her dating me.

It shouldn’t have mattered, but we allowed it to, and that’s what really landed us here.

We were spending a romantic getaway at River Stone Resort when her best friend, Madison, called. After that everything went downhill.

“Daddy, are you listening to this?” screamed Kenzi, looking to her father for help. Coach Davis’ pursed his lips, and until then he hadn’t said anything. We were standing in his kitchen, and had been for the last thirty minutes while Kenzi, Liam and Aiden took turns yelling at each other. Jackson, Kenzi’s older brother and our head athletic trainer, was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, with a nervous-looking Madison close to his side. He’d been staring at me since we walked in, but I could see he wasn’t surprised by the turn of events. I had a feeling he saw it coming.

“Don’t turn to Dad for help, Kenzi,” snapped Liam. “You got yourself into this, and now we want to hear you explain yourself out if it.” He mirrored Jackson’s stance, folding his arms across his chest and straightening to his full five eleven height. Aiden stood next to him, doing the same, and they both glared at their sister.

“I don’t owe you an explanation!” cried Kenzi. Her voice hitched, like it always does when she’s frustrated, and the first few tears slipped over her eyelids. “What happens between me and Vaughan is none of your business!”

“The hell it’s not!” yelled Aiden. He stepped closer to Kenzi and by instinct I moved to her side. I hated the way they are speaking to her, and it only made it harder to control my own anger. Both Liam and Aiden’s heads snapped up, fixing me with murderous green eyes, but I didn’t flinch. They might be my teammates, but when it came to protecting Kenzi I was not about to back down. Even if they were her brothers.

“How long has this been going on?” Asked Liam. “How long did it take before you got into her pants?”

Kenzi gasped, and I tensed as Coach Davis spoke up. “Liam,” he warned. “That’s your sister you’re talking about.”

Liam snorted, but it was Aiden who responded. “Clearly this asshole,” he gestured towards me, “needs to be reminded of that.”

“Don’t call him that!” said Kenzi. I felt her move closer, tucking her small hand into mine. “You don’t know anything about us or our relationship!”

“We told him to stay away from you,” replied Aiden, keeping his anger fixed on me. “Didn’t we, Vaughan? But you just had to make our sister another fucking notch in your bed post.”

“It’s not like that,” I ground out, trying to get the words out between every tick of my jaw. I’ve remained quiet until now, out of respect for Coach Davis, but my patience was running thin.

“Boys!” Coach Davis’ voice bellowed through the kitchen, and a quick look at his expression revealed his barely contained anger. I just wasn’t entirely sure who he was angry with, his sons or me. “That’s enough. I will not tolerate that language in my house, or such disrespect towards your sister.”

“You’re defending them?” asked Aiden, his murderous expression marred by incredulity. “You’re pretty much giving this dickface permission to bang Kenzi like it’s no big deal!”

Coach Davis took a step forward, but not before my fist came up and landed on Aiden’s cheek with a sickening crack. I admit I should have thought it through, maybe even allowed Coach Davis to handle the situation, but hearing Aiden speak that way about Kenzi was like flashing that red cape in front of an already agitated bull.

I shoved Kenzi out of the way just in time for Liam to miss her as he launched himself at me. We hit the wall, fists flying, and I grunted when his balled fist landed in my ribs. Kenzi, being the little firecracker that she was, jumped over Liam, and flung herself into Aiden, stopping him from joining Liam and me on the ground. Madison and Jackson grabbed Kenzi just as Coach Davis reached Aiden and shoved him out the way.

Liam threw his fist and it connected with my jaw, sending my head snapping to the side. Gripping the collar of my sweater, he lifted my head, and brought us nose-to-nose.

“Did.You.Fuck.My.Sister?” he bit out furiously, tightening his fists. “Did you?”

My eyes darted to a crying Kenzi, and I saw the worry etched on her beautiful face. This had nothing to do with her brothers, but they would know I was lying no matter what I said. I looked back at Liam, and grabbed his wrists, tightening my grip until he flinched.

“It’s none of your business,” I told him, meeting his steely glare with my own. “It’s between me and —” I didn’t get to finish my sentence. Liam’s left hand dropped my collar and reared back before he hit me again, this time landing the blow on my nose. Pain shot up between my eyes, and the air left my lungs with a grunt. Kenzi was screaming, and then Coach Davis was lifting Liam from above me. He struggled in his father’s strong hold, kicking his legs out.

“Dad! Let me go!” he roared. “Let me kill the fucker!”

I stayed on the ground, focusing on calming my breathing as the pain slowly started to subside. Kenzi pushed away from Madison and Jackson and came to stand in front of Liam and Coach Davis. She reared her hand back, and slapped Liam across the face, shocking the hell out of everyone.

“I hate you!” she seethed, her face red and twisted in anger. “The only assholes in this room are you and Aiden!”

Then she was gone. I saw the flip of her blonde hair, and heard the front door open, and slam shut. I quickly jumped to my feet, ignoring the unsteadiness of my stance, and raced after her, running down the front steps. It was cold outside, everything still covered in a light sheath of snow after a storm dropped ten inches of powder two days ago, but I caught a glimpse of Kenzi as she ran towards the curb where my truck was parked.

“Kenzi!” I yelled. “Let me come with you!”

She was either ignoring me, or too upset to hear me because she climbed into the driver’s side without even acknowledging me. I turned around and when I saw Madison standing on the front porch, I shouted, “Maddy, give me your car keys!”