Fallon glanced up from his laces, a groan slipping past his lips as he spotted the newbie. While he might be hot in a twink sort of way, with his dark hair and deep, brown eyes, the fresh fish was scrawny as hell. He also looked so terrified that he might bolt at any moment. Fallon was half tempted to yell out a big boo just to see how high the kid jumped.

"Isn't that Pat's brother?" Lane asked.

The newbie flinched at the accusation. Trey just grinned bigger as he gave the kid a pat on the shoulders. "Yes, it is, but we're not going to hold that against him."

"Why not?" Fallon snapped.

Shit, this was not good. In fact, it just plain sucked. Fallon hated all things Cougar, even their little brothers. The last thing he wanted or needed was to have one of their piss-ants on his team. Regardless of how cute they might be.

And the new guy was cute, too. Damned if that wasn't exactly the kind of man Fallon usually fell for, too. There was nothing he loved more than to take some innocent thing and make him blush from all the dirty talk, right before they got tangled in the sheets.

Trey gave his mocking smile. The one that Fallon would have smacked off a long time ago had Trey not been such a fast skater. Even in his goalie gear, the brat could move faster than most of the team if he had to.

"We're going to be nice to Derry, because I like him. Despite the fact he has a stupid name," Trey said.

Devon pinched the bridge of his nose. "What is it with you and names? You don't exactly have a gem yourself."

Trey completely ignored his brother and turned to Derry. "Do you have a nickname? Anything would be better than something that rhymes with Bear-y. I keep expecting you to grown some body hair and throw on some assless chaps."

When Derry just gave Trey a slow, dazed shake of his head, Trey patted him on the shoulder. "I think we'll call you Twinkles."

"What if I don't like that nickname?" Derry asked in a small voice.

That confused Fallon more than anything. In his blessedly few encounters with Derry's older brother, the asshole couldn't keep his jaw shut. Most of what came out was vulgar or unintelligible. Yet, Derry acted as if he would piss his pants if somebody yelled at him.

Kip, the team captain, stepped forward. Fallon leaned against his locker and waited. Since Kip's boyfriend and fellow teammate, Sergei, had suffered an almost career-ending injury due to the Cougars, the guy hated them even more that Fallon.

Kip stopped once he was just a foot away from Derry. "Let's get something straight right away, we don't put up with any bullshit. If you so much as look at Sergei, let alone take a cheap shot at him, you'll have to deal with me."

Derry's gaze briefly flicked over into the direction of Sergei. Then Derry seemed to realize what he was doing. A small gasp passed his pouty lips before he returned his attention to Kip. "I would never ... I'm not ... I'll be good, I promise."

Fallon exchanged WTF looks with Lane, one of the other defensemen. Fallon didn't know if it was all an act or not, but Derry appeared to be the exact opposite of Pat. That still didn't mean that Fallon felt ready to trust him, though. He could just be putting on a show. After all, he was cut from the same cloth as Pat.