Dirty Play (Empire State Hockey Series)

30. Gwen

“Do you think we still have time to get there before she leaves?” I ask Cade as I get dressed in the kitchen. I was out here cooking waffles before we head to the hospital to meet Kennedy. And apparently, seeing me cook waffles turns Cade on, and he couldn’t wait to get me in the bedroom before getting me naked.

Oh well, I guess now I can cross sex on a kitchen island off my bingo card.

“Yes, we still have time. She’s not being discharged until eleven. That’s still two hours away. Then we’re going to meet everyone at your place at noon to load up the U-Haul.”

Cade has been surprising me ever since we came back from Ivy Falls a couple of weeks ago. He’s been putting himself out there with his friends, and I’m so proud that he’s working on taking down those walls on his own. He’s been spending more time with everyone, including more time on the phone with his family.

They’re already planning to visit us sometime this summer, and thankfully, Cade has a three-bedroom apartment, so there will be plenty of room for them to stay. When he told his parents we were going to move the rest of my stuff over, I could hear their excited squeals through the phone. My heart warms, knowing he has so many people who love him. And those people? They’ve welcomed me with open arms.

It’s not that I don’t love my family, I do. That’s not in question. They don’t need the family time and constant connection I’ve longed for. In the time I’ve known Cade’s family, they’ve included me, checked in on me, and called just to say hello. And I can’t forget the hugs his mom gave me while we were there—more hugs from a mother figure than I’ve received in my entire life.

Not only has his family noticed the changes in Cade, but our friends have too. He’s always been an amazing friend to everyone. He’s always the first to offer help, even if the job sucks. But apparently, he’s only asked the guys for help once—when he was moving and couldn’t lift all the furniture by himself, and movers weren’t available for two weeks.

But now? He’s finally asking others for help, letting them know when he needs something, and they’re elated. Which is how they all got roped into moving my entire apartment.

“Okay, then we need to go. What if she gets discharged early?” I ask. “What if she’s already gone?”

“And when, in the history of ever, has someone been discharged from the hospital early?” Cade deadpans, probably remembering the day he got discharged, and it took an extra two and a half hours for a doctor to sign off.

“Fair. But we’re still leaving now. I want to get a lemon loaf at the hospital. And to do that, I’m gonna need you to put a shirt on.”

“You sure about that?” He smirks. “I thought that was against the rules?”

When I moved in, I, sort of… made a rule that if he was home, his shirt needed to be off. I wanted to be able to stare at his arms, with their thick, corded muscles and veins that I want to trace with my tongue. The tattoos covering his body don’t hurt either.

“Ugh, you’re impossible.”

Thirty minutes later,we are walking down the hall toward Kennedy”s room with a bunch of balloons and flowers. Cade wanted her to feel special and refused to show up empty-handed. I had to stop him from buying her all-new Cyclones gear, telling him there was plenty of time for him to spoil her and her family later.

“Hi, Kennedy,” I say as we walk in, smiling at both her parents, who, for the first time since I’ve known them, look rested and happy.

A damn near clean bill of health will do that for you.

“Hey! I’m so glad you came,” Kennedy says, smiling as she sees Cade walk in, carrying the million balloons he got because I refused to help. “You came, too?”

“Of course I did, little K. Had to come see how that kidney was treating you with my own eyes,” Cade says, his smile wide as he sets the balloons and flowers down on her table.

“It’s been treating me good enough that they’re finally letting me go home.” She beams from her hospital bed, although she’s wearing real clothes in front of me for probably the first time ever. “I can’t wait to finally be home. I miss my dog and my bed.”

“I heard, and I’m so excited for you. Although it’ll be a bummer not to be able to stop by and say hi. But your parents have my number if you ever want to check in,” Cade says, turning to her parents. “Don’t forget to let me know whenever you guys want to come to a game. We’ll get you set up with a suite and make sure you get the whole experience.”

Josh stands up, his arm outstretched to shake Cade’s, but when he grabs it, they pull each other in for a bro hug. “Thank you again—for everything. For saving my little girl and trying to make her time here not suck so much. You’re an incredible person.”

I see the moment Cade almost doesn’t believe him, his old insecurities rearing their ugly head. But a second later, he pulls his shoulders back. “Thank you, it’s been my pleasure. Honestly, this whole experience has helped me as well. It helped me work through some stuff from my past. Guilt I’ve been dealing with for years that I’m finally able to let go.”

We all chat for a few more minutes, knowing when the nurse comes in to get her ready to go home, we’ll be leaving, and I’m bummed. I’m obviously not sad that she’s getting out of here, but I’m definitely sad I won’t be able to sneak her out to get milkshakes in the middle of the night or come in to see what new show they were watching.

“Wait a second,” Kennedy says, her eyebrows scrunched in as she looks between Cade and me. “Did you two come here together?”

My cheeks redden immediately, but Cade just chuckles.

“Yes, little K, we did come here together,” he says, smiling at her parents, who are laughing as well.

“Does that mean you two are boyfriend and girlfriend now?” she asks curiously, but Cade looks at me to answer this one.

“We are,” I tell her.

Without missing a beat, Kennedy turns to her mom with a smirk that I can only imagine means trouble.

“You lose, mama. You owe me fifty bucks.”

“Did you two bet on us?”

“Yeah, we were trying to figure out how long it would take for you two to realize your feelings. Mom thought it would take a while, but I guessed before I left this hospital. So, thanks for stopping by and helping me win that bet.”

“Anytime,” I reply with a chuckle.

IfI never see a moving box again in my life, it’ll be too soon. Who knew that a tiny one-bedroom apartment—in New York City, mind you—could hold so much stuff?

It took all of us hours to finish packing and carry the millions of boxes that Cade and I had already packed down to the U-Haul. I think if I had to do this without all of them, I’d have either died of old age right here in this apartment or sold myself on the streets to afford movers.

Thank God for the six NHL players who have become family to me.

“Is this everything?” Miles asks as he sets down another box in the living room.

The girls have been helping me unpack some of the stuff. Cade basically gave me full rein to put things where I want, change things if I want—pretty much anything as long as I’m happy.

His words, not mine.

“It better be,” I grumble, grabbing another box and bringing it into the bedroom, where the girls are putting clothes away for me.

This apartment really is perfect. Not only does every bedroom have a walk-in closet, but the primary bedroom has two, making this whole process so much easier because he doesn’t have to make room for me—it’s already there.

“So… now that we’re moving your things into Cade’s home, would this be an appropriate time to say I told you so?” Sawyer asks with a grin.

“I mean, I can’t really think of a more perfect time,” I joke. “I did just bring my entire collection of sex toys into his bedroom, so I’d say it’s pretty clear you all were right.”

Cassie giggles as she grabs her phone. “Can I get that on video? I need evidence of you telling us we were right?”

I flip off the camera, laughing because who knew that all I needed to feel at home was that grumpy man by my side and a group of friends who have always made me feel like family.

Cade walks in, eyeing all of the boxes and clothes spread out, and instead of looking overwhelmed, he just winks. “You ladies and your clothes,” he says before walking over to me and leaning down to press a quick kiss on my mouth.

“Embracing the chaos?”

“I’ve been learning to do that since the day I met you,” Cade says, pressing another quick kiss to my lips before standing up.

It’s weird how normal this all feels, like nothing has really changed, but at the same time, everything has. None of our friends have made a big deal about any of it either, minus the little jabs about it taking Cade forever to figure it out, but I approve of that message.

“Don’t come at me with that bullshit, acting like us women are the only ones with a lot of clothes,” Cassie deadpans. “Have you seen Max’s hoodie collection? He has at least a hundred. That’s after he lost my favorite sweatshirt from high school to some girl named Candice his freshman year in college.”

“Trevor’s the same way. That man could live in his hoodies, but that just means there are more for me to steal. Especially now that I’m in my second trimester, I’m no longer in the ‘she just looks bloated’ stage and am fully in the ‘nothing fits’ stage.” Ellie shrugs before going back to unpacking all of my shoes. “Did you guys get all the kitchen stuff put away?”

Cade nods. “We did. Do you all have plans after this, or would you guys want to stick around for a while?”

The girls all look at each other, eyes wide, having a silent conversation that anyone could hear. Their shock at his invitation is evident.

“Uh, no plans,” Cassie finally says, her smile wide.

“We’d love to hang out. We don’t have to pick up the girls for a while, they went over to Rex’s parents’ house,” Ellie says excitedly.

“Good. I was thinking about making a lasagna. Would you like to join us for dinner tonight?”

“You’re cooking me dinner? Hell yeah, I’m staying.” Sawyer fist pumps.

With a smile that shows me just how far he’s come, Cade turns to walk out of the room. Jumping up, I grab his hand before he walks out.

“Wait,” I tell him, leaning up to press a kiss against his jaw, my arms wrapping around his neck. “Have I ever told you how amazing you are?”

“Yes, but I’ll never tire of hearing it.” He grins.

“I love you, Mr. Grumps.”

“I love you, too, Tink.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise.”