Chapter Twenty-Four
Cole
Bringing Reed into my house had been a mistake.
This was the one place I had left that didn’t have memories of him, and now he had left a little of himself behind here, too.
In the guestroom, all cute and sassy when I found him tangled in the blanket.
Sad and teary-eyed in my kitchen. Fuck, I was never going to get over the man if I kept chasing him.
It was obvious that Reed had no intention of fixing things between us.
Although now I wasn’t sure they could be fixed.
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist once I had finished drying off.
I stared at myself for a second in the mirror and wondered if maybe I had made everything up in my mind.
That maybe Reed had never been that into me.
Had he even loved me, or had he said it back because I said it first?
With a heavy sigh, I fixed my hair then moved back to my room to change into something comfortable.
Today was a rare day off between games. We would play against Colorado again tomorrow, and if we beat them again, we’d make it to the next round of the playoffs.
This was my first chance at winning the Stanley Cup, and I didn’t want to let anyone down.
Moping around about my ex-boyfriend wasn’t going to help anyone.
I had to find a way to keep my mind off Reed, but I wasn’t sure how.
Once I was dressed in a light T-shirt and shorts, I headed downstairs to make something to eat.
I dug around to find the ingredients for an omelet and quickly threw that together.
Just as I sat down, there was a knock at the door.
I checked the camera out front to find Dean standing there holding Trish in his arms. Fuck.
“Hey.” He smiled when I let him inside. He held my sister out, and I happily scooped her up. “Was I interrupting? I can come back.”
I tickled Trish, who giggled happily. “No, I was just going to eat. Are you hungry? I can make something for you.”
“I’m good, thanks. I ate when Beau was bathing her this morning.” He dragged a hand over Trish’s soft, white hair before he sat her in the highchair I kept in the kitchen just for this reason. He dumped some Cheerios out before he turned to me. “You want to talk about it?”
My stomach dropped. “Talk about what?”
“Reed.” Dean raised his brows, and his long green ponytail moved slightly when he tilted his head. “I know something happened that you didn’t tell us. And I respect that. But now that he’s back, I thought you might want to let it out.”
I kept my attention on my sister. “Thanks, but I’m good.”
I dropped onto the kitchen chair and shoved some of my omelet into my mouth. Dean continued to stare at me while I chewed, and I sighed heavily.
“What do you think I’m going to do here? Spill my deepest heartache to you? Tell you that I stopped talking about Reed because he broke my heart, and I was too embarrassed and hurt to tell anyone about it?”
“Is that what happened?”
“Maybe.”
Dean slid into the seat across from me. “You know I love you, right? The only thing your father and I want is for you to be happy. You’re living the life you always dreamed about.”
“But I’m not.” I pushed the plate away. My appetite had suddenly disappeared.
“Not really. My dream was to play for Boston, but yet here I am. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing hockey and I love my teammates.
Jax is a great coach, tough but good, and I’m grateful the team wanted to take a chance on me, but this wasn’t how I saw my life happening.
Boston was where I thought I would end up. Like Dad.”
Dean placed more Cheerios on the tray for Trish, who clapped her hands happily.
He gave me a soft smile before he spoke again.
“Is that what’s really bothering you, or is it because of Reed?
You said you loved him that summer. That you wanted to be together when you both went back to school.
Only when we came back from our honeymoon, Reed was gone, and you never mentioned him again. ”
“Don’t.” I tried to swallow, but the lump in my throat made it nearly impossible. The tears burned my eyes, and when I turned away, a couple slid down my cheeks. I angrily brushed them away.
The sound of a chair scraped across the floor, and then Dean was next to me. “Kiddo, I didn’t come here to upset you.”
“I know.” I sniffed. “I just...I don’t know what happened. He was there one night and gone the next morning. He didn’t say goodbye or answer my calls or messages. It felt like I had made him up in my mind. And...And...” I burst into tears.
Dean leaned down to hug me. “It’s okay, let it out, Cole.” He rubbed my back with the palms of his hands.
And I did. I sobbed angrily into his shoulder, the tears soaking the fabric of his shoulder.
I cried for the heartbreak that I’d held inside, for the love I had lost, and for what it felt like when I woke up alone without Reed.
I clung to my stepfather until there was nothing left inside me.
No more tears, no more anger, just exhaustion.
I pulled back and gave Dean a tight smile.
“Feel better?” He ruffled my hair.
I didn’t. “Not really,” I admitted with a sigh. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. At first, we figured something had happened, but we didn’t have proof.
You didn’t delete any of your social media posts, so we thought maybe you were taking a break.
But then the holidays came around that year, and Reed didn’t show up.
He didn’t come home or knock on the front door to see you.
That’s when we realized you most likely broke up. ” Dean sat back down.
I let out a long breath before I told Dean everything that had happened.
And I mean everything. From the meeting on the dock until the morning I woke up without Reed.
I left nothing out. I told him about the first time Reed and I were together, the first I love yous, everything I had been holding back.
And when I was done, I had tears streaming down my face again.
“You really would have given up everything?”
“Yeah, at the time, I thought it was a brilliant idea.”
Dean reached across the table to grab my hand. “Love makes us blind sometimes.”
“Stupid, too.” I forced a laugh.
Dean squeezed my fingers. “You know I dated Killian’s sister, right?”
I nodded.
“That was all in secret, of course, because Kill would have castrated me. Helena and I were kids, you know? I was sixteen when I noticed her for the first time. And we were together for years. Until she got pregnant.” Dean sat back in his chair.
“She miscarried, and that was the end of us. She pulled away from me, and I thought it was my fault. Turned out Helena was scared I would leave her first. I would have married her if she’d asked.
I wouldn’t have looked back. Would have given up my career, everything, if that was what she had wanted. ”
My jaw dropped. “But then you wouldn’t be here with me. Trish wouldn’t be my sister, and Dad wouldn’t be the best version of himself.”
“I know that now. Helena and I were never endgame, but at the time I thought my world was ending,” Dean told me.
I watched as he put more cereal on the tray for Trish. “Are you trying to tell me that Reed isn’t my soulmate? Is that what this is? There is someone else out there that I haven’t met yet. Someone that is going to make me the best version of myself?”
“I don’t know what the universe has in store for you, kiddo, but you have a lifetime to figure that out.
Maybe Reed is your person. Or maybe it’s someone you haven’t met yet.
All I’m saying is that things happen for a reason.
Helena and I weren’t going to end up married with two point five children.
I was meant to find Beau and change my entire life for him. Because he’s worth it.”
I wanted that, too. The love that my two dads had for one another. Or what Jax and Maverick had. Killian and Matthias. Tom and Blake. Hell, everyone in the WAGs had the most amazing significant other.
“Maybe,” I muttered. “How did you move on from Helena?”
“I was a huge rock star.” Dean wiggled his brows. “There were a lot of nameless and faceless women in my bed. I’m not proud of that. But at the time, it’s what I thought would cure me. Nothing worked until I met your father.”
“I love that.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “So, you’re saying I should have a lot of meaningless sex before I find my true love?”
Dean threw back his head as he laughed. “That’s not what I’m saying. You dated Fiona, didn’t you?”
“That wasn’t what everyone thought it was. She wanted someone to play the famous boyfriend while she filmed videos and TikTok’s about herself.”
I had liked Fiona at first, but after a couple of months of that nonsense, I’d had enough. She was one of the fakest people I had ever met.
Dean tapped his knuckles on the table. “She tried to get us to do them, too.”
“What? She did?” I gasped.
He nodded. “Yep. That’s when Beau and I knew she wasn’t the one. But there are plenty of other fish in the sea.”
“Maybe.” But my stomach twisted at the thought. I smiled as Trish held out her hand to hand me a sticky piece of cereal. I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life. Or Dean. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad things didn’t work out with Helena. She’s great and all, but she wasn’t the one for you.”
Dean’s green eyes crinkled as he smiled. “I know.”