Chapter 22
Chapter twenty-two
Reid
If Luka’s still worried about my brothers, he doesn’t need to be. Those two boys are way too self-involved to notice Luka has been here every day this week. Or they noticed and didn’t want to be weird and say anything.
I also thought it would be weird at training, like it was the first day after we’d hooked up, but Luka has been like a star rookie at every session. He listens, puts in one hundred and ten percent every day, and hasn’t tried to convince me to try his trick play thing even once.
“Nice work, team, let’s bring that same intensity to the game tomorrow,” Coach Dennings says, leaving the rink after another great session. I head in for an ice bath, passing Topher on the way.
“How’s the nose?” Topher asks.
“Not bad, actually. I’ve been breathing fine, so I guess I heal quickly.”
“Or it wasn’t as bad as we first thought.”
“Hey, I’m going to stick with my superhuman healing abilities, thanks.”
“As long as you’re good, that’s all that matters.”
“Yeah, I’m good,” I say and leave him to get into my ice bath before my muscles start to scream. When I get there, White’s already in one, so I slowly lower myself into the bath beside him.
“How . . . have . . . you . . . been?” I ask through shallow gasps as my body descends into the freezing chill of the tub.
“I’m pretty relaxed, actually,” he says, that calm, dopey look on his face that happens when he’s moved into the best part of this process. Where everything slows, and relaxation is a given.
“You know what . . . I mean.”
“I can’t complain. I guess I could, but who would listen anyway?” he says, and it doesn’t sound like he’s messing around.
“I’m listening,” I reply and he shrugs.
“You don’t want to hear about my problems,” he says, and I’m starting to get a little worried.
White and I came up together, both of us signing to the Foxes in the same year, and he was one of the people I could lean on when my parents died.
He would meet me at the gym for workouts, at the rink for early or really fucking late skates . . . he was always there.
“You know I’m not just your captain, I’m your friend, and if something’s bothering you, I want to help if I can.”
“That’s the thing, no one can help. It’s too late for that.”
“Okay, now you’re starting to scare me.”
“Sam is pregnant,” he says all of a sudden, and if I wasn’t already in an ice bath, I would totally have loved the feeling of the cold rush that swept over me. I was thinking maybe a life-threatening illness, or a major sports injury.
“Wow, that’s . . .”
“Scary, terrifying, totally reckless.”
“I was going to say exciting, but okay, those adjectives work too. So I take it this wasn’t planned?”
“We’ve only been seeing each other for a year.”
“But you love her, right?”
“Yes. I thought I did, but then if I really did, I’d be excited, not terrified of how my life will never be the same.”
“Life is never going to stand still, man. We know that better than most.”
White lost his dad when he was in high school. It’s kind of why he was able to be there for me when my parents died. He could relate.
“How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Choose to raise your brothers. You could have had them live with your aunt Peggy, or those relatives who popped up trying for custody, but you chose not to. Why?”
“We were a family, and nothing matters more than that. You might not have planned to start your family now, like this, but it’s started. That baby is your family.”
“What if I’m a terrible father and the kid grows up to hate me?”
“Okay, now we’re getting to the real reason you’re freaking out.”
His ice bath beeps, signaling for him to get out.
“It’s a possibility,” he says, climbing from the tub and slipping into a warm robe.
“The fact you’re worried about that proves the opposite.”
“You think?”
“I know. And I’m the captain, so you have to listen to me.”
“Okay,” he sighs. “Fuck, I’m going to be a dad.”
“You’re going to be a dad,” I parrot, and a smile teases at his lips.
“I should call Sam.”
“Yeah, you should,” I say, and he leaves me to finish my ice bath alone.
My mind goes back to the second week after my parents died.
I got home from a really fucking hard day at the rink.
I was all over the place. The coaches were taking it easy on me, and I was pissed off that everyone was treating me differently.
I walked into the house and David and Benji were fighting.
Punching on in the living room, smashing into the coffee table, the bookshelves, destroying the home that our parents made for us.
I thought for the first time, “I can’t do this. ”
It wasn’t the last time I had that thought either.
But I’d take a beat, count to ten, and then just do something.
Anything. In that first instance it was to pick up the ugly vase my father’s mother had given them as a wedding gift and throw it against the far wall.
Both the boys froze and turned their attention to me.
“Mom always hated that thing,” I said, and then they laughed, and for a while everything was okay. I didn’t turn to smashing things to solve all my problems, and thankfully neither did they. We agreed that we’d never lay a hand on each other ever again, or act out as I had.
White had told me back then that it was probably good for the boys to see that I wasn’t fine either. Like them knowing I was hurting and messed up too made it okay for them to be. He’s going to make a great dad.
“You nearly done cooling down in there?” Luka asks, and right on cue, the timer sounds.
“Yep. So what are your plans later?”
“A few of the guys are grabbing burgers at the new place on Horton St. Want to go?”
“Sure, just give me ten to defrost, shower, and dress.”
“Do you want me to text the boys, see if they want to come with?”
“No need. They’re both out on dates,” I say, and he raises a brow.
“So you have an empty house?”
“For a few hours at least.”
“Then why are we going for burgers?”
White steps out of the shower room with a towel around his waist.
“Who’s going for burgers?”
“A few of the guys wanted to check out the new place on Horton,” I say and his face lights up.
“I’ve wanted to try that place. They make their own patties and have one with a pepper gravy center.”
“Well, get dressed and come with. You can share your good news with the rest of the guys.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“What news is this?” Luka asks, and I grab a towel and head toward the showers.
“I’m going to be a dad,” White says, his tone still hinting at how nervous he is for what that means, but there’s a tad of excitement there now too.
“That’s amazing. Congrats, man,” I hear Luka say before I head into the first stall and flick on the warm water.
***
“To the dad-to-be,” we cheer, raising our glasses in a toast after White tells the group about Sam and him expecting.
A few of the guys have kids already so they immediately start giving him a bunch of advice that I’m totally sure he won’t remember when the time actually comes.
But it brings a smile to his face, and it’s the first time since he told me about the baby that he doesn’t look scared to death.
Luka passes behind my chair and pokes me in the back before heading toward the bathrooms. If the jab didn’t tell me he wanted me to follow, the come-hither look he throws my way just before disappearing around the corner makes it clear.
“I’ll be back in a sec,” I say, and I down the last of my light beer and head in his direction.
Before I can push through the bathroom door, I’m pulled sideways as Luka grabs me and drags me into a storeroom, his mouth on mine in a second. But as fast as it starts, he ends it.
“Sorry, I just really wanted to do that,” he says, grabbing his phone, which has been illuminating the small room in a warm orange glow.
I reach for him, but he opens the door and slips out before I can grab hold.
What the fuck was that?
I adjust my semi and peek through the door for a second to be sure no one’s there before stepping out. Luka is already back at the table, laughing with the guys.
I grab my phone and text him.
REID: Fucking tease ***winky face***
I watch as his phone vibrates and he pulls it out to check the message, a cheeky smirk spreading across his face as he taps out his reply. He glances my way for a split second and then turns his attention back to the table. My phone chimes a second later.
LUKA: You can make me pay for it later.
Damn right I will.