Unstoppable Love (D.C. Renegades #4)

Prologue

Duncan

First Mate Duncaroo

Do you ever get a sinking feeling in your gut? One that signals something is coming.

And I don’t mean a wicked slap shot.

Although a deflection of one of those knocked my front teeth out earlier this week.

No, I mean the uneasy feeling of change being afoot.

I hate change.

"You going to dance or meet someone tonight?" E.T. (Emmett Turner) my teammate asks over the noise of the club.

"Nah." I shrug and take a sip of my Scotch as my phone buzzes in my pocket.

"Really? I was hoping you’d wingman for me." E.T. lays a hand on my shoulder and gives it a shake but I shove it off. I feel like my skin is crawling.

Do you know what is bothering me?

No really, help me figure it out.

Don’t just shrug and shake your head befuddledly.

Is that a word?

Either way, you understand what I’m describing.

And your perplexed and indifferent response here is honestly starting to hurt my feelings.

Not really.

I just winked at you from behind my glasses.

I give E.T. a playful swat to the abdomen. "You need all the help you can get but I think I’m riding the bench tonight."

The bench is the VIP section of Aces, a club me and my boys frequent. Or, well, we used to at least. It feels good to have almost all the guys back together in our section. Their plus ones are here but Harper and Jo have been solid additions to the group.

And it’s not like Young Gun (Aiden Youngren) was one of the boys for long before he and Harper shacked up.

And, now that I think about it, my best buddy, Crocs (Crosby Loughty) not being here isn’t exactly new.

He hasn’t gone out as much since he adopted his golden retriever Stella, the goodest girl in all the world.

And, he might have come out with us for a bit tonight after we all attended his shit-hole father’s charity gala, but he left the dinner early with his date.

My phone buzzes with an incoming text and, again, I can’t shake this ominous cloud hanging around my head.

One quick glance at the locked screen confirms it’s my family text thread Me Hearties blowing up.

ME HEARTIES

CAPT CHIN HAIR

I can't decide if you're cuter then or now.

Side-by-side picture of Duncan as a 6yr old without his front teeth grinning at the camera next to a picture of him grinning as he walk down the tunnel three nights ago with his front teeth missing after getting hit in the face with a puck.

FIRST MATE DUNCAROO

Why choose? I'm always cute.

LADY DELILAH

Psssht. In an Ugly Dog Is Actually Kinda Cute way maybe.

My phone buzzes again as my parents leave heart emojis on the picture my grandmother put together. It’s a little odd to think she’s sending me this picture over her morning cuppa in Scotland since it’s two in the morning here in D.C.

Absent-mindedly my tongue runs over my gums.

"When’s your dentist appointment?" Cap or French Fry (Felix Fornier) asks with a sip of his beer.

"On Tuesday." Maybe I’m feeling off kilter from the PTSD of losing my retainer when I was ten and having to confess to my mom with my tail between my legs.

And then following my dad down the block retracing my steps to the corner store I had gone to with my friends for ice cream treats and it was the last place I remember having my retainer.

I’m an adult now and my flippers, or partial dentures, will be easier to keep track of.

Don’t you think?

Why am I asking you, you’re not being super helpful.

What’s that?

You think I’ll be more responsible now than I was when I was ten?

Gee-whiz. Thanks.

"Want me to give you a ride?" Cap asks.

"Buy me a drink first Cap." I wink and deflect but yeah, I do.

Transitioning to the offseason is always a challenge for me.

I hate going from seeing my boys every day to only once a week at best. And those pop-ins are me seeking them out.

It’s not like we’re all together in the locker room or on the team plane.

Thankfully our group chat keeps us all pretty connected and on the same page.

When it’s quiet for too long I usually toss something in about chicken nuggets and things get fired up again.

Maybe the pending down-time is the reason my stomach feels hollow.

And since you don’t know what it is either, I say we push it down and smile through it.

Life’s too short to spend energy on negativity right?