Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
XANDER
Tucker: I’m asking Darby to marry me tomorrow night.
Ava: Holy shit! Are you going to be romantic? Be romantic, Tuck. Also, can we be there?
Easton: I don’t want to be there if things are going to get . . . naked.
Ismirk, watching the messages roll in from my siblings one after the other. I knew that my older brother would be proposing to his girl soon. He’s been itching to for a couple of months, but he didn’t want to scare her off.
As if Darby’s going anywhere. She’s too in love with him.
And I miss them all so much that it fucking hurts.
Dad: About time. What do you need from us?
The family group chat continues for another thirty minutes while plans are firmed up, and I hate that they’re all going to be together tomorrow night for this important moment and I’m stuck here in Denver.
I want to be at home with my family. I want to be in my mountain house with my views and the fresh air.
Fuck it.
I tap the screen of my phone and call my surgeon, Dr. Rutherford, and he answers on the third ring.
“Hendrix,” he says. “I trust all is well?”
“No, it’s not. I want a meeting with my medical team today. As soon as possible.”
“I, uh, I’m not sure what everyone’s schedule—”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about everyone’s schedule. I want a meeting at one o’clock at the team offices.”
I hang up, blow out a breath, and drag my hand down my face. I’m not usually this guy. I keep my cool. I’m lighthearted. It takes a lot to piss me off.
But being trapped in Denver while I hobble around my penthouse near Union Station when I want to be in Silver Springs is irritating the fuck out of me. This is a waste of time. I can do training and therapy at home just as easily as I can here.
And I’ll be fucking damned if I’ll stay here for the next six to nine months to heal. I want to see my brother get engaged and meet my niece. I want to spend time with my dad. I need to tell the asshole who proposed to Ava that he’s not good enough for her.
I have shit to do that doesn’t involve wasting away in Colorado.
“I need to go home.” I stare across the table at my team of doctors and therapists, and all of them look . . . concerned.
“Listen, I know you usually go home in the offseason, but if we’re going to get the knee ready in time for—”
I hold up a hand, interrupting Dr. Rutherford.
“I know. But I’m telling you that I need to go home. To Montana. With my family. I leave tonight.”
“For the weekend?” Steve, the physical therapist, asks.
“No.” I shake my head and lean back in the chair. “I don’t know when I’ll be back. When I get close enough to playing, I guess, but we’ve already established that I’m out for the next season. I can hire a physical therapist in Montana that can consult with you. I’ll do the same for doctors.”
The room goes quiet.
“I wish you’d reconsider,” Dr. Rutherford says, but I shake my head.
“I won’t.”
“Perhaps you can come to Denver for monthly check-ins?” Steve suggests.
“I’ll consider it, but I won’t promise. I’m telling you, this is what I need. I’ll heal faster there.”
I don’t waver as the medical team for the Denver Flurry share looks, and then I stand and walk out of the room, pulling my phone out of my pocket as I stride down the hallway toward the elevator that’ll take me down to the parking garage.
I haven’t been this optimistic and excited about anything since the injury three months ago. I can walk without a crutch, but I still limp when I’m tired, and I’m wearing the fucking brace to keep my knee stable.
The dizziness has gone away, thank fuck, and I only have occasional headaches these days. Mostly I still have issues with sleep and memory, which I might just be stuck with forever.
And that fucking sucks.
It’s not like I don’t remember anything at all, but there are little pockets of time that I can’t recall. Sometimes, I stumble over remembering simple words. And I hate it.
Once I’m in the car and out of earshot from anyone else, I dial Tucker’s number. My brother answers right away.
“Hey,” he says. “What’s up?”
“I’m coming home,” I reply, and just those three words make me feel better. “I’m flying in tonight. Can you grab me from the airport?”
“Of course. How long will you be home this time?”
“Until I can play again. Probably toward the end of next season.”
He’s quiet for a second, but he knows as well as I do that I need this. I haven’t kept the loneliness I’ve been feeling a secret from my brother.
“Good,” he says. “I’ll make sure your house is ready for you.”
“You don’t have to—”
“It’ll be ready,” he says again, and I smile for the first time in what feels like months. “Text me the flight details when you have them.”
“I’ll see you tonight.”
I feel lighter already as I start the SUV that I keep here in Denver and head back to the penthouse.
I have to call the service I use that keeps an eye on my place when I’m out of town for extended times and book my flight.
I don’t have to pack a suitcase because I keep my Montana house fully stocked with a wardrobe and essentials, so all I have to do is pack a backpack with my electronics and get on the plane.
It’s fucking convenient.
Three hours later, I’m in Cooper’s car, headed for the airport.
“So, you don’t know when you’ll be back.”
“When I can take the ice with the team, I’ll be back,” I reply and hold in a wince when my knee aches from moving it too fast. “I can’t be holed up here anymore.”
“You usually go home for the summer anyway,” Cooper replies. “Makes sense. I assume you’ll have a medical team there?”
“You and I both know that the team will be micromanaging the shit out of my recovery,” I say. “They’ll have a doctor and therapist booked for me before I even touch down tonight.”
“You’re probably right. And that’s good. Will you come back for the fundraiser?”
“Of course. I’ve never missed one.”
He nods and follows the exit for the airport. “Maybe I’ll come see you up there.”
“Anytime. You know that.”
He drops me off at the door and offers me a fist bump as I maneuver my way out of his car and then make my way to security.
I can’t walk quite as fast as I’m used to, but I eventually get to the gate, just as they’re boarding first class.
“Hey, aren’t you Xander Hendrix?”
I turn at the young voice and grin at the boy standing in line, who happens to be wearing my jersey.
“I am.”
“Cool! My dad and I watch every game. You’re my favorite player. Can we take a picture?”
Not wanting to hold up the line, I step aside and take a photo with the boy and his dad, someone produces a Sharpie so I can sign his jersey, and then I’m on my way down the ramp to the plane.
I’m ready to go home.
“Congratulations!”
Darby grins at all of us, looking shy with that new diamond sparkling on her finger. Tucker proposed to her out at the firepit, which he insisted was as romantic as it gets for them, and then brought her inside so we could all celebrate with the newly engaged couple.
There’s a shit ton of people packed into my childhood home, where Tuck and Darby now live.
In addition to our family, Darby’s entire family is here too. Tucker’s best friend, Zack, is home from LA to help celebrate as well.
It’s a full fucking house, but it’s perfect.
“How’s the knee?” Easton asks me. He’s the third brother, just two years older than me, and he passes me a Coke because he knows I don’t drink the hard stuff.
“It fucking sucks, thanks for asking.”
Easton smirks just as Harper, our sister, approaches with the baby.
“Someone needs to hold Belle. My arms are tired.”
“I got this.” I hold my hands out and accept the infant, who looks up at me with wide blue eyes and smiles, showing off exactly zero teeth. “Hi, beautiful. I’m your favorite uncle, X. I’m going to buy you your first car.”
“Not today,” Harper says with a wink and wanders off, leaving us with the baby.
“She’s so damn cute.”
“Adorable,” Easton agrees and sips his Coke. He doesn’t drink, either, but for completely different reasons. “Tuck says you’re staying for a while.”
“As long as possible,” I agree, and make funny faces at Belle, who seems entranced by me.
All the women are, sweetheart.
“Let’s sit,” Easton suggests, pointing to the living room chairs behind me, and I won’t admit that I need to take a load off my knee, but it feels good to put my leg up on the ottoman. It’s the end of the day, so it’s a little sore and I’ll be icing it when I get home.
I set Belle’s butt on my thighs and support her back so she can keep looking at me as she tries to chew her fist. She smiles, and it’s a punch to my heart.
“You look good with a baby,” Tucker says as he and Zack join us.
“All of you need to have more of them,” I reply. “Because I won’t be having any of my own.”
“Famous last words,” Tucker says.
“I’m not having any either,” Easton adds, and Tucker just smirks, but Zack nods in agreement.
“Same page, buddy,” Zack says.
“Dude, what’s wrong with you guys?” Tucker asks. “Just find the right girl.”
“I’ve already been accused of fathering more than my fair share of children,” Zack says. “All bullshit, of course.”
“That’s not the same thing, and you know it,” Tuck replies. “Also, learn to keep it in your pants.”
“Fuck you, I never even touched those girls.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Where’s Ava?” I ask.
I haven’t seen our sister all night, and I notice that Easton’s jaw tightens as he scowls.
“She texted me earlier and said she’s running behind,” Easton replies. “Something about waiting for Chad to get off work.”
“Chad’s pissing me off,” I mutter.
“Same,” Zack says. “We need to talk to that guy.”
I love that Zack is basically one of the brothers. He pretty much grew up at our house, and my dad brought him into the fold the way our dad is known to do.
“Join the club.” Tucker exhales, and his eyes scan the room. When he finds Darby, he softens.
“You didn’t have to invite us all here tonight, you know,” I tell my oldest brother. “You should have kept tonight for just the two of you.”
“I’ll get her to myself in a little while. She likes the family time. She never really had it when she was younger.”
I notice the front door open, and Ava comes walking in, schooling her face from a scowl to a smile, and Chad walks in behind her, not bothering to paste a grin on his own face.
What a tool.
The thing is, none of us like Ava’s fiancé. He’s a decent attorney, but we don’t love the way he treats our sister.
However, Ava’s a grown woman, and if Chad is who she chooses, we’ll do our best to support her.
Doesn’t mean that Chad’s going to suddenly become one of the brothers. Fuck that.
Belle’s face crumples and she starts to cry.
“Chad must be here,” Easton says, earning a fist bump from me and Zack, and then I smell the reason the baby is wailing.
“Harpsichord! Come collect your infant. She needs to be changed.”
“You’re her uncle. You can do it.”
“I’m injured,” I reply with a charming smile, and Harper rolls her eyes as she walks over to take Belle from me. “But I want her back later. I have to make up for lost time.”
“Are you going to milk the injured leg thing for all it’s worth?” Ava asks as she sits next to me, already holding what looks like a dirty martini.
“Of course, I am. Hey, baby girl.”
She snuggles in next to me, crowding into this chair, and I swing my arm over her shoulders.
“I’m glad you’re home.”
I grin and kiss the top of her head. Ava, Harper, and I are the closest in age, so we naturally hung out together more than the others. Harper is the adopted kid of the group, having come to live with us when she was twelve. But she’s our sister in every way that counts.
“Me too. How are you? How’s the job?”
“Amazing,” she replies with a satisfied smile. “I’m designing and decorating all of the new condos at the ski resort, you know. It’s so much fun. You should buy one.”
“A condo?”
She nods.
“I already have a big-ass house that I only get to sleep in a couple months a year. What would I do with a condo?”
“I don’t know, but I’m designing them, and they’re amazing.”
I smirk and shake my head. “I’m sure they’re perfect, but I don’t need any extra real estate.”
“Fine.” She sighs against me, and I watch as Harper kisses a freshly changed Belle on the cheek, then passes the baby to her husband, Blake.
Tucker has wandered back to Darby, as if pulled to her by gravity, and Easton and Zack are chatting about . . . I have no idea what.
And it doesn’t matter. Because I haven’t been this relaxed in months.
Being here, with these people and in the house I grew up in, is exactly the medicine I needed.