Chapter 15
Eli
“Are you really coming to New York?” I ask as soon as the door closes behind Ruko.
I have to check because it’s just too good to be true. There’s literally no better case scenario.
None.
Lex’s smile as he nods and holds out a hand for me to take is precious, and I almost dismiss it and fall into him but something about it is . . . off.
“What is it?” I ask, my stomach recoiling with the anticipation of disaster. “What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong, angel.”
“I can tell there’s something, Lex.” I want to beg him not to lie to me, but that just seems like a bit too much right now.
“I won’t be able to play for at least a month,” he says, a resigned huff of breath leaving him and making him wince. His face is already starting to get swollen, enough that I don’t even think about cupping his cheek.
Something in his tone is telling me that’s not really what’s bothering him, though, but . . . I can’t pinpoint exactly why, so I decide I don’t have time for that now. Especially when Lex tugs me forward and tilts his chin up invitingly.
I accept, of course, and very gently kiss his lips, turning my head to the side so I don’t bump into his bandaged nose.
His eyes stay closed for an extra second when I pull back, like he’s savoring it, and that just brings me such deep satisfaction that everything else falls away.
Nothing else matters right now, except . . .
“I gotta call my mom, she’s gonna flip out when she finds out I’m having surgery on my face.”
I stifle a laugh and pat his hand encouragingly.
“You’re her baby, of course she’s gonna freak. Besides, I already talked to her.”
“You did?” The slight panic in his eyes is deeply amusing.
“She called me because she thought I’d be the only one with the sense to answer her call.”
“That sounds like her,” he grumbles.
“I told her what happened—well, everything I knew happened up until I got here. She’s packing now and the jet’s waiting for her. Dad wants to come too but he can’t swing it,” I tell him gently.
“Yeah, no, I get it.” He nods. “I wouldn’t expect anything else from her.”
With that, he turns and grabs his phone from the table by his bed and makes the call.
Hearing her panic recede when Lex tells her about having surgery, then the mama bear protectiveness come out when she demands to know the name of the surgeon that’s gonna dare touch her son’s face, makes me miss something I never had.
Well, not that I remember, not until Lyla.
My mother passed only a few months after I was born, so I never had a mom fuss over me and be ready to go to war for me, but I always had Dad, and that was more than enough for me. Until Lyla came into our lives, of course.
I feel guilty sometimes, about how good it feels to have her support, because I never want to diminish everything Dad’s done for me, the way he raised me, the way he’s always taken care of me, showed me unconditional love.
I doubt it’ll ever go away, that guilt, so I push it back and round the bed to sit and watch the show of Lyla demanding to speak to the surgeon.
She doesn’t get her way, but when Lex tells her the doctor’s name, she calms down considerably, and then it’s only fussing.
I find it interesting that Lex doesn’t tell her anything about the trade, and I guess it could be a secret for now? Or maybe he doesn’t want to tell her over the phone since she’s on her way here already?
There are so many things about trades and hockey in general that I still don’t understand, but hopefully with Lex now living in the same city as me, that list will get smaller and smaller.
Ruko and I stay in the private room after Lex is rolled out to be taken to surgery. Patrick has been coming in and out, his phone vibrating with calls every time he tries to sit and settle, so we don’t even have time to ask him what exactly is going on.
All we know for sure is that the Demons are aware of the injury and want to continue with the trade.
I’m about to ask Ruko why it hasn’t been announced to the public yet when he pins me with a deeply amused stare.
“So, you two are official now?”
I thought that was obvious after Christmas, but I don’t think that’s the right thing to say right now. Instead, I flounder a bit, opening and closing my mouth before I settle for a simple nod.
His face softens. Clearly he can tell how nervous I am.
“I’ve known Lex loves you since the first time we visited you in New York.”
“You have?” I can’t stop the question, or tamp down the wonder.
“Of course.” He shrugs, as if he didn’t just change the way I view our history. “After we met you for the first time I sat the boys down for a chat, wanted to make sure they knew they would always have me even while they were gaining more family.”
That’s absolutely something Ruko would do, something he’d be worried about. My heart melts a little at the image of a decade-younger Ruko nervously pacing in his home, determined to make sure his sons knew they were loved.
“When he spoke about you, I knew for sure you’d caught his eye. I could hear how confused he was too.” He chuckles lightly and turns to look unseeingly at the wall. After a moment, he offers me a reassuring smile. “Believe me, this isn’t a surprise for anyone who knows the two of you.”
I blow out a breath, grateful that at least talking about this is taking my mind off the fact that Lex is under general anesthesia.
“I think we’ve both been aware of this for a while, but the fans . . . their reaction is what really worries Lex.” And me.
“Ah.” Ruko waves that away carelessly. “The fans will love him for what he does on the ice, and you’ve already done a lot to help change the way people think about you two.”
I look away, cursing the blush that spreads fast across my face.
He graciously ignores it.
“Vinny talks to me a lot more than Lex these days. Especially since Lex stopped coming to me after he was drafted. I hate that I didn’t see any of this sooner.” He beats himself up, and though I can’t exactly blame him . . .
“Lex is good at putting on the image of what people want to see,” I tell him quietly. “And you’re not the only one who didn’t see it.”
“I appreciate you saying so, but I’m his papa. It’s my job to protect him no matter how old he gets, and I failed.”
What can I say to that?
Nothing.
There’s no universe in which I think Ruko has failed as a father, but how can I convince him of that? Especially right now.
Instead, I watch as Ruko sighs heavily before calling Vinny. He puts the call on speakerphone.
“Hey, Dad, what’s going on?” he asks.
“He’s in surgery, but they should be bringing him back anytime now.”
“Okay, that’s good. Mom told me she’s on her way.”
There’s a marked pause, and then Ruko exhales heavily again before nodding to himself. As if he just came to a firm decision.
“The Demons traded for him.”
For a few seconds only Vinny’s breathing fills the silence, then he explodes.
“What a fucking shitshow.”
“Yeah . . .” Ruko agrees, and I don’t understand their reactions.
Not at all.
And then the door opens.
A sleeping Lex is brought in, half his face covered with bandages and a little brace over his once-again straight nose.
When the doctor follows the nurses in she nods at us and smiles reassuringly.
“It went perfectly,” she confirms.
Ruko stands hurriedly as Vinny’s voice comes through the phone.
“What, Si? Oh yeah, Dad just told me. Wait a sec. Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“The news of the trade just went live—”
“The Empire’s statement is a fucking joke,” Si says with feeling, interrupting Vinny.
Ruko rubs at his brow and shakes his head.
“I’m gonna kill them,” he grumbles.
“No you’re not,” Vinny says with feeling. “We’re finally done with those losers. Now, since he’s going to need the support, I’ll allow you to root exclusively for the Demons for the rest of this season, but after that you owe me at least two seasons of wearing only Pirates merch, you got me?”
The tension dissolves instantly, humor coloring everyone’s faces now.
“You got it, son,” Ruko says. “Now, let me talk to the doctor real quick. Be quiet.” He turns to her and nods down at his phone.
“The news just came out that Lex has been traded to New York. I’m pretty sure he’s going to fly that way as soon as possible, that they’ll want their own team doctor to look at him. ”
The doctor nods quickly.
“I can have his charts, the report from the surgery, and all the tests sent over whenever you have a name of who their doctor is.”
“Thank you,” Ruko says, and sighs. “Is there anything else we need to know to make sure he makes a full recovery?”
The list isn’t that long.
No fast, sudden moves for at least five days, no blowing his nose, and obviously no taking off the brace they taped to his nose until whoever his doctor in New York is removes it themselves.
The doctor takes her leave when Ruko and Vinny have run out of questions, so I busy myself writing it all out to send to Lyla while Ruko and Vinny talk about the trade.
“The speculation will be worse than when he was drafted to the Empire,” Vinny says. “But—” His sharp exhale comes through loud and clear. “At least the players aren’t complete assholes. So that’s something that’s already better than LA.”
I’m glad to hear that.
Ruko only hums in agreement, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to say anything more.
“Why will there be speculation?” I finally have the guts to ask.
“People think that—” Ruko starts but a groan from the bed stops him.
Lex wakes up, and his bright smile the moment he sees us is enough to calm my rising anxiety.
“Hiiiii.” He drags out the word, clearly high as a kite. “You’re so pretty, angel,” he croons, and even while my face once more goes up in flames, I walk toward him and let all my attention return to him.
It can’t stay there, sadly, when the door opens quietly and Hawk’s face appears, his eyes frantically jumping from one corner of the room to the next as if he’s in a spy movie or something.
“For fuck’s sake.” Wolf’s growly rumble can be heard from behind him, and then Hawk’s tumbling into the room and squawking indignantly.
“Wolfie,” he whines.