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“Yes! Trojan boys for the win!” Casey pumps his fist in air. “Let’s go, McFrognuts. Up to the castle for?—”
A cushion smacks him in the back of the head.
Spinning around with a surprised blink, he takes us all in for a second before his mouth stretches into a wide grin. “King Puck out,” he murmurs into his headset before ripping it off and jumping over the back of the couch. “Hey, family! Welcome home.” Spreading his arms wide, he goes in for a hug, but Mick stops him with two raised hands.
“Don’t even think about it, you gross pig. This place is disgusting!”
“Oh.” He jerks back, scratching his mussed-up curls while he looks around. “Oh, yeah. We had a bit of a kegger the other night and… well, you know we’re gonna clean.”
“When?” she barks.
“Oh, well…” He looks to Baxter, a silent plea for backup, but the goalie just shrugs. “When you guys got back?”
Mikayla’s hands ball into two little fists, her nostrils flaring. “You were waiting until we got here so we’d do all the work for you!”
“No.” Casey and Baxter shake their heads in unison. “But you’re welcome to help.” Casey winks down at the feisty little mouse. She growls, ripping off her baseball cap and glaring up at him.
His mischievous grin disappears the second he gets a look at her face. “What happened to you?”
“I’m not in the mood to tell you right now, you foul slob.”
“Lil’ mouse, you can’t come in here with a shiner and not spill the tea. Come on, girl, you’re?—”
“No, Queen Pissed Off out!” She whips around to Rachel. “Come on, we’re out of here.”
“Okay.” Rachel glances at me with a helpless shrug.
I give her a quick kiss. “It’s good. You go. We’ll make sure this place is spotless by the time you get back.”
“Why are you kissing her?” Casey’s asking. “Why is he kissing her? What the hell happened in Cali, you guys?”
I ignore all his questions until Rachel and Mick have walked out the door. Gazing through the kitchen window, I watch them clomp through the snow and wait until they’re safely in Ethan’s truck before spinning to face the argument erupting between Baxter and Ethan.
“Before the girls came along, you didn’t give a shit.” Baxter throws up his arms.
“That’s total crap,” Ethan barks back. “I never would have been happy walking into this. It’s next level. No wonder the girls don’t want to stay here!”
“They don’t?” Casey looks crestfallen, his shoulders slumping as he tries to catch up on all the news.
Ethan’s tone softens, turning into a mix of grunts and grumbles while he reminds them how this situation was always supposed to be temporary and maybe finding an apartment nearby for Rachel and Mikayla is the right move.
This puts Casey in a foul mood, and the next two hours is organized chaos as we clean and tidy this dump site. The time is peppered with arguments, outbursts, and the occasional story from Casey about the quality of the puck bunnies and how there were so many more to go around without us here. Even Baxter grinned at that. I think the shy goalie actually got some. Good for him.
When the girls return, the place is close to spotless.
Casey wraps Mick in the longest hug. She endures it like a pro, slapping him on the back and comforting him while he laments what happened to her. The hissy fit he had when Ethan told him about it has faded from his system, and he’s simmered down to a low boil.
Rachel gives me a sweet smile as she helps me dry the last of the dishes and put them away.
“You guys have worked hard.” Her nose wrinkles. “You shouldn’t have had to do any of it.”
“Yeah.” I nod. “But sometimes it’s easier just to pitch in.” Tucking the hair behind her ear, I lean against the counter and grin at her. “Did you guys have a good time?”
She nods. “We just went to the diner and shared a slice of pie. Talked… a lot.”
“Good stuff?”
Her shoulder hitches. “Trying to figure out what I’m going to do.”
