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“I just don’t understand. You were never interested in hockey players before.” Kaden acted as though she was never allowed to change her mind.
“You’re right, I never was. It’s not the occupation that attracted me.” She had long stayed away from hockey boys for this exact reason. Before Luc, it was never worth the fight.
Kaden grunted, unapprovingly. It did nothing but annoy Kassie. She found herself taking deep breaths to keep control of her emotions. She loved Kaden but wished he would just shut up right now.
“What about Sam? He’s married to Tyler’s sister, isn’t he?”
Kaden shook his head and ignored her attempt to make sense. “We’re not talking about them. We’re talking about you.”
“You aren’t going to micromanage my life for me. I never let you do it before, and I’m certainly not letting you do it now.”
“Fine.” Kaden shuffled his feet and stared at the floor. Kassie knew better than to think anything was fine.
“You want a donut?” Luc asked again, not to break the tension, but solely to be an ass.
Kassie ignored Luc for the moment. He wasn’t making this any easier on himself, but at the same time, her brother needed to just chill. She walked up to her brother. Her voice was calm, and she made a point to no longer yell. Sometimes an angry whisper was scarier anyway. “You deal with your household, and I’ll deal with mine. No friendly brawls in practice, and no accidently injuring Luc to send a message.”
Kaden shook his head. “Sorry, Kass. On the ice, it’s just me and him.” Kaden gave Luc a look of death before he stormed out of her apartment, no goodbyes, just slamming the door behind him.
“Well, that was fun,” Luc said after Kaden was gone.
“I thought I told you to stay in the bedroom.”
“You did.” Luc wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. “But I couldn’t let him talk to you like that. It wasn’t fair.”
Kassie put her palms on Luc’s chest. “Luc, I know you mean well, but he’s my brother. I can handle myself. Plus, his bark is worse than his bite. He just needs to say his piece, even if it is annoying.”
“Oh, I have no doubt that you can handle yourself, sweets. I just didn’t like that you had to be the one getting yelled at. I’m part of this, too. He didn’t need to zero in on only you.”
Well, look at that, he really is my very own knight in shining armor. Life has an odd way of working out. I always swore I’d never get involved with an athlete, and then I went and fell for this hockey boy.
***
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Luc
The buzz of Luc’s cell phone woke him up from his afternoon nap. Hoping it was Kassie, he didn’t mind the interruption. Things had been crazy, ending up in bed with her and then Kaden knocking down the door like the big bad wolf. Then there was more overdue bedroom fun for the rest of the afternoon and into the next day. It was an exhausting, yet satisfying, use of his days off. It took a moment before his eyes focused on the phone. But it wasn’t Kassie. It was an unfamiliar number. He was already awake, so he might as well answer it.
He tried to clear his rough voice as he grumbled into the phone. “Hello?”
The male voice at the other end was familiar. “Luc? It’s Drake.”
Drake was a guy Luc had met after spending way too many nights at the local casino. Luc had been young and new to the Renegades, didn’t know many people in the city, and in the beginning, money and fast women were a comforting replacement for friends.
Drake, an employee at the casino, had befriended him. Drake kept an eye on him and made sure he didn’t overdo it at the table games. Being young and stupid, a buddy like Drake was just what Luc had needed.
Maybe he was just still sleepy, but he was confused as to why Drake was calling him. Luc hadn’t been to the casino lately. He had Kassie and actual friends now; he didn’t need to gamble.
“Luc, I have your dad here.” Drake’s words rattled around Luc’s brain.
“My dad?” Luc pulled the phone away from his ear and double checked the date. The annual Dads’ Trip, when the players’ fathers got to spend a week of hockey life with their sons, was in a few days. It was important to the players, and it gave the dads a chance to see inside their sons’ world of hockey. They got to experience every step of the away trip, breakfast, the bus, meetings, practices, the plane, and games in the suite. Then back home for more. But Luc wasn’t expecting his dad for at least another day.
“Yeah. It wasn’t easy getting him to admit his identity. He’s not in any trouble, but I really think you should come get him before he is.”
Drake didn’t have to say much more. Luc knew the situation. He’d been through this a few times as a teen. He had lost his mom to illness when he was five, and his dad hadn’t handled it well. His father had worked a lot to provide for them, but after a full day of hockey, and once Luc was tucked away in bed, his dad would often turn to the bottle. After Luc moved away to play juniors, the drinking got worse. It was his dad’s selfish way of coping with being alone.
Young Luc would help out by making peanut butter sandwiches and mac ’n’ cheese for dinner and have it ready when his dad got home from work.
