I shrugged, aiming for casual and missing by a mile. "It wasn't all terrible. A few homes were good. Most weren't. All were temporary. I aged out of the system.” I rolled a fry betweenmy fingers. "You learn pretty quickly not to get attached to things that might be temporary."
Most of the time, I didn't think about it. Then something would happen that reminded me that everybody else's life came with people built into it.
I don't know what it was. The weather? The way Thane was looking at me? Either way, the words kept coming.
"This probably isn't going to make much sense," I said with a small laugh, "but my least favorite day in high school wasn't a test or a breakup or anything dramatic."
A faint smile tugged at my mouth.
"It was graduation."
Thane frowned. "Graduation?"
I nodded. "Everybody else had people."
For a moment, I was back there again. Caps. Gowns. Cameras flashing. Parents waving from the stands. Families carrying flowers and balloons.
"I spent four years working toward that day. Then I looked around and realized everybody had someone cheering for them." I swallowed. "I didn't."
The confession settled between us.
"That was the day I figured out loneliness doesn't always happen when you're by yourself. Sometimes it happens when you're standing in a crowd, and everybody else belongs to someone."
Thane didn't look away. If anything, his attention sharpened.
I laughed softly and shook my head. "Sorry. That got heavier than I intended."
"You don't have to apologize." The quiet acceptance in his voice settled over me.
Thane leaned back against the couch. "I'm an only child too."
The admission surprised me. But now that I thought about it, it shouldn’t have. Wikipedia didn’t mention anything about him having siblings.
"My parents had me later than most people have kids. By the time I made it to the NHL, they were already older than a lot of my teammates' grandparents."
A fond smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"They still came to games. Still acted like every goal was the first one I'd ever scored."
I found myself smiling.
"I thought about retiring a few years ago."
That surprised me even more. "You did?"
He nodded. "My dad was having some health issues. My mom was slowing down. I figured maybe it was time to be home."
His gaze drifted briefly toward the window. "They shut that idea down immediately."
I laughed.
"Mom told me they'd spent too many years driving me to practices and freezing in hockey arenas to become the reason I walked away from the game."
"And your dad?"
"He agreed with her."
"Smart man."
