She physically recoiled at the idea of going home alone.
“I’ll stick with you. I already did my pregame physical therapy round with the old man.”
“Watch your mouth, omega,” Greer said with a huff.
Hayes lingered back to thank the waitress. He passed her an extra tip. “Thanks for keeping an eye on her.”
“Anytime. She’s a sweetheart. Fuck whoever did that to her.”
“Sometimes parents suck,” I muttered.
“Fucking understatement,” Roxie said next to me.
“Here,” Hayes said, holding out his hands for her keys. “I’ll drive your car back. You go with the others.”
She didn’t even protest. Her hand dug into her purse and she tossed them at Hayes. The alpha looked like he wanted to do anything but separate from her.
I managed to get her into the car and the door closed. The others piled in, surrounding her with their scents, the deltas trying their best to bring her back to life again.
I glanced over at Hayes. “You’re calling him, aren’t you?”
“Damn straight I am.”
“Don’t get arrested. We need a coach.”
When I climbed into the SUV, he was already screaming into his phone, hands waving wildly.
Her dad had the opportunity to mend a broken heart.
Roxie might be angry with him and resent him, but every child who had an absent parent wished they would wake up and realize what they’d done. Make amends.
These kinds of wounds cut deep. There was no denying that.
Roxie was eerily silent as we drove back to the arena. She barely looked our way as we guided her out of the car and got her to Hayes’s office.
Rylan scrambled around, finding an old stack of clean jerseys. He frowned at the couch where he stacked them before eyeing us.
“Shirts off. Socks. I don’t give a fuck give me stuff that smells like you,” he ordered. My omega was starting to get bossy.
“I have a gym bag in the locker. Give me a second,” I said, giving him a quick peck before running off. The omega was mine, but hadn’t given into me just yet. I’d been patient but I was also ready to claim what was mine.
Greer was right beside me, both of us raiding our lockers before running back, arms loaded with clean clothes doused in our scents.
Hayes and Rylan were both shirtless now, both using their bodies to scent up his couch. It would have been funny if my sweet omega wasn’t dissociating. She was standing in the center of the room, eyes distant.
Fuck, I hated her father.
When it was as good as we could make it for now, Roxie settled into the corner, curled across Rylan’s chest.
“We’ll be fine here,” he said, looking at the clock pointedly. “You have a game.”
“I hate leaving you,” I said, placing a kiss on her forehead then his. “After this, we’re taking you home, little bat. We can share the nest. We’re here for you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
The broken sound of it shattered my heart further.
“We’re going to go out on that ice, beat the Wardens’ asses, and then come back here,” Greer said, voice as determined as I felt.
