Page 121 of Scarred

“Luna,” I say, gripping the door frame and causing her to turn my way.

“Yeah?” She smiles, and I take her in one last time, wanting to memorize every detail that I can. If my past has taught me anything, it’s to not take one moment for granted.

“Please drive safely,” I say quietly, feeling the flames of fear nip at my skin. “I need you to be safe for me.”

“I’ll be safe. I promise.” Her dimple peeks out before she turns and walks toward the elevators. I don’t stop watching her until the doors finally shut, and even then, I have a hard time closing the door completely.

How the fuck did I get here again?

I lean against the door and close my eyes as the truth I’ve been fighting finally catches up to me.

No matter how hard I tried to stop this from happening…

I’m in it deep now.

I’ve gone from trying to survive losing everything…

To having something I can’t survive losing again.

THIRTY-SIX

CAYDEN

“Who the hell designed these seats? A kindergartener?” Kane mumbles next to me as he tries to get comfortable.

“It’s an elementary theater,” Foxx shrugs.

“Still…my knees are touching my throat,” Kane mutters under his breath.

“I told you guys that you didn’t have to come,” I remind them, but Kane is right. These seats are not made for six-foot-four hockey players.

Or anyone close to our size, for that matter, as I spot the Montgomery Brothers a few rows ahead of us, sitting with Knox and Savi and looking just as uncomfortable as we are.

“We wouldn’t miss Scar’s first dance recital,” Kane sighs, giving up on the idea of being able to move as he settles back as best he can.

“She made us pinky promise at practice, and you don’t break a pinky promise,” Hayes says, shaking his head. “Everyone knows that.”

Mae told me she cornered the guys last week in practice and told them all about her recital. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that she not only got them to come to a kid’s dance recital on a Saturday afternoon, but she also made them pinky promise so they wouldn’t back out of it.

I glance down our row that’s crammed in like a pack of sardines and chuckle softly. She got an entire row to show up just to watch her twirl on stage for three minutes. It never ceases to amaze me how someone so little can have so much power over full-grown men’s hearts.

Including mine because somewhere along the way, I stopped protecting her from every little part of the world and started letting some of the world love her too.

My gaze lands on McCormick, and his face is blank as he stares at the program in his hand. Anyone else wouldn’t think anything of it, but I see past the armor he’s wearing.

His body is tense and rigid as I take in his tight jaw and white knuckles from gripping the program too hard. He’s clearly uncomfortable here and battling his own set of demons.

But he showed up.

They all did for my daughter.

Even when I’ve pushed them away on days I was drowning in grief and never let them fully see past the mask I got used to wearing…they still showed up.

“Thank you, guys, for coming,” I suddenly say, as all eyes turn toward me. “I know it means a lot to Scarlett, and it means a lot…to me,” I add quietly.

“We wouldn’t have missed it, Daddy Blade,” Hayes says, then grins wider when I get a physical reaction to him calling me that again.

The guys chuckle softly, easing some of the tension in McCormick’s shoulders.