Page 102 of Never Bet Against A Hockey Player

He was probably right about that.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Dhara

“Wait... No.” Gavin stared at the three men who had completely stolen my heart. I stood just behind them, already fighting tears as he tried to convince them it was too much.

“You need this gear if you’re going to end up with a career like ours,” Conrad said firmly.

“We picked this stuff because we know it works,” Lachlan added. “We trust this brand and know you’ll be safer with it.”

That hit me right in the chest. They were better father figures for my brother than I ever could have imagined.

“But...” Gavin’s voice cracked. “It’s too much.”

“If we couldn’t afford it,” August said gently, “or if we didn’t want to do it, we wouldn’t. I know trusting people is hard but you can trust us.”

Silence stretched between them. They didn’t rush him just like they didn’t rush me. Finally, Gavin nodded.

“Okay.” The word came out shaky. We were more alike than I realized.

The salesman, who’d respectfully stepped away to give us a moment, cautiously approached again.

“So, you’d like to purchase all of this?” he asked as he looked from the pile to the rest of us.

“Yes.” Conrad didn’t hesitate. “We’ll take everything. Do you offer delivery? That’d save us a lot of trouble.”

“Absolutely. I’ll get everything arranged.” He motioned Conrad toward the register to settle the bill and leave our address.

I stepped beside Gavin, wrapping my arms around him.

He looked at me uncertainly. “This is okay, right?”

“It is.” I squeezed him tighter. “If they want to take care of us we should let them. They’re our pack. We’re meant to lean on each other. And one day we’ll take care of them, too.”

That finally seemed to finally click just like it had for me earlier that day.

He smiled. “We will.”

His attention drifted back to the mountain of equipment. The guys hadn’t held back. Every piece was top-of-the-line.

I understood why it overwhelmed him. But if they wanted to help build Gavin’s future how could I say no?

Even if I would have to remind myself of that same lesson when we reached the nesting store.

The pack led us out of the sporting goods store and into the rest of the mall. This place was enormous. Gavin and I had spent years shopping almost exclusively at thrift stores and discount outlets.

Once my mother took “her” share of every paycheck there was never much left.

Walking through stores like these almost felt wrong. Part of me still expected someone to stop us and point out that we didn’t belong here.

One day I’d contribute. I’d find my own way to give back to this family.

“We’re going to have to get you to the arena early,” Conrad said as we walked. “We need to break in that gear before your next game. You don’t want to step onto the ice wearing brand-new equipment.”

“Okay.” Gavin nodded seriously.