Page 126 of Never Bet Against A Hockey Player

With the trial coming up and worries about his family not liking me, it was hard not to freak out.

I tried my best to keep my face neutral as we worked. Gavin started on a salad, following Conrad’s instructions, while Lachlan and I prepped the rest of the sides.

Lana said they’d bring dessert, so we didn’t have to worry about that, and August was manning the grill.

Of course, they’d bought one that was big enough to cook for an entire army.

Between the two packs that were coming our way, it was probably for the best.

We’d just put the cheesy potatoes into the oven to bake when I heard tires on the driveway.

“Oh God,” I choked out. Gavin was right there by my side. He’d been so excited all afternoon, but now he looked nervous.

“They’re going to love you, Gav,” I reassured him.

Conrad walked past, pressing a kiss to my forehead before giving Gavin’s shoulder a squeeze.

“They are,” he confirmed before walking to the front door and pulling it open.

“Big brother!” a woman’s voice rang out before a petite blonde launched herself at him. He caught her in a bear hug, and I could actually see him beaming with happiness.

I think he needed this as much as she did. This was exactly how I pictured mine and Gavin’s relationship in the future. No matter where life took us we’d always be there when the other needed.

“Okay, I’ve seen you enough. Where are they?”

She peeked around him and spotted us standing there frozen.

Lana was gorgeous. She was dressed in a light, flowing, white top, wide-leg jeans, and her hair was in one of those timeless messy buns with little tendrils hanging around her face. She was also very pregnant.

Her eyes were the same color as Conrad’s, and the way she smiled at us, not giving us a chance to overthink before pulling us into a big hug, had me relaxing.

“I’m so excited to have another girl in the family,” she said as she backed away. “Oh, and you’re gorgeous.”

She released me.

“And you must be my nephew,” she said, looking down at Gavin.

His eyes were wide, and he nodded.

“I’ve seen some clips of you playing. You’re pretty good out there on the ice.”

“You’ve seen clips of me?” he questioned.

“Oh yeah. Conrad went into full ‘papa bear’ mode. He sent tons of them during your games.”

Gavin looked so shocked but touched at the thought of that. Damn if it didn’t affect me, too.

Conrad wasn’t the overbearing type of alpha. He didn’t demand that everything fall into place the way he wanted it. He genuinely cared that we were comfortable on our own terms.

He was exactly the type of alpha I needed.

A group of guys filed in behind Lana. She wouldn’t have even needed to tell me they were hockey players for me to know. They had that ‘hockey star’ build and the unwavering confidence of men used to being observed.

“These are my mates. The one with the white-blond hair is my alpha, Cade. Lennon is the redhead. We’ve got Kieran with the dark hair. My beta is Wilder. Then we have Mason, another delta.”

“Oh my god,” Gavin said, his entire face lighting up as he took in each one of them.

“I mean, we are hockey gods,” Mason joked, flashing him a smile.