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The reason I do it when he’s not here is because I get winded easily while climbing up and down the ladder, balancing precariously to hang them all. My family fucking hates Christmas on my behalf and I don’t blame them.

“It does not,” I agree. “We’re only halfway through November, Emil.”

“Correct. We are going thrifting,” he says. “Let’s see what the Christmas shops have, and then I think you might need to get a bigger bed. There’s a custom furniture builder who might be able to help. Ahh. You probably need a bigger table and more chairs too.”

I blink slowly at my grandfather, trying to get my brain to catch up to whatever time warp he’s jumped on.

“You have the space to accommodate what appears to be a growing family. You sure as fuck aren’t moving,” he says grimly. “If they want you, they can figure out the logistics of that. We are going to get into the motherfucking holiday spirit and skip Thanksgiving. No one enjoys turkey anyway, and we all end up eating tacos.”

I giggle because he’s right. Every fucking year. We don’t even try to cook a turkey anymore.

“Are you going to let me get up on the ladder?” I ask.

“Oh, on the way home we’re swinging by Arran’s shop to see what he thinks about that,” Emil says smugly.

“He’ll spank me,” I pout without thinking as Emil finally covers his ears and stands.

“Lalala. I will meet you in the car and Arran can build you one of those fancy bondage headboards!” Emil says, taking his cup with him as I collapse in my seat laughing.

I didn’t expect today to go like this, but I’m not mad about it.

Three weeks later

ALASTAIR

I hate when my time is hijacked. We’re in Los Angeles attending an event with my team. I negotiated leaving right afterward, intending to drive to San Diego with Ci and Draven. Then, we’ll be able to see Noor for the next two days. We have a group date planned that’s been approved, so we can show her that her voice won’t be muted when she’s surrounded by us.

We’re already over halfway through our lessons with Zayn, and it’s hard to believe how much he’s growing on me.

I love children. They’re fun to be around, and I look forward to the excitement as they learn something new. Zayn has excellent reflex skills, he’s determined, and we’ve added stick handling and shooting to our lessons.

He takes his time to listen, asks questions, and then responds. He’s no longer as defensive when he comes in with Noor. Instead, he kisses her cheek, suits up, and comes out onto the ice with us. Every lesson, he’s less guarded.

It also could have something to do with the fact that he’s caught both Draven and I dropping his mom off after a date. I can see the questions turning in his mind, but he hasn’t asked a single one.

I might need to see if Noor is open to leaving Zayn with us for a couple of minutes on the ice to talk to him. She doesn’t usually leave at all.

“Congratulations on a great game. I wouldn’t be surprised if you make captain one day,” someone says.

I smile wide, already ready to be done. I don’t like having my ass kissed. We won a game tonight, and now we’re at a black tie event. We were late since we were playing, and I have no idea why we’re here. Coach is pretty strict about our schedules post game, but I have a feeling he’s relaxing his iron hold because we have a break for a few days.

He said we needed the positive optics of attending tonight as a team. I’m wondering if he was pressured into this, because we’re a long way from Colorado.

I know there are games played behind closed doors in business, and that’s what professional hockey is as well. A business.

“Thanks so much,” I say with a nod. These people are financial investors, sponsors, and general fans. I’ve seen our team owner already, which means I’m definitely stuck here for a while.

I allow the group of men to pepper me with questions, while I keep Ciaran and Draven in sight. They’ve also been caught in conversation, their polite, fake smiles in place. We’ll smile, nod, and discuss stats because this is also part of our job.

Athletes exist constantly in the public eye, a scary place to be. My teammates are all around the room, making this charity event a success for the coordinators. I asked Coach if we were expected to donate to whatever cause this was, and he said our time was enough.

My eyes continue to travel over the room when I see a woman. She’s dressed in a sleek blue dress, examining a group of men she’s speaking to with a critical eye. I have to keep myself from curling my lip, because I’ve been out of touch with my stepsister for a long time.

I don’t have a clue why she’d be at an event like this, and immediately begin to wonder if my father is here.

“Alastair?”

“I’m sorry, I just saw someone I know,” I apologize, pulling my attention back to the men who have realized I’m not paying attention.