Page 25

The front door slammed shut, and we all flinched. The few of us who were in town for the summer were set up in Coach Davis’ living room. He said we needed to bond as a team while we rested our bodies for the upcoming season. I had Daniel with me when Coach called us all over, so he’d been hanging out with the guys. Until now he’d been having a blast, talking to my friends and teammates like he’d known them forever. But the look on his face now had me regretting bringing him, despite not knowing that Kenzi would show up. He’d been bothering me a lot lately about seeing Kenzi, and I didn’t know how to get him to understand that she wouldn’t remember him. I guess he does now, even if it killed me to see him so disconcerted.

Jackson came around the corner, and the only ones who could muster enough balls to look at the guy were Liam and Aiden. They both look pissed. And disappointed. Couldn’t say I blamed them. The whole team now knew what went down between Jackson and Maddy, and from what I - we — overheard, Kenzi had every right to be pissed.

Coach Davis gave Jackson a frown of disapproval. He wasn’t happy either.

“I’m going to pretend we didn’t hear that until everyone is gone.” It was a command, from one Davis man to another. “And then we’re going to talk about what you did to fuck things up.”

There was a collective silence in the room that chilled me to the bone. Coach Davis prided himself in being a composed man, someone who always kept his cool no matter the situation — it’s what made him such a formidable and respected coach both on and off the ice — but hearing him curse surprised all of us.

“Nothing to talk about,” replied Jackson. “It’s my business.”

“You heard Kenzi,” chirped Liam. “Maddy is a part of this family. You hurt her, you answer to us.”

Jackson’s body stiffened. “Fuck you, Liam.”

Aiden rose to his feet, and fisted his hands at his side. He stared at Jackson while his jaw ticked angrily.

“Enough,” said Coach Davis. He stood up and pointed between his sons. “I won’t tolerate you speaking to each other that way.”

“Whatever, Dad.” Jackson threw his hands up. “I’m leaving.”

He grabbed his keys from the coffee table, and didn’t look at anyone before he left. Daniel was the first to break the silence, and had he not spoken we would have forgotten he was even there. He was that quiet after his interaction with Kenzi.

“Vaughan, what’s ‘fuck’?”

I looked at him, and then at my team mates, and the innocent way he asked the question broke the tension in the room. We snickered, and all I could do is shake my head.

“It’s nothing, buddy.”

Liam snorted. “You’ll feel differently in about five years.”

He was right, but for now I was happy to treat my little brother like the nine-year-old he was, and not worry about how I was going to handle puberty. Our parents wouldn’t, which left it up to me to make sure he didn’t end up like they did. Broken at the bottom of a liquor bottle.

The guys settled back into their seats, and an hour later we were saying our goodbyes. Daniel was quiet beside me, and while he had the same expression every time I had to drop him off at home, it was also because of seeing Kenzi. I just didn’t know how to make it better for him. Hell, I didn’t even know how to make it better for myself. Every time I saw Kenzi it felt like a sharp jab to my sternum.

“Vaughan.”

I glanced over at Daniel, and then looked back at the road in front of us. “Yeah?”

He hesitated, and I dreaded the possibility of him asking me questions about Kenzi. Before the accident he’d grown fond of her, attached. And I knew she felt the same way. She’d spoken about helping me getting him away from our parents more than once, and I knew then that she was a keeper. She loved Daniel, and for that, I loved her more. But that was then. Things were different now and I could imagine how confusing it was for Daniel to understand. He had to grow up a little faster than most kids his age, but so did I.

“I need new skates.”

I frowned. Not quite what I expected him to say. “I gave you money for new skates two weeks ago.”

Because our parents were deadbeats, I made sure that Daniel had everything he needed. I didn’t have that when I was his age, and I didn’t want him to worry about anything more than being a kid.

He bit his lip, and fiddled with his hands in his lap.

“Daniel, what happened to that money?”

I already knew the answer, and the way Daniel’s lip trembled before he started crying confirmed it.

“Mom found it, and then she…” his words tapered off, and something about it felt off.

“What did she do?”

“S-s-she hit me.”