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“He arranged for your apartments to be next to one another so he could keep an eye on you and make sure you were safe.”
And here I’d thought it was just another stroke of bad luck. I feel like such an idiot for not seeing everything that was right in front of my eyes this entire time.
“I hurt him,” I whisper, more to myself than Crawford. “I pushed him away. I don’t know if he’ll forgive me after how I ended our relationship.”
His expression turns sympathetic. “There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”
I nod, knowing exactly what I have to do as I shoot to my feet.
His gaze stays pinned to mine as he reaches out and takes my hand. “I wanted to protect you as if you were my own because in my heart, you were.” He quickly corrects himself. “Are.”
“I never knew my biological father. He took off as soon as Mom found out she was pregnant. As far as I’m concerned, it’s you, Crawford. You’re the one who’s always been there for me. No matter what.”
“That’s the way it should be with family. Not only there through the good times, but the bad ones as well. And that’s what we are, Carina. Family. We’ll always be family.”
“Yes.” The tight fist wrapped around my heart loosens just enough for me to suck in a full breath. Maybe for the first time in years. When he releases my hand, I take a quick step toward the entryway before grounding to a halt. “I don’t want to do anything that could damage your career.”
His lips quirk at the corners. “What’s important to me is that you and Ford are happy. If that happens to be together as a couple, then we’ll deal with the ramifications and stand united as a family.”
That’s all it takes for the last of my reservations and doubts to fall away. I rush toward him, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him tight as if I’ll never let go.
“I love you, Crawford.”
“I love you, too.”
He pats my back before setting me free. “Now, go fix things with my son.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ford
“Hamilton,” Coach bellows. “Get your damn head out of your ass and pay attention to the play or you’ll find yourself benched.”
Just as I glance toward the coaching staff, someone slams into me, and I fall on my ass. As soon as I hit the ice, the air gets knocked from my lungs. My eyes water as I attempt to suck in breath. But it’s agonizing. From my prone position, I stare up into the grinning face of Garret Akeman.
Fucker.
“Should have been watching where you’re going, Hamilton. Didn’t you learn that in mites?”
It takes a moment to scramble to my skates. “You’re a real dick,” I wheeze.
He laughs as if I’m joking around.
I’m not. The guy is a major dickhead.
King of the dickheads, as far as I’m concerned.
He’ll take any opportunity to make a teammate look bad if he looks better in front of Coach Philips.
I skate closer, more than ready to get into it with him. What the hell do I have to lose at this point?
Not much. My life has imploded.
Just as I’m about to get in his face, Hayes and Colby skid to a quick stop, spraying ice as they shove my shoulders and force me back.
“Get the fuck out of here, Akeman,” Colby snaps, spitting out his mouth guard. He’s normally the chillest guy on the team. But not when it comes to Garret. After almost four years playing together, we’ve all had more than enough of his bullshit.
“Asshole,” Hayes mutters.
