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“Ares said something earlier.”
We stop in front of my truck, and I turn his way. “Ignore him. Ares is usually goofing off anyway. But fuck if you’ll find a better enforcer on the ice.”
“Yeah.” Jace crosses his arms over his chest and looks almost uncomfortable. “That’s the thing. He mentioned something about you having a grudge to settle against Dolan.”
“Motherfucker,” I mumble under my breath. “Ignore him, Cap. It’s all good.”
“You’re one of the top scorers on the team, Wilder. You can’t get hurt on the back of a concussion. You could be out for the season.” He waits for me to say something, and when I don’t, he groans. “Fuck. He was serious, wasn’t he? You have a problem on the ice, you let Ares handle it. It can’t be you.”
“He hurt someone I care about, Kingston. It’s personal.” My hands ball into tight fists, and the anger that’s been growing for days swells. “It’s not up to Ares to handle.”
Jace looks me over. Calculating. “Heard you got engaged. Congratulations, man. I’ve known Everly Sinclair since she had skinned knees and braids and was on my kid sister’s soccer team. She’s a good girl. You’re a lucky man.”
“Thank you.” I don’t say anything else.
I don’t need Jace to get in trouble if something goes wrong tonight.
“He hurt someone you care about?”
“Yeah, Cap.” A muscle in my jaw ticks, and I bite back the rest of what I want to say.
“You going to destroy him the first chance you get?”
“Yeah. Could get me thrown out of the game. Might be looking at a suspension.” I figure at this point, I might as well be honest. What do I have to lose?
“Let me see if I can get Coach to put you, me, and Ares on the first line tonight. I’ll come up with a reason. They always start Dolan. Maybe we can get this done between the three of us without anyone getting suspended. Work for you?”
“Yeah. I’d appreciate that.” I open the door of the truck before he leans against the side of it.
“How hard are you going after him?” he asks, having no fucking clue of the lengths I’d go to.
“If I could slice his neck with my skate and watch him bleed out in front of me on the fucking ice, I would. Since that’s not an option, I’ll have to settle for breaking him.” I get in the truck and shut the door, done with this conversation.
I want to go home, get some sleep, and get back here to put some of Everly’s demons to rest.
“Hey, big guy.” Everly sits on the bed waking me later that afternoon. I lift my arm, and she crawls right into my side, resting her head on my chest. “How was your morning skate?”
“Good. Team skated well. Should be a good game. You going to your Mom’s to watch it?” I press my lips to her head.
“Yeah. I think so. Grace might stop by if she gets out of rehearsal in time, but Kenzie and Lindy are going to the game. Obviously, Brynn is already going to be there.”
“You don’t have to watch it, baby.” I’d actually prefer she not watch. But she’s going to find out what happens either way.
“No. I want to watch you.” She runs her hand under my shirt and presses against my heart. “I told Mrs. Ashburn I’d take the kids with me, if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course it’s okay. I really appreciate the way your mom and dad were with the kids last weekend.” And I mean it. They were amazing, and the kids seemed to take to them. Something Kerrigan seems to do easily with Everly’s family.
“Oh, my parents are in love. My mom already asked if the kids can call herGigi. She said Mrs. Sinclair is ridiculous. She wants to be a grandparent.”
Well fuck. I may have just fallen in love with Everly’s mom. “Really?”
“I know you asked my dad for permission to propose, Cross. Are you really telling me he didn’t mention anything about the kids?”
“He said something about us all being family. But we’re guys, Evie, we don’t talk about feelings like that.”
“I like it when you call me Evie.” She smiles, and there isn’t anything in the world I wouldn’t do for that smile.
“Noted,” I tell her and pull the blanket up around us. I still have another hour to sleep before I’ve got to get ready for the game.
