Page 97 of The Blame Game

Shea grinned. His sister had been badass before her lupus diagnosis and she was still badass now.

She was only three years older than him. She’d already been diagnosed by the time his knee had gone to hell and the one who’d helped him navigate it and come to terms with the fact that an NHL career wasn’t viable for him.

He felt a little guilty he hadn’t reached out recently other than sending her a quick thank-you text after her birthday gift had arrived in the mail.

Speaking of …

“Happy Birthday, Mom,” he said, handing over the gift bag and cake box.

“Oh, I told you I didn’t need anything!” she protested, taking them. “All I wanted was dinner with the family.”

“It’s nothing huge. Just a cake and something small,” he assured her.

“Well, I guess I better find a place to store this cake, huh?” she said, peering down at it.

After she disappeared into the kitchen, Emma raised an eyebrow at Dom. “Sucking up?” she asked quietly.

He chuckled. “Something like that. If only it worked as well on Dad.”

Emma made a face. “Yeah, well …”

“Man, I am glad you’re here,” he said, crouching down so he wasn’t looming over her. “I’ve missed you.”

“Yeah, I could tell from all those texts you send me,” she teased, her pretty face animated with laughter.

“I’m a bum,” he agreed with a sigh. “But I do miss you.”

“I know. And you’re desperate for someone to play mediator this weekend too, I’ll bet.” Her blue eyes twinkled.

“I mean … little of both?”

She grinned. “Honesty. I appreciate that.”

Shea winced because he wasn’t being nearly as honest as he could be. He knew she’d be supportive of the whole escort thing and she wouldn’t bat an eyelash about him being into men except for using it as an opportunity to tease him.

What he wanted to do was talk about Dom with her but he couldn’t do that without outing Dom, so he had to stay quiet on that front. Ugh.

“Are you two coming?” their mom called out.

“Yeah, be right there.” Shea stood, his knee crackling, and Emma gave him a worried look.

“You doing okay?”

“Yeah, just turning into a rice crispy treat,” he joked. “Knees are a little stiff after the drive that’s all.”

He rarely had pain in his left knee anymore but he did get some stiffness in both and he’d probably wind up with one knee replacement at some point down the line.

“Good. Now, shall we go into the lion’s den?” she asked with a grin.

“I’m going to run my bag up to my room and then I’ll be in.”

Shea jogged up the stairs, then down the hall to the left. His former bedroom was now a guest room and there was a wide, comfortable bed that he tossed his bag onto. He pulled out his phone, then shot off a text to Dom. Made it to my parents’ place. Wish me luck.

Good luck! came seconds later and Shea smiled at the quick response before realizing it probably had less to do with him than with Dom’s boredom.

Shea took a deep breath and before he could second-guess himself, he jogged down to the first floor and into the living room.

Tom Barnett glanced away from the TV. “Hey.”

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