Page 16 of Skating Towards Danger

He frowns, “You’ve lost more weight.”

I roll my eyes and walk around him, stating, “I’m fine, I promise,” not willing for him to realize I’m on noodles at the moment before locking eyes with Rhett, who grins wide. I shake my head and say, “I should have known you’d be here.”

He shrugs, “I’m like the big brother you never wanted.”

I scrunch my nose and reply, “Yeah, but then honestly, if that’s the case, the situation I caught you in yesterday morning just makes it nastier…”

His eyes widen as the man sitting on the loveseat raises a brow and asks, “And what kind of situation did you find him in?” He looks at Rhett, then back at me, and says, “I’m Roman, by the way, and this is my wife, Morgan.”

I nod and give Morgan a small smile, which she returns before I turn and raise a brow at Rhett and cross my arms over my chest, waiting for him to explain the way he scarred me for life, but instead, he winces and looks away, making me snort while the little girl sitting by him looks at me and tilts her head.

I smile gently, and ignoring all the adults, I kneel as I hold my hand out and whisper, “Hi, my name is Paige.”

She looks at my hand and then back at me before slowly walking my way. She puts her hand in mine, and I smile as she whispers back, “I’m Emma. I like ice.”

I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I ignore them and lean in a little and ask, “Do you want to hear a secret?” she nods and leans in further, and I nod back, then admit, “I like ice too,” making her grin wide before she pulls me. I gasp out a giggle and crawl as she drags me to a doll size ice rink, not clocking that it was mine until the sweet little girl then passes me a doll with white hair and a blue dress wearing skates that I got formy fourth birthday, and my heart stutters before I look at Uncle Rocco.

He smiles gently and admits, “She found them in your room, I hope it’s okay…”

I nod once, look at the doll before clearing my throat, and then look back at Emma. I give her a small smile, hand it back, and ask, “Would you like to keep this one?”

Her eyes widen, and she nods enthusiastically before throwing herself at me, hugging me tightly, shocking me slightly then she turns back to my old ice rink, making the doll skate, and my heart skips a beat seeing it being played with.

“Peanut, are you sure you want her to have it?” Uncle Rocco asks carefully while everyone remains quiet.

Uncle Rocco probably expressed what it means to me, so I’m grateful they’re keeping quiet.

I keep my eyes on Emma playing happily with my old toys, and I nod and say, “I haven’t played with that doll since I was eight, Uncle Rocco. She’ll get more joy out of it than I ever will.” I look his way, “It deserves to be played with, not stored in a box.”

He nods, his eyes shining, and I look back at Emma, purposely ignoring the man on the couch which I know is rude but I just, I can’t face him, I can’t, and honestly, watching this little girl find joy in toys I couldn’t see myself donating brings me a little bit of light.

“So, Rhett, what did she walk in on?” Roman asks again a few minutes later trying to break the awkward silence, and without taking my eyes off Emma, I reply nonchalantly, “He was getting his hockey stick shoved somewhere a male shouldn’t have it shoved all because the puck bunny said it gets her off.”

I hear a choking sound, and I turn to see Aunt Tyra coughing, drops of her drink on her chin. I grin before looking at Rhett, whose face is white.

“Damn Rhett, I thought you left the crazies back in college?!” Morgan asks in shock as the men laugh, and he winces, looking at me, but I shake my head and mumble, “I don’t want to know,” before little hands grab my shoulder, and I turn slightly as I lock eyes with dark blue ones.

I swallow hard and gently hold out my hand before the little boy grabs it with a grin, and I smile back, all while trying not to die a little inside as the little boy climbs in my lap and claps at his big sister playing.

Being here, with all these people that I don’t know but knew my parents, it’s killing me, but I’ll do anything for my aunt and uncle.

I just hope it doesn’t set me back….

Chapter 5

Dante

I groan as I rub the back of my neck and enter my penthouse, the elevator doors shutting behind me which I have to admit, tonight is a nice fucking sound.

My fucking body aches like a bitch, and the fact Rhett wasn’t there, coach drove us harder. He understood why but fuck me…

“Hard practice?” my brother's voice travels, and I grunt not surprised he’s here waiting for me as I throw my bag on the floor near the breakfast bar, walk over to my large dark gray corner couch, and fall into it, sinking into the cushions making me moan and Roman chuckle.

“Coach understands why Rhett was absent today. Obviously, he’s aware of who we are, but he stuck to his rule,” I grunt as I put my aching feet on my glass coffee table before I grabthe remote from the arm of the couch and switch on the open electric fireplace.

“Any player that misses practice thirty sprints which will normally mean more if a player can’t keep up with the rest of the team,” Roman finishes from my armchair and I nod.

Fucker had to keep up with his rules because not everyone within the team knows who I am, who Rhett is and Adams couldn’t fucking keep up. We ended up doing an extra twenty more all before we had to begin practice.

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