Page 76 of Levi

“The finger bank?” I laugh as I fall to the side, pulling her against me as we snuggle up in the bed.

“Yeah, you guys get to have a spank bank, but that doesn’t work for girls. I call it the finger bank because…well…fingers,” she says, wiggling her fingers and her eyebrows at the same time, and it’s cute.

“You’re something else.” I laugh.

“Are we really doing this?” she asks, and I can hear the nervousness in her voice.

“What do you mean, Q? Fucking tonight? Or us forever?” I ask back, not beating around the bush. I don’t care if I made her a little nervous. It’s time she gets on the same page as me.

“Both, I guess,” she says.

“Yes to both. Tonight, I’m fucking you in this hotel until they kick us out tomorrow.”

“Then what?” Quinn asks with a smile.

“Then I’m taking you home.”

CHAPTER29

QUINN

It's beena long time since I've seen all these people in one room,outside of hockey events, and it’s been even longer since I've actually enjoyed it. But tonight, that’s exactly what I'm doing, and I’m the most relaxed I’ve been in weeks.

My uncle didn’t accept my resignation, so I’ve been back at the arena with the Firebirds. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t bluffing about having a job offer with Seattle, but I had to give him a little scare somehow. When he told me that my position on his staff was always open and he valued my professional training and insights and asked if I would please take my job back, I knew we would be just fine. It might take some time, but we’ll get there.

Between hockey games, officially beingwithLevi, admitting we loved each other, and throwing in the events with my sister—I’ve just been a tiny bit overstimulated. With everything that's happened lately, it's reminded me how important family truly is. These last few years have sucked with Ally and I at each other's throats—yet somehow, I still didn't realize how much of a hole her absence left in my heart.

Levi could tell though. The first night I came back from hanging out with her, Levi smiled and said I looked more at ease than I had in quite some time. That's when I realized exactly how badly I needed my sister in my corner. That's also when Levi decided to plan a dinner for all of our people, something he said needed to be a routine for everyone, that would force us all into hanging out beyond just work and the arena.

Levi told me about his plan the night I officially moved all my things in with him—well, from the guest room down the hall into the primary suite we now shared. We laid in bed that night talking about everything from our dreams to our goals and our fears, and it all pointed to one thing.

We were both terrified of losing our families.

He talked about his nana and how scared he was that nothing was going to help her and that he was going to lose her for good. I told him about how much I hated the way everything had been with Ally and my uncle, and that's when he decided family dinner needed to happen—with our big, twisted, fucked up friends and family situation, where everyone was included—no matter how loud and crazy it got.

Which is how we ended up with a house full of people spilling out into the backyard with food, drinks and yard games everywhere. It's exactly what my soul needed.

We are already a couple hours into the evening, dinner has all been put away, and we’ve consumed a few too many bottles of wine, and now most of us are relaxing out on the patio.

It's peaceful.

That’s not something I thought I would ever feel having this group of people all together. The strange dynamic between Levi and my family ended up spilling over into his relationship with his coach, and it previously had me feeling like we’d never have a true sense ofnormal.

“Are you firing me?” Ally squeals, voice raised as her face goes pale. As much as I still hold some resentment towards her, as much as she’s made our lives a living hell these last few years…

She’s still my sister.

“Uncle Ronnie,” I start, looking at all our friends around us who are quietly watching this go down, but he puts his hand up to silence me.

“No, Ally, I’m not firing you. In fact…I’m promoting you.”

“You—You are?” Ally stammers, looking nervous.

For good reason, too, because my uncle has a smirk on his face that tells me thispromotionprobably isn’t one Ally is going to be thrilled about. Just then the back door opens, and all eyes snap over as Cooper walks out, immediately followed by Lucas, his mini me, running full force towards the back yard in full soccer gear, a soccer ball and his backpack in his arms, and he’s wearing with a huge grin to go with it.

Lucas is adorable, with his sandy brown hair just long enough to be shaggy, but not too long to look unkempt, a lot like Cooper’s, but it's much harder to say no to Lucas than it is to Cooper. Cooper’s story is an interesting one. He’s a tough nut to crack, but I can tell there’s more to him than the cheerful, carefree guy he shows the team. I’ve seen what it looks like when people hide their real emotions—and he may think he's fooling everyone, but he’s not fooling me.

“Speaking of promotion,” my uncle says cheerfully, surprising everyone. “There he is!”

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