Page 62 of Dirty Puck

“You can let me use the truck. Then once we have Claudia here, you can take me back to the apartment to clear out the refrigerator and get my car.”

“Done,” he said. “This is the best arrangement in the world. No fuss. It’s no wonder you women like to read about it in your romances.”

Right... No fuss.

Why did it hurt so much to hear him say that?

If fuss equaled emotion, which I think was what he meant, would it be so bad to have a little fuss? A dropper full, maybe?

I still had no idea if Claudia would even go for moving in to Reece’s place for now. I needed to be there, but she owed nothing to me or Reece. I got it was a big ask. It’s just… leaving her behind felt wrong. We were a family and needed to see this through as a family.

Since she was my first stop, I’d find out soon enough. After giving Char a hand squeeze, grabbing the keys from Reece, with a quick peck on the cheek, I walked back out to the truck and headed for home.

With each passing stoplight, I missed my boy more and couldn’t wait to get my Benny hugs on, to the point that I sprinted from the truck to get inside. It only took one knock for Claudia to answer. My boy peeked from behind her legs, and when I squatted down to his level, he threw himself into my arms. I scooped him up, standing to walk inside Claudia’s place so we could talk.

“So, I have something to discuss with you,” I said, deciding to rip the bandage off.

“How is Char?”

We walked over to the sofa, each of us taking an end with Benny on my lap. I pivoted to see Claudia better.

“She’s here in Charleston at Baker’s house. Here’s the thing: I lost my cleaning job when I took time off to help him.” She gasped, as one would in this situation. “I was going to ask for my job at Slits back, but Baker asked me to look after his mom instead. But here’s where it gets a little iffy. He wants me to stay there at his place, me and Benny to make iteasier. And he’d like you there too. I want you there. Char would love your company. And he understands we’re a bit early in our relationship to be moving in together, so he’ll keep up our places here in case it doesn’t work out.”

Once I got it all out, I waited for a response. She gave me nothing for several long beats. My hands started feeling clammy and gross. I needed her to sayyes.

Then, when she finally did speak, she blew my mind. A slow, sly smile spread over her face. “Everything I need is already at his house.”

My mouth dropped open like a fish. “It is? How? When?”

“Those nice young men from the hockey team. They got the key to your place from me, remember. And then once they took your living room furniture and packed up Benny’s room, they asked if I had anything I wanted moved to Baker’s place for my room. When I said they had made a mistake, the super handsome one, Grant, said that there was no mistake. Baker told him I’d be moving in as well.”

“Are you mad?”

“Mad? That my family wants me around?Psh…” She swatted her hand in front of her. “So long as you continue to want me around, I’d like to stay around. You and Benny mean everything to me.”

I leaned over, pulling her into a one-armed hug, squishing Benny between us. I couldn’t help it. Apparently, I’d worried over nothing. Shewantedto stay with us. Happy didn’t begin to cover how I felt right now.

The emotion of the moment almost got the better of me, but I cleared my throat and said, “Then let’s go to the store.”

Point to Bree.

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

REECE

Getting Bree to move into my home would probably stand as one of the top five ideas I’d had in my life. The medical staff worked their butts off to keep Mom out of pain and Bree and Claudia kept her company. When we had to leave for a stretch of away games, I left feeling confident that everything was handled because Bree handled shit.

And sweet Jesus, we fucked hardcore every night until I had to leave. It never got old. The opposite. It got better the more I learned what she liked and what she loved. She picked up on the things that did it for me, making sure to hit those every time. I’d been in relationships before, but nothing like this and it wasn’t even real. I never planned to do another real one again for the rest of my life. She got me. I got her. We had mutual respect. The years I had on her didn’t factor into this at all because her life required her to be older than her age and I reaped the benefits.

Now I had to get my head in the game. We were coming to the end of a three-night stretch with the Jets. Andreas caught the puck on a breakaway, heading right for me. We’d takenthe first night. The Jets barely squeaked by yesterday. If he scored, they took this two games to one. If I stopped it, then it went into overtime and it was up to Bishop, Bonner, and Jones to bring the win home, with me guarding the goal. He slapped at the puck, sailing it across the ice. I dropped down to my knees, deflecting the puck right as the buzzer sounded.

Tie.

The men took their positions, with Bishop gaining control of the puck. He slapped it to an open Bonner, who sailed it to Jones when Bonner lost the shot. I watched Jones’s mastery as he lined up and cracked his stick against the ice, sending that puck gliding right into their goal.

Victory. The Jets fans were none-too-pleased, judging by the boos echoing around the arena. We smiled and waved to the few Copperhead fans in the audience as we left the ice.

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