Page 143 of My Brother's Enemy
“What?”
“Nothing.” I lined up for a third shot and didn’t miss this time. “So. Yeah. This is our conversation, huh?”
“Seems like.” His tone got serious.
So was mine. And I chanced a look at him again, seeing him watching me.
A burst of nerves exploded inside of me. “I don’t know what to say here.”
“You can say anything you want,” he remarked, lightly. “I’d deserve it.”
“Why?” I rounded to face him directly. Hockey, wiffle pucks, the net, all of it was forgotten.
His face shuddered, but I asked further, “Why didn’t he love me?”
“He?”
“Keith.”
He flinched. “I—I don’t know, to be honest. He—” He glanced at me, uncertain.
“Don’t hold back. I was there. I know how he treated me.”
His mouth twisted before he swung, distractedly, at nothing on the floor. He was just swinging while he was thinking. “I don’t know why he treated you the way he did. I think it was a mix that you were a girl. He wanted a boy. You weren’t going to be in the NHL, though you could be in the women’s professional league. And you were nice, Rain. You didn’t demand his attention. I think that was part of it too.”
“It wasmyfault.”
“You didn’t demand your space. You were owed it. Fuck. You were owed so much more than you were given, but you never cried about it or threw a fit. It was like you were nothing.”
Now I flinched.
“I didn’t mean?—”
I waved that off. “Don’t. I acted like nothing because that’s how I was treated by you, by him, by Daniel.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.” I averted my gaze to keep from breaking down. I hadn’t expected our conversation to be like this, where I wanted to cry because Dane seemed to care. I had known he wanted to apologize. He already had, and I knew Lindy wanted to meet me, the girls too, but actually seeing he cared was a whole other experience.
“What did I do wrong?” I whispered the words to myself.
“Nothing.”
I met Dane’s gaze. He grimaced. “You did nothing wrong. You, just, were born into the wrong family.”
Yeah. Maybe. I didn’t know.
I decided then and there I wasn’t going to tell him about Mal. I hadn’t met my real father yet. That was planned for late in the summer. I needed time, which Mal understood and he gave it. I’ve been focused on the team and on my relationship. My connection to the Grays’s owner hadn’t been leaked. The pressdidn’t know, and I hadn’t been sure if I wanted to let Dane know or not.
I was going to keep some things to myself. It’d come out after this season was done, when I was no longer acting as their consultant. Or maybe it would never come out. I didn’t care either way but I was okay with any of it, or all of it.
I was content.
I’d done my job. I helped get the team to the first round of playoffs, but I wanted them to get to the second round. My brother was standing in front of me, talking to me, apologizing to me, wanting me to be in his life and his family’s life. And I had a man waiting for me upstairs that would tear the world apart for me if I asked.
Dane gave me an odd look. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” It was the truth. “I’m okay. I’m going to be okay.” I laughed. “I’m going to be better than okay, and for someone like me, that means the world.” He was still giving me that weird look. I ignored it and stepped over to hug him.
