Page 247

It was only meant to be a quick one, but the second his tongue sneaks out, I forget all about quick, and I lose myself in him again.

“Come with me tomorrow?” I say, my lips still against his.

“Yeah?” he asks, hope flashing in his eyes.

“Yeah. My brothers want to meet you. They’d love to hear what you think of their game.”

“And your dad?” he asks hesitantly.

Anxiety knots my stomach at the thought of turning up tomorrow with Garrett in tow. Dad will probably just assume he’s a friend, which will be weird enough, because I’ve never brought a friend home with me before. But you know what? Fuck it.

Fuck his opinion. Fuck whatever he says.

I’m not heading home tomorrow to see him. I’m going for my brothers. He can say whatever he wants. It makes no difference to me.

He made it clear years ago that nothing I ever do will be good enough. I refuse to listen to that narrative any longer—not when I have a man at my side that tells me the opposite as often as possible. I might struggle to accept his praise, but I know for a fact he’s telling the truth. If I were as bad as my father seems to think, I wouldn’t have gotten where I have. And fuck what all the critics say; my position in the NHL has nothing to do with the Nash men who have come before me. They don’t care about legacy; they care about talent and skill.

“What about him? If he doesn’t accept you being there, it’ll be the final straw for us.”

Honestly, there’s a part of me that hopes that’ll be the case. I just wish my brothers were a little older so I didn’t have to deal with him just to see them.

“Yeah?” Garrett asks.

“Yeah. If it weren’t for Hux and Ryk, we’d have been done a long time ago. In ten years’ time, he’ll be nothing to me.”

“You’re an incredible big brother. They’re so lucky to have you.”

A heavy sigh spills from me as I sink deeper into the mattress.

I might try and do everything I can, but it will never be enough to make up for all of our father’s failings.

“I can’t wait to meet them properly,” he muses, snuggling closer. “And I can’t wait to see you in big-brother mode. I bet it’s going to be hot as hell.”

Nerves assault me as I pull up to the rink where Hux and Ryk are playing their game this morning.

Thankfully, they didn’t have an early puck drop, or I’m pretty sure Garrett and I would have been late. It took us way longer than I expected to finally roll out of bed this morning, and then we spent even longer in the shower, making sure we were both nice and clean in all the important places…

It was a good morning, and if I ignore the dread of seeing my father soon, which is sitting heavy in my gut, then I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a good day, too.

When I don’t immediately make a move to get out of the car I rented to get here, Garrett reaches over and takes my hand in his.

He doesn’t say a word, but it isn’t necessary. Just knowing he’s here makes all of this easier.

I glance over and find concern wrinkling his brow.

“Are they already here?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I rasp. The first car I saw when I pulled into the lot was my father’s.

No matter how many games I manage to catch, it will always shock me to see his presence at my brothers’ games. He was hardly ever at mine, even when he was at home.

It’s not a good thing, though. I’m not naive enough to think that he’s suddenly started supporting his sons. All I can hope is that it doesn’t make his criticism worse because he sees every game firsthand.

“You sure you want me to come in? I really don’t mind if you’d prefer I wait out here.”

“No, I need you in there. Just…” I glance down at our joined hands.

“Friends,” Garrett states, giving me a free pass from saying anything. “I’ll follow your lead. You say whatever you need to say.”