“I’m still a brother. I’ll always be a brother, even if I’m no longer single. We’re all buddies, right?”
“Yeah, right,” they mumbled and nodded as one. We held up our beer bottles in a toast to each other.
“Besides,” I added. “We’ve decided to cool it for a while so she can concentrate on her education and I can concentrate on my game.”
All eyes studied me skeptically. They didn’t buy what I was selling. I shrugged. They could take it as the truth or leave it. Didn’t matter to me.
“Is being in love grounds for being kicked out of the Puck Brothers?” Kaden mused.
“We didn’t discuss that point,” Steele said with total seriousness. “I knew we need to write that shit down, like our rules and stuff.”
A collective groan reverberated around the table.
“I’m not losing the bet.” Not yet, anyway. “And I’ll still be a Puck Brother. We’re all brothers on the ice, and we play with a puck. And Kaden is just as guilty of monogamy as I am.”
No one disputed my statement, and I successfully diverted their attention to Kaden.
“So, Kaden…” Cave turned the attention to my roomie, and I sat back to watch the fireworks. “Who is this mystery woman?”
Kaden’s smile faded, and he closed off completely. “No one you fuckheads know.”
“Why the secrecy? You bringing her to Ice’s New Year’s Eve party?”
“I don’t know. I’ll ask her. She doesn’t like parties much.” Something in his eyes indicated he was lying, and one of the guys jumped on it.
“How the hell did you ever meet her then?”
“At a club in Portland.”
“She lives in Portland?” Ziggy asked.
“I don’t know.” Kaden took a long pull on his beer and avoided our astonished gazes. He didn’t know where she lived? His response was mind-boggling.
“What’s up with this woman? Is she in witness protection or something?” Cave asked.
“She’s very private. I don’t ask too many questions, and neither does she. She doesn’t even know I play hockey or my real name. I probably don’t know hers either. This is fun and secretive and sexy. That’s all.”
We exchanged glances with each other and dropped the subject.
**Caroline**
The next few days were tense, but finally the kids worked their way out of their funk, and I was no longer public enemy number one.
“When is Easton coming back?” Heath asked me at the dinner table, as he shoveled in enough spaghetti to feed two teenage boys, or so it seemed to me. Mona lay under the dining table at Heath’s feet. She’d figured out pretty fast the kids spilled stuff and slipped her goodies during their meal.
Heath’s question surprised me. Neither of my children had mentioned Easton since the phone call with Fran. I’d broken Fran’s heart with my selfish actions, and I hated myself for it. She’d never been anything but good to me. This holiday had to be hard on them after the death of their son, and I’d spent the day without giving them or their son a thought, while fucking Easton that night.
I’d tried to call Fran and Howard a few times since, but my calls went unanswered. My kids loved the Mills and so did I. They were the only grandparents they had. My own parents had been nonexistent in their lives. They needed as many stabilizing factors as possible. And Fran and Howard were stable examples. They were good people, and I knew they’d get over their hurt and come around. I even bought a card, wrote a heartfelt note, and mailed it to them.
We finished our meal, and the kids curled up on the couch with Rusty and Mona to watch a movie. Junie helped me wash dishes and clean the kitchen.
“Have you heard from Easton?” She knew all about the issues with Fran and me kicking Easton out of the condo that morning.
“He’s texted me a few times. Just asked how things were going.”
“Did you respond?”
“No. I let him too far into my life. Now it’s time to back him out. He might be the kids’ biological father, but he hasn’t earned the right to be called Dad.”
Junie arched a brow and shook her head.
“What?”
“He hasn’t earned the right? Listen to yourself.”
“I don’t know what you’re getting at. Spell it out.”
“You want him to be part of their lives, but you want full control. Isn’t parenting a combined effort?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Mark let you deal with the kids. He was the fun dad who didn’t discipline them. He left the hard stuff to you. Maybe Easton wants more of a partnership. Have you discussed this with him?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Because you’re not willing to give up full control.” When Junie’s voice took on that superior tone, it grated on my last nerve.
“They’re my children. I have control. He does not.”
“I don’t think he sees it that way. You gave up full control when you contacted him. Don’t you see that?”
I hung my head. I did see that, but I fought it every step of the way.
**Easton**
The next day was a travel day and then we’d play a game in Vegas the following night and return to Seattle after the game and in time for New Year’s Eve.
Once we landed, I deposited my bags in the room and ran into Ziggy in the hotel bar. Most of our teammates had taken off to a casino across the street.
“What are you doing here?” I was surprised. Ziggy was the biggest partier on the team. He never missed a chance to party it up.
“Just taking it easy for once.” Ziggy shrugged. Something was bothering him, but I wasn’t one to push. If he wanted to tell me, he would. As far as I knew, he might be nursing the mother of all hangovers. A guy had to take a break once in a while.
“What about you? You’re not hanging out with the bros either.”
Ziggy and I had never been tight, but for some reason, I unloaded on him about the kids and Caro. He was a shockingly good listener and didn’t say anything until I was done with the entire sordid story.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.