“But I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Yes, brat. You are, and here it is… no one is going to put you on a team just because your dad is Mikal Rustav. It might get you a conversation, a look, but a contract? Not unless the league I played in has done a complete one-eighty.”
“You think?”
“I know, baby. I know. Why do you have such a hang-up about this that you would lie to everyone?”
“There are some people who know, but most people just think he’s a coach who took pity on a poor orphaned player and offered to host me.”
“But he and Anya adopted you?”
“Yeah. I’d been living with them for a while.”
“How did…”
“I was living on the streets. Some guys were chasing me. I slipped into a building to hide, and I found myself in a hockey rink. That night changed my life. I’d never even seen a hockey game.”
“You’re joking, right?”
I smiled, a laugh escaping as I did. “No. I’m not. I just about killed myself the first time I stepped on the ice. I was so sure I could do it. It didn’t look all that hard. I’d been helping out around the rink in exchange for room and board.”
“They made…”
“No. Not at all. I was awestruck by the ice, the sport, and the arena. I dove in without being asked. But, in the back of my mind was the reminder that foster families and I never really vibed. I always helped out because I never wanted to be beholden.”
His face screwed up like it always did when he had something on his mind.
I sighed, “Yes. One of my foster dads abused me. That was the last straw. I took off and never looked back.”
He shot to his feet, pacing away from me. I wanted to follow him. My history wasn’t for the faint-hearted, but I knew if I moved, Alex and my head wouldn’t be happy. I didn’t want it to start hurting again, so I stayed put, petting Hawk, whose head popped up when Sasha moved.
“Daddy, it’s history. Anya and Mikal put me in therapy. It was non-negotiable if I wanted to stay with them. Life sucked for me and then it didn’t. I got lucky. The building I snuck into belonged to good people who wanted to help with no ulterior motives.”
He looked at me over his shoulder, tears glistening in his eyes. “Would you think badly of me if I told you how much I want to hunt down the fucker and teach him a lesson so painful he can never have sex again?”
“Would you think badly of me if I told you that makes me hot?”
He laughed silently, walking back to me, shaking his head as it dropped to his chest. “Ripping a man’s junk off turns you on?”
I smirked, pulling “No, but you wanting to protect and avenge me? Yeah. That does it for me.”
“I’ll always have your back, baby. I’ll always protect you.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“My pleasure, baby boy. Now, you need to call your parents.”
“I don’t know where any of my belongings are. I assume my clothes are here somewhere, but I don’t know about my phone,” I said with a shrug.
Alex pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen a few times. Ringing filled the room, then…
“Alex! Is he okay?”
“Hey, Mama.”
“Oh, thank goodness! Aiden, sweetheart! Are you okay?”
“I’m as good as can be expected. I’m sorry about all this. I don’t know how bad the Jeep is.”
