Because I was too busy drowning.
I was wrong. It’s not Exton who needs help. It’s me. Or maybe we can go together. Get a group discount and all that.
“You go, Emett!” Exton hollers! “Can we do that again? I need to get this on camera! The guys will never fu—” I send him a glare that cuts off the curse. “Figure out how you got it past the mighty Brick,” he amends, and thankfully, Emett doesn’t seem to catch onto it, feeling too happy about the goal.
“Mr. Brick! Did you see that? I did this and skated to the right, then left, and around you. I was so fast you didn’t even see me!” Emett explains his goal, mistaking left and right sides and not noticing that I wasn’t guarding the net at all, but none of it matters when his little green eyes light up with enough excitement to fuel the whole town.
His smiles are carefree and honest and leave me no choice but be ensnared by his pure goodness. But there’s also wisdom beyond his years in those green eyes. Wisdom that shouldn’t bethere yet, and I find myself wanting to set a safety net around him to protect it from life that can crush his goodness when I have no right.
Does he know? Does he know how close he came to dying? To never be?
The glove on my hand can’t hide the tremor running through it, so I clutch it hard, trying to suppress it.
“I really didn’t see that one coming.” My lips quirk up with a warm smile I haven’t felt in a long time.
It’s a lot of firsts for one day.
“If you weren’t so busy looking at his mom, maybe you’d see the actual puck.” Exton covers his comment with a laugh, but if he thought his amateur spy skills would fool Emett, he thought wrong.
“You were?” Emett asks and there’s a new sparkle in his eyes that has nothing to do with hockey. “Does that mean you thought about it?”
“Thought about what?”
“About dating my mom,” he says, in what he assumes is a quiet voice but no such luck.
“Emett, Jesus Christ,” Aurora squeals out of nowhere, startling both of us.
Only, where Emett looks guilty, I have a desperate urge to get the fuck off this ice, out of this town and state. Get as far away as fucking possible. But it’s already too late because her familiar scent of calming chamomile and sweet warm honey is already roaming the expanse of my lungs and mind. And like an addict who hasn’t touched his addiction for half a decade, I relapse.
Fast, brutal, and painful.
“Mommy, my name is just Emett.”
“I know. That’s not what I was—are you trying to distract me? Because it’s not going to work, mister.” She plants her cute little fists on her waist, giving him a stern look.
Backtrack…not cute, just fists. Regular, plain old fists.
The little dude just stares back at her as if he’s completely clueless. “Nope.” He pops theP,and Aurora sighs in exasperation.
“Just go get in the car, we need to get going.” She motions toward a pile of metal so old and beat up I assumed it was junk. And is that… I squint, getting a better look at the bumper.
Yep, that’s definitely duct tape that was painted over to sort of match the color of the car, holding it in place. Suddenly, a gripping feeling seizes my chest.
They can’t get into that car. What is she thinking? It’s a driving disaster.
“What? Already? But we just got here,” Emett cries out.
“It’s been three hours, honey. I’m sorry, we do have to get going. Grandpa’s nurse called.”
Whatever that means, it can’t be anything good, because immediately, Emett’s eyes that were just full of excitement and happy childhood, filled with worry and at least ten more years of life.
“Bye, Mr. Brick. Thank you for playing hockey with me today. I promise I’ll never ever forget it.”
Before I can blink, two small arms wrap around my legs, and I realize he’s hugging me. Immediately, I drop to my knees to give him a proper hug.
“How about we do it again sometime?” The words leave my mouth before my head can catch up, and I bite my tongue but it’s too late.
“Really?” His sad eyes light up once again, and I forget how stupid this idea is. I can’t stand to be around his mother for longer than a few minutes—I can’t see her again. But I also won’t take it back.
