She ignores us, talking with Frankie. “I’ve got some time before the school year starts. I need to make sure everything is all set here before heading home.”
“I agree. Offseason training doesn’t start for a few weeks,” Frankie confirms. “The two of us can knock it out in a week, I think.”
“Or we can hire someone,” Graham tells them, but they wave us off.
“It’s a lost cause. Just let them be,” I tell him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
Heading to the fridge, I grab a fresh beer for myself and lean back against the counter, taking in this group of people.
When I got traded to Nashville, this was the very last place I thought I would end up. I thought I would be on an island of one playing out the last few years of my career before moving back to Denver.
To the only home I’ve ever known.
Now? Now this ranch house on the outskirts of Nashville is the only one I can imagine. Moving in with Graham? It was so far off my radar, I would have laughed if you told me.
But it’s the only place I want to be. Here, in our home with the family the two of us have amassed. Ourrealfamily and our found families through hockey.
“Hey.” Graham walks over, wrapping his arms around me. He slots perfectly against me—like he was made for me and me alone. “You okay?”
“Perfect. Couldn’t be any better.”
Graham presses a warm kiss to my lips, and I hate that the noise of the kitchen rings heavy in my ears. Now I really wish that everyone was gone.
Because I want to have my way with this man in every room of our home.
“It can wait.” Graham pulls back, whispering in my ear.
“Think you can read my mind?” I quirk a brow at him, draping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close.
“Yes.” He nods. “I know exactly what you’re thinking. Trust me, I want it too.”
“We should probably eat if we’re going to have any energy to finish unpacking today.”
“Ugh. You’re right.” Graham drops his head into my neck before spinning around to face the crowd that’s gathered around the island.
Paper plates are filled with greasy triangles of pizza as the conversation starts to filter into my brain.
“And to think, if I had a kid, he could’ve ended up with Graham,” Colin tells Dad.
“What in the world are you talking about?” Knox sighs.
“I’m just saying. If Peyton and I had kids, Graham would’ve been lucky to end up with them.”
“No way. Not on my watch,” Graham interjects.
Colin throws up his hands. “It was hypothetical.”
“I’ll take on your kid.”
“Again, hypothetical.” Colin glances toward Knox. “Tell him.”
“Oh no. You got yourself into this mess. You can get out of it.”
“Is it always like this?” Marcus asks. As the new guy, he hasn’t been around all of us together to know what they’re like.
Before I can answer, Mom is interrupting their conversation. “I swear, the older you all get, the more like teenagers you act.”
“Is this what we have to look forward to?” Nick asks.
