Grey’s eyes flew open and in an instant, he mock wrestled Canyon into a headlock and was ruffling his hair.
I gaped at him. What a scoundrel. He totally faked being asleep so he could stay here.
But Canyon was laughing, so I guess things were kind of okay.
God. I internally slapped myself in the face. I should’ve forced him out the door way earlier to avoid this.
“Alright, alright,” I told the boys to calm them a bit. “Watch your hand, Grey,” I warned. He had complete disregard for the fact that he had a cast on.
“Okay, Mom,” Grey’s voice was laced with annoyance, but he flashed me a genuine smile.
Canyon had him pinned down then.
“Ya got me, little man,” he grunted.
Canyon looked down at him, I could tell his little wheels were turning behind those playful eyes.
“Why are you here, Coach?” He asked curiously.
Grey cut his eyes over to me.
“Can I let you in on a secret?” He asked Canyon while still keeping eye contact with me. I gave me a warning look and shook my head.
Canyon nodded at him.
“I love your mom. I am completely and absolutely in love with Julianna Louise Hurley and I have been since I was 16,” he told him matter of factly.
I felt like the breath was punched out of me. I couldn’t believe he just told him that.
An awkward silence seemed to last for a full minute. Canyon just stared between Grey and I, and I held my breath, waiting for the worst.
But then laughter erupted from Canyon. Deep, full belly laughter, and he shrieked, “What?!”
I shrugged my shoulders at Grey and pulled a face. I guess that wasn’t so bad.
“Your mom’s a hottie, kid,” Grey said, throwing me a wink.
“Ohh too far, coach! That’s my mom!” Canyon yelled, fake gagging then.
I grabbed up my robe from the floor in my bathroom. I heard Canyon and Grey whispering to each other, and it made me smile that they got along so well.
“I’ll make some coffee and breakfast for you boys,” I told them.
“No, we got it!” Canyon called, and then the two of them were racing off down the hallway.
Chapter Thirty-five: Grey- Present
Happiness. That’s what I was feeling. It was foreign to me for so long, but I was feeling joy now. I felt more alive than I had in years. These past few weeks were such a stark contrast to how I’d lived the past nine years, just bitterly going through the motions.
But now I had people to care about and people who cared about me. It was an amazing feeling.
I was basically living at Jule’s house at this point. The past two weeks I’d spent every night with the two of them, and I knew I could live like this forever.
I was making moves during the day, becoming an assistant coach for League’s development program. They basically had kids all day- running an online education program so that they could be at the rink and on the ice as much as possible through the day. This was of course only in addition to coaching Canyon’s team.
Jules was making moves too. Max convinced her to pick up a couple shifts of coaching Learn to Skate with the toddlers during the day.
It was surreal to see her on the ice at the League. It was like we made it back to where we should’ve been in the first place. Here and together.
