“Griff,” I call out to him in line in front of me. “Griffin, help! Malik’s being bad!”
I skate to Griff, who tucks me under his arm. “Malik! Don’t be mean to the child!”
I scoff, untucking myself, “Child?” My voice cracks at the worst possible time, causing everyone around us to laugh. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I groan, “Whatever. I’m done.”
They continue to giggle like children.
Even Dean enjoys the chance to make fun of me. “I mean, you brought it on yourself, Ash. You know better than to provoke Malik about Alora. He’s a possessive monster when it comes to her.”
“You mean the love of my damn life? My everything?” Malik corrects him. “Then, yes, I’m a possessive monster about her.”
Rolling my eyes, I catch the puck from Finny, as it’s my turn up in line. I lead our trio against the two defenders, doing my best to focus on practice. But I also can’t help but wonder if I’ll ever find someone I can share that intensity with.
First, Griffin found Blair, and they complete and balance each other so beautifully. Then Malik and Alora … those assholes are damn soulmates. When is it my turn? Or Dean’s for that matter?
I don’t even know if letting someone in right now is possible after losing our mom. My heart feels like a statue in my chest, unable to beat properly or at all. I’m sure Dean feels the same way.
I can nearly hear our mom’s voice, telling us that love always finds you when you least expect it.
Maybe that’s true.
My problem is … I’ve never been very patient.
I don’t even realize how much time has passed until my daily reminder pops up on my phone to set my alarms for the next morning.
It’s not abnormal for me to get lost in my laptop and work, whether I’m learning more about coding or doing my actual homework for school.
Aside from hockey, computer science is my second biggest passion. I love learning anything and everything I can about it. I feel like I understand it better than I do English some days.
Hockey is my main purpose in life, and I want to play with my brother at every possible level. We’ve already done World Juniors together, and now college. Professional is the next step, and we already know where we’d like to go if we have a choice.
We do have some sway, being HEAU Legends. It’s like hockey royalty in the sports world. But we’re also realistic at the same time.
Ideally, we could be signed as a bonded pair, like pets in an animal shelter. But if we get to play professionally in any capacity, we’ll take it.
Shutting my laptop, I toss it beside me on my bed before swinging my sore and stiff legs off the edge.
Coach must’ve had a vendetta against someone on the team today from how hard he worked us at the end of practice.
I know he’s getting us ready for the season, but I may break completely before we even begin.
A slew of curse words and grunts leave me as I walk toward my door, my legs stretching out for the first time in hours. To befair, I have been sitting cross-legged in my bed, hunched like a goddamn shrimp over my computer.
Dean and I were going to watch a movie tonight in the theater down the hall, but he didn’t grab me, which means he’s isolating himself in his room, and if I had to guess who the culprit of this is … it’s our father.
Dean’s door is shut when I stride the few steps deeper into our wing. I knock a couple of times and hear him mutter something indiscernible. I wait for him to open the door or repeat himself, but nothing happens. So, I take matters into my own hands.
Grabbing the doorknob, I twist and push the door open. My heart knots in my chest.
He’s on his bed, flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling with a haunting emptiness in his stare that’s becoming far too recognizable as of late. Repeatedly, he tosses a squishy ball to the ceiling before catching it.
Leaning against the doorframe, I give him time and space to respond, taking this conversation at his pace.
Recently, I think he’s been disappearing into his mind more than he’s present. I don’t blame him.
I’ve been coping witheverythingin my own ways. But I know he deals with more shit from our father than I ever see. It’s because of him that I’m shielded from it.
It wasn’t his fault that he was adopted first. But he’s the older brother, by only three months, and therefore, he was chosen to be the heir of the Kensington empire.
