Everyone.
My dad called me Bug in a voice that sounded like he had swallowed glass. Knox texted updates I knew were stripped down so I wouldn’t panic. Ryker had gone quiet in a way that made every message from him feel like it was vibrating with murder. Kellen, Emmitt, and Lyon rotated through with food, coffee, extra blankets, and that Bennett man hovering wherethey all looked like they wanted to pick me up and put me somewhere nobody could ever reach me again.
And Cade?
Cade was the worst of all.
Because Cade wasn’t really Cade.
He was there and not there at the same time, and it was slowly driving me out of my skin. The opening season game was Friday, which meant two-a-day practices, film, press obligations, team meetings, captain responsibilities, and whatever other hockey cult rituals required tape, rage, and a locker room that probably smelled like feet and emotional suppression. He left before I woke up half the time and came back looking exhausted, hair damp from a shower, jaw shadowed, body tight with restraint. When he was with me, he was careful. Soft. Gentle enough to make me want to scream into one of his expensive pillows until my ribs gave out.
He kissed my forehead.
My. Forehead.
Like I was eighty-seven and fragile and at risk of breaking a hip if his dick came near me.
He helped me with stairs. Brought me water. Checked my meds. Watched my face every time I breathed too hard. Slept beside me without pressing too close. Held me like he was terrified one wrong move would crack me open.
And I knew he was trying. I knew it. That was the part that made me feel insane. Because Cade Mercer doing everything right somehow felt wrong.
I missed him. I missed us. I missed the Cade who teased me until I wanted to punch him and kiss him in the same breath. I missed the version of him who looked at me like I was the worst idea with the greatest end result he had ever fully committed to. I missed him making me feel wanted, not monitored. Desired,not protected. Like a girl he couldn’t wait to touch instead of a girl he was afraid to touch.
By the time I made my way downstairs that night, the house had settled into a weird quiet that felt unnatural for Hockey House. No music shook the walls. No one yelled about beer pong. No freshman had gotten lost in the hallway and started crying into a bag of chips. The kitchen smelled like leftover pizza, clean counters, coffee, and the faint chemical-rink scent that clung to every guy in this place no matter how much laundry detergent they weaponized against it.
Briggs sat at the island eating cereal from a mixing bowl because apparently portion control was against his religion. Rider leaned against the counter, scrolling on his phone with one ankle crossed over the other like he was too pretty to experience stress. Ryan stood by the fridge drinking water, quiet and observant, while Easton hovered near the opening to the living room where Aura sat curled on one end of the couch under a blanket with her laptop open. Charm was beside her in satin pajamas, pretending to read while absolutely watching Easton watch Aura.
I shuffled into the kitchen in Cade’s oversized Fury hoodie, sleep shorts, fuzzy socks, and the kind of emotional instability that should’ve come with a warning label.
Briggs looked up first and immediately froze with the spoon halfway to his mouth. “I don’t like that face.”
“My face is bruised,” I said. “Be respectful.”
“No, that’s your I’m-about-to-start-something face.”
“That face is also bruised.”
Rider’s mouth twitched. “Still recognizable.”
I pointed at him. “You’re on thin ice, background hot guy.”
Ryan slowly lowered his water bottle. “Ouch.”
“Rude. Maybe I should call Cade?” Briggs said, petty enough to tell me he had taken “background hot guy” personally.
“No,” I said too quickly.
All three of them looked at me, and I hated men with pattern recognition.
“I am getting coffee,” I announced with dignity. “Please stop acting like I’m about to slip into a coma because I did it my damn self.”
Briggs glanced at Rider. “Is coffee code for something? Because she is being mean, and I don’t know why yet.”
“It is now,” Charm called from the living room.
Aura didn’t look up from her laptop. “Bliss, don’t climb on anything.”
I stopped with my hand halfway to the cabinet.
