Page 146 of Puck Me Back to Life

Yeah.

I lean back against the couch cushions. The anger arrives quietly.

Dante again: Honestly...

I'm glad you weren't there.

I huff out a humorless laugh. He's probably right.

Dante: We both would've jumped him.

I picture Noah's face. William's face layered over it. The comment he'd made yesterday. Coward. The thought alone makes my hands curl into fists.

Not because Kai can't defend himself. Because he shouldn't have to. Not after everything.

I force my fingers to relax before I answer.

Thanks for sticking up for him.

Didn't think twice.

He's one of our own now.

I read it twice.

Simple words.

Nothing dramatic.

Nothing sentimental.

Just the truth.

He's one of our own.

For two years, Kai has carried himself like an outsider wearing an NHL jersey. Like he was borrowing someone else's place in the locker room. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who'd stopped seeing him that way.

A smile creeps onto my face before I realize it. Maybe Kai doesn't know it yet. Maybe he still thinks he's standing alone. But he's wrong. He's got me. He's got Dante. Hell, judging by the way half the room looked ready to defend him yesterday, he's got more teammates than he realizes.

He just hasn't figured that out yet.

I glance down the hallway toward my bedroom. The condo is silent again. Kai is still sleeping. For the first time in what I suspect has been a very long time.

I decide then and there that I'll let him sleep as long as he needs. Practice can wait. The world can wait. For one afternoon, he deserves the peace.

“Where does that go?” Kai is sitting in my bed, staring at the toy held in my hand.

“Where do you think?”

“It's huge!”

“You take me just fine.”

That shuts Kai up fast.

I pinch his chin. “This punishment is for arguing with me earlier. Do you really want another one?”

Kai eyes the prostate massager. Kai shakes his head.