Page 11 of Pucking Them
I turn my head, worriedly watching Shay on the soccer pitch, as he tackles Eden. Sweat glistens on his abs, trailing down the V-line, as his low shorts slip down his hips.
Shay gives a sunny laugh, as he dazzlingly dodges around Eden like he is in a dance.
Eden winces and then runs after his twin.
My eyes narrow.
Has Eden taken any pain meds this morning?
“They won’t.” D’Angelo follows my gaze.
“You don’t know that.” My chest is tight. “Also, what if the Bay Rebels decide to trade Shay, seeing him as the one who caused this scandal? You know that they told us not to cause any morenoise.”
When D’Angelo draws back from me, I feel cold.
Suddenly, his voice is deadly cold. “Who said that to you? Someone threatened you.”
“Dad,” I whisper.
Dad, Austin McKenna, was a pro player who won the Stanley Cup. Then he was caught in a scandal that tore apart his life, along with mine and my brother’s, Cody.
After that, Dad became coach to the Bay Rebels with the aim to redeem players like himself.
Yet I’ve come to discover how much of that is a lie.
How much of my own childhood was.
D’Angelo shoves himself to his feet, jerkily shoving his hands in his pockets.
He stares across at Shay like if he looks away from him for a moment, then he may be stolen away from us.
As if by the strength of his dominant gaze alone he can hold onto our sub.
“I can’t believe that I once idolized that man.” D’Angelo is breathing hard. “I will find a way to break us free of coach’s control by the end of this season. Shay is going nowhere. But why the hell is he focusing on Shay and not me?”
I scramble to my feet. “Dad said that things have fallen apart since he joined the team. He blames Shay forruiningeverything. Shay had that one-night stand with me, then his twin slept with me. After we moved into the same house, Shay and you fell in love too and…you kissed him on the ice. Dad thinks that he hascorruptedboth of us. He called him…”
I can’t say the word.
I won’t repeat it.
D’Angelo’s eyes flash like he’d heardwhoreanyway. “Your dad was in a poly relationship himself.”
“One that went wrong and destroyed his career. He’s been pretending that he’s okay with…” I gesture between us. “…but I think that he’s always been looking for a way to break us up.”
“I’m no longer making excuses for him. No one is hurting our sub or makingyoufeel bad about our love. I know that this must be hard…”
D’Angelo holds his arms open to me.
I dive to rest against his chest. “He’s my dad, you know? What’s hard is knowing that he’s not the hero who I tricked myself into believing he was when I was growing up. It’s even harder to accept just how much worse he’s been hurting Cody all these years than I knew, and how much worse he wants to hurt me now.”
It’s agony to say that out loud.
But finally, I must face this.
For Cody, Shay…for myself.
“He won’t get the chance.” D’Angelo tightens his hold on me. “The first job will be proving to coach that Shay is the star who led us into these Conference Finals. Our cucciolo didn’truinanything. He is the spark that has ignited our success.”
