Since I was a kid, making it into the World Hockey League was the ultimate goal. No relationship could match my first love, and after my rough childhood, I wasn't putting my heart on the line.
When Bellerive makes a successful bid to move the Califo...
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I've been with Sawyer and her siblings before, but normally it's just one at a time. To be around them all is like being in the middle of a game of tennis, and the ball is just teasing comments being volleyed back and forth at a speed I can barely follow. Most of the serves land inbounds and there are very few kill shots. The lines are clearly defined and seem to be respected.
For me, it's strange being immersed in such a big, generally happy, group. They gel. The same way a really cohesive team might. Which has never been my experience—there's usually one prick ready to puncture an otherwise positive atmosphere in the dressing room.
Their light ribbing is the first time in a long time that I do kind of wish for more of a family. Or maybe it's just my mom's family waiting in the wings that's making me reconsider. Chayton and his dad are the only people who've ever felt like family to me. Holidays and special occasions were quiet with just the three of us, and I thought I liked that best.
Maybe I just liked our trio because I didn't know any better, never experienced anything more. The foster homes I moved in and out of were often chaotic or not well managed. I wasn't lucky enough to land in a house that ever felt like my home.
Then I met Chayton's dad at thirteen, and he cared about me. Most of the initial caring was because of hockey, but it was the first time someone who didn't have to take notice of me saw me—really saw me—and liked what they saw. From there, my life went up and up and up. Because of them.
I ease my hand along Sawyer's thigh under the oversized dinner table that we're all seated around while catering staff mill about keeping everyone happy. Her family hi온라인카지노게임 is rich and deep, and I love that she's included me.
"Too much?" she whispers, leaning close.
I brush my lips across her cheek and then whisper back, "Never enough."
She gives me a delighted grin when I draw back. "Liar."
"Never enough of you."
She searches my expression before saying, "I believe that."
"Good. It's the truth."
"Logan," Gage says from across the table. "Hockey gossip says there might be a trade. Give us the inside scoop."
"You know as much as me," I say, raising my glass of water and taking a sip. "Rumors every year."
"Rumors about who?" Sawyer asks, her expression still amused.
"Your boy," Gage says. "If the team trades him, Bellerive can have more than one functioning line. They definitely don't have that now."
"What?" Sawyer turns to look at me, and her expression is curious, but there's something in her eyes that tells me she might be hurt. "Why would they trade you? Where would you go?"
"They'd trade me because I take up a lot of the team's salary cap. If I'm gone, they can get more players and draft picks to deepen the bench."
"Where would you go?" she asks again, her voice tight.
