Mister Hockey (Hellions Angels #1)(51)
“Or what, you’ll slap me too?”
She didn’t crack a smile. “My sister put it all on the line for you. Make her a public laughingstock and what she did will feel like a gentle caress.”
“Hey. I can take it from here.” Breezy stood in the doorway, clutching a mug.
Neve forked her fingers into a V-shape and raised them to her eyes before slipping them around and poking his chest. “I’m watching you.”
“Neve!” Breezy yelped. “Thank you. That’s enough.”
“Love you, sis. You need anything, anything at all give a holler.”
With a “peace out” gesture, she was gone.
They were alone.
“Can I come in?”
Breezy nodded, stepping aside to let him enter. Her hands trembled. “So you heard the podcast? I’m sorry, I know I must have put you in an awkward position.”
“Never apologize. You were amazing. Correction. You are amazing. And I’m an idiot who doesn’t deserve you.”
She visibly exhaled.
“So you’re saying that you believe me?”
“I wasn’t thinking straight. I got scared. Scared that you didn’t see me. That you didn’t want me. That you only were interested in Westy. I wish you had told me the truth up front, but I get why you didn’t . . . why you couldn’t. Because my life is a lot. Like what happened in the past few days.” He took a breath. “It was my sister-in-law. Tamara, by the way. Travis’s wife. She’s the one who talked.”
Breezy’s eyes opened wide at his admission. “She leaked to the press?”
“My brother’s condition has deteriorated. It’s fucking sad. And I’ve been so focused on the season, and then my own condition, that I was out of reach. She felt alone. Abandoned. I’d sent money, but I’ve always deposited it into an account that he had access to and turned out he went on a wild gambling binge. Spent everything. They were broke and she hasn’t had a great relationship with my parents for years. They shut down hard after Travis was injured and she’s felt abandoned. I had called her and let slip to Travis about my condition. He told her and in a moment of desperation, she went to the press, hoping to sell my retirement as a scoop to one of the tabloids. It didn’t work but the legitimate press got wind of it and . . . well, you know what happened.
“That’s where I’ve been the last few days. I had to get out there and make sure my brother was set up. And I worked things out with Tamara. She’s had a hard time, more than any of us could imagine. But I’ve committed to paying off their house and setting up a college fund for my nephew. I have been blessed with more money than any one man needs to be comfortable and helping ease her burden and stress is the right thing to do. She was sorry and I believe her. I’ve never had to walk in her shoes.”
She was quiet a long moment. “Did you see your brother?”
Jed shook his head. “He doesn’t want to. I’m hoping that someday that will change, but for now I have to respect his wishes. He doesn’t have a lot left. The least he can do is determine his company. I spoke to doctors and they suspect it’s full-blown CTE.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as if swallowing came with great difficulty. “It’s such complete bullshit. He never did anything wrong. All he did was play a game. That’s all. Fuck. He was just a kid. It’s not fair. Why wasn’t it me?”
“I’m sorry.” Breezy set her mug on a table and as she walked toward him, the strangeness between them dissipated, as if blown away by an invisible wind. She couldn’t help his brother, but she could help this man in front of her.
“Breezy.” He whispered her name like a prayer and then she was there, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close. And for a moment, he was able to let go of the grief that had been crushing him. It was easier when she offered to help share the load. It didn’t pay to be the strong, silent type when it came to being in a relationship.
And it was time he admitted he needed backup. He glanced down at her, curls pinned back beneath that polka-dot headband. In her own steady way, she was better than a princess. She was a Viking shield maiden. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t believe you.”
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t make it easy,” she said ruefully.
“But I should have because I love you, Breezy Angel.” His lips brushed hers as his hands migrated to his favorite place on Earth, the dip in her waist.
“You do?” She breathed against him, a tremble in her voice.
“So fucking much. And I’m never going to get tired of telling you. I want to be the one who makes you believe in fairy tales.”
“You do, and I love you for it.” She wrapped her arm around his neck. “And I’ve just thought of the perfect book for you.”
“That a fact?”
“Have you ever read The NeverEnding Story?”
“No.” He nipped her lower lip. “But I’m liking the sound of it.”
Chapter Twenty-One
. . . a month later
“This is the last one.” Jed sauntered into the bedroom with a cardboard box. “And I got to say, if owning too many shoes was a crime, you’d be staring down a life sentence without the possibility of parole.”