Page 43 of Keeping it Real

“Jordan is between the pipes tonight.I have the night off.”

Sheridan looked concerned.

Alek waved her off.“That’s the normal game plan when we play back-to-back games.”

His explanation didn’t seem to placate her.“This ...us ...me and Finn being here.It isn’t too much, is it?We haven’t thrown you off your game, have we?Because Collin said the transfer of guardianship should be finalized by the end of the year, depending on the court schedule.”

He was across the kitchen in three long strides, pinning her in place with his palms pressed to the quartz countertop on either side of her waist.

“The agreement was you’d stay until the end of the season,” he growled at her.“End of discussion.”He lifted her chin with his finger.“Nothing about you and Finn being here is throwing me off my game.You hear me?”

She nodded slightly.Her eyes were wide, and her breathing a little fractured.

“Good,” he said, talking about more than her agreement.

He could feel her body responding to his nearness.Just like last night.She wasn’t as immune to him as she tried to appear.

Ah, the hell with it.

Alek tipped her chin up higher as he leaned closer.Before his lips could make contact, however, Finn could be heard stomping down the stairs.

“Are these the sneakers you want to wear, Alek?”he called as the rubber of his own shoes squeaked on the kitchen floor.

Sheridan quickly slipped beneath Alek’s arm.“Come on, Hattie,” she called.“It’s time for your walk.Don’t forget your manners and your inhaler, Finn.I’ll be by to pick you up after Pilates.”

She and the dog disappeared through the mudroom door.

“I’m ready when you are,” Finn was saying.“I’m suddenly really hungry.”

He wasn’t the only one.

Twelve

“You were right.These are the best pancakes ever,” Finn mumbled around the food in his mouth.

Valentine laughed as he transferred a piece of bacon from his plate onto Finn’s.“I think you almost put away as many as I did, Finnegan Begin Again.Here.Take this as a token of my respect for your gluttony.”

Finn’s belly laugh echoed throughout the canteen.The sound of his unbridled joy eased the tension in Alek’s chest.Given everything Jamie’s son had been through this past month—losing both parents, being uprooted to a new home and a new school—Alek shouldn’t have been caught off guard by Finn’s demeanor this morning.

Still, he’d been scared shitless.Finn’s personality was so much like his father’s.Happy- go-lucky.Outgoing.Resilient.Sometimes it was easy to forget the boy was only eight years old.Seeing him so down made Alek want to move heaven and earth to bring the smile back to his face.He was relieved that Finn’s funk had disappeared.

“You skating with us, Cobert?”Picard asked from the doorway.The Mayhem captain had already donned his helmet and pads.

“Can I?”Finn exclaimed.

“I don’t see why not,” Picard replied.He glanced at the Mayhem’s head coach who was refilling his water bottle.“Any objections, Coach?”

Coach shook his head.“I’m excited to see what you’ve got, little man.”

Valentine knocked knuckles with Finn.“Let’s go get you suited up.”

Alek had always considered his teammates to be his brothers and the Mayhem as an extension of his family.But their acceptance and treatment of Finn touched him in a way he couldn’t articulate.Not one person had questioned why Jamie had left Alek in charge of his son.Or Alek’s decision to honor his former best friend’s request.

He was also sure there were those in the hockey community who knew the circumstances behind the end of Alek and Jamie’s friendship.Yet if there were whispers, he never heard them.For that, he was grateful.

Fifteen minutes later, the Mayhem were on the ice.Jordan would be taking all the goalie reps today.That freed up Alek to give Finn some pointers on stick handling.

“As if a goalie knows what he’s doing.”Valentine shook his head.“Come let the first line show you how it’s done.”