Page 286 of Breaking the Pucking Rules

Sutton beams at the praise before Megan says her goodbyes and disappears.

“Right, well, I’m going to find a hotel,” Mom says, pushing to stand with her coffee in her hand.

“Oh, no, I can?—”

“Nonsense. You stay here.Catch up,” Mom says looking between us. If she’s going for innocent, she’s falling about an eternity from the mark. “I’m glad you’re okay, sweetie,” she says before kissing Sutton’s cheek. “I won’t be long. And who knows, maybe I’ll find some candy on my travels.”

Before we know it, Mom is closing the door behind her, leaving the three of us alone for the first time.

68

KODIE

Iswear, as Mom closes the door behind her, she sucks all the air in the room out with her.

The weight of everything I’ve felt since stepping off that airplane and seeing Mom standing there with worry etched onto her face finally starts to ebb away.

Sutton is okay. Of course, even a mild concussion is something to be concerned about, but as an ice hockey player, they’re inevitable.

I hate that she’s involved in a sport that will result in injuries, but I’d never stop her from doing something she loves so much.

I just wish I could protect her at all times.

Movement at the end of Sutton’s bed brings me back to the here and now, and my eyes shift between my daughter and the woman who’s been at her side since the incident earlier.

The second my gaze lands on Casey, my heart contracts.

She looks exhausted, and something tells me it’s not just the stress of the morning that’s causing it.

I hate myself for it. But I can’t deny that I want her to be struggling the way I am right now.

Doing the right thing fucking sucks.

My head knows I’ve done what I needed to do. It followed all the rules.

But my heart…

My heart is an entirely different story.

That is battered and broken, begging to be listened to. It doesn’t care about the rules; it just wants to beat the way it did when Casey was mine.

I rub my chest, right above my broken heart.

Silence surrounds us, but despite the thousands of things I’ve dreamed of saying to her, all my words seem to dry up.

Instead, I stand there staring between the two girls who have changed my life in so many different ways.

We’ve never been alone in a room like this before.

Hell, I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve allowed this close to Sutton.

Having Casey here with us, knowing she’s been taking care of my girl in my place…it makes my heart beat faster, and not in a bad way. In a really, really good way.

Casey shuffles forward again as I continue to battle to remember what words are.

“I…um…I should go,” Casey whispers as she moves toward the door.

“Dad,” Sutton begs weakly.