Page 19 of Dumping the Puck (Men of Havoc #4)

We’ve been home for four days. And each day Kayce has come home beat down and sad. The guys are pissed at him, and the trainers are pushing him. It’s psychological warfare over there. And I only know because I had to ask Charley. He won’t utter one word about it to me.

After Charley spilled to me all that was happening I decided to make this night all about him. I’m making his favorite dinner of cubed steak with mashed potatoes, and peach cobbler for dessert. I’ve got the hot tub all set up for him to slip in and relax.

The front door clicks as I take the cobbler out of the oven. Then the telltale sound of his bag hitting the marble floor, followed by his shoes.

“Hey, handsome.” I rush over to the front door after dropping the cobbler on the hot plates. “Welcome home.”

“I’m going to shower.” He looks me up and down, pausing at the apron. “I’m not Cameron you know. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“I know you don’t need me to. I want to.” I pout. His grouchiness isn’t what I was expecting. “Go take a shower. I’ll plate dinner.” I change my pout into a big fake smile to keep the tears at his reaction away.

“June.” He calls out to me but I don’t stop. I keep walking back to the kitchen and don’t turn around until I hear his footsteps going up the stairs.

I suck in a deep breath. What the hell set him off? This isn’t the first time I’ve cooked for him. Why did he react that way?

Instead of dwelling on the feelings of inadequacy, I chalk it up to what’s happening at the stadium and plate up his meal. I’m lighting the last candle on the table when he comes back down.

He pulls me to his chest, and hugs me tight. “June, I’m so sorry.” He kisses me on the forehead. “Seeing you in that apron, thinking you need to make things better just made me think of how Cameron treated you, and then here I am doing the same shit he did. You deserve better, you deserve my best. Not the crappy version of me coming home these days.”

Ah. That’s the problem. “Johnny, you listen to me and you listen good; you are nothing like Cameron. You put it all on the line for me, and the least I can do to repay you for everything you’ve done for me is to cook your favorite meal and give you a massage before letting you soak in the hot tub. So shush up, and sit down.”

I pull out his chair, and walk off to grab his plate.

“Yes ma’am.” I return with our plates, and he’s standing behind my chair instead of sitting down. “You didn’t think I wasn’t going to pull out your chair for you, did you?”

I roll my eyes. Now his southern manners find his soul. I place the plates on the table and take my seat next to him.

“We have another game tomorrow. It’s the third one I’ll have to sit in the suite for and then we travel. So I’ll be in the suite watching another game I could make a difference in. I guess I’m just extra annoyed with the whole thing. I know I deserve it, but it still sucks.” He looks at me. “And that is not a dig at you. I’d do it all over again.”

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could go back in time and have more sense to make you stop. I wouldn’t have gotten on the plane with you if I’d known, or even stopped to think about you instead of me.”

“I would have thrown you over my shoulder and put you on the plane anyway. There would have been no point in fighting it.” He smiles.

Why does it turn me on to think about that?

“When are you leaving? I have a wedding this weekend.” I’m actually excited for this wedding. It’ll be my first day back on the job as a wedding photographer. I’m sure I gave the wedding vendor world enough gossip for a week and hopefully I’m long forgotten by this weekend.

“We leave Friday night. I won’t be home for about a week, or a little longer. We’re going on the northwest road trip.” He shovels another large bite into his mouth and moans when the buttery mashed potatoes hit his taste buds.

“Oh. I didn’t realize you were going so far away.”

“Don’t worry. Charley is staying in Texas, and the guards know that Mom and Cameron aren’t allowed here.”

“I wasn’t worried. What are they going to do? Call and harass me? They already do that.” I shake my head. I don’t know how they still have numbers to call me from, I’ve blocked so many over the last few days.

“They’re still calling you?”

“Of course they are. Little Cameron got embarrassed by the natural consequences of his own actions. Not to mention the black eyes from your punch will be long lasting. I’m sure he’s spun some bullshit story to cover that up.” I chuckle a little at the photo Charley sent from social media earlier.

Cameron looks like shit. And he deserves every bit of bad karma coming his way.

“Charley sent me a photo earlier. I can’t believe how swollen his face is still. I didn’t even hit him that hard.” He returns to the table with his second helping of food.

“You did knock him out. He was unconscious at the altar. In front of hundreds of his friends and colleagues.”

My friend who works security at the venue, sent me a copy of the video before he deleted it from the servers. I’ve never laughed so hard as I did when I saw Cameron’s face as it dawned on him what was playing on the monitors. But the moment Kayce heard what he said about us, about how he feels about me, that is forever etched in my brain. I’m surprised that Cameron didn’t need an ambulance to get out of there.

“He deserves every fucking bruise.” Kayce’s brows furrow and his face scrunches up.

“He does, and you're my knight in shining armor.” I kiss the top of his head as I walk by with my plate.

He follows me into the kitchen with his own plate and drops them in the sink before he turns on the water to start washing dishes as I load them in.

“It’s true, June. What he said.”

I gulp at his confession, and turn to look at him. I knew it deep down since Italy, but to hear it, to have him confirm. I can’t talk myself out of it anymore.

“I think I knew. I was just afraid to believe it.”

He stops me with soapy hands on my hips as I drop another dish in the sink. “I love you, June. With everything in me. I’ve always loved you. You’re the nearest thing to heaven, and I don’t want to let you go. But, I need to know you feel the same. When you’re ready. Not now.”

“Johnny—” He puts his finger on my lips.

“Nope. I said when you’re ready. I didn’t tell you so I could hear it back. I said it because it’s what you need to hear. You needed that from me. Now, what I need is that massage. Whaddya say?”

I nod my head with unshed tears brimming at the edge. Of course he’s only thinking of me. He’s always only thinking of me.

But what he isn’t ready to hear, is that I’ve loved him since we were kids, and I never stopped.