Page 24

Dax didn’t receive a single birthday message, call, package, or handshake. Nothing.

But it didn’t surprise him, since he’d told all his teammates not to bother—and he had no friends other than the team. He didn’t need any.

It wasn’t important to him, anyway. He knew he could rely on every single one of them, if it came down to it.

Still, he realized a few presents or maybe a cake wouldn’t have bothered him as much as they had in recent years. Overall, he’d woken up surprisingly relaxed on his birthday.

Maybe it was because Lucy was lying next to him, one knee propped against his back, one arm wrapped uncomfortably around his neck. But she was naked, so it was okay. Overall, Lucy was a restless sleeper who tended to fall asleep at one end of the bed and wake up at the other. Luckily that didn’t bother him, as his sleep was as deep as the Mariana Trench. He found it fun to make bets with her about how and where she would end up waking the next morning.

So when she sleepily whispered “Happy Birthday” in his ear, he had no desire to start a fistfight with a cake and no desire to tell her to shut up.

Instead, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Yes, he was surprisingly relaxed. The same could not be said for Lucy.

“Everything okay?” He turned to her, frowning.

“Yes, why?”

“You’re fidgeting.”

She sighed and wiped her shoes on the doormat at their feet. “I’m nervous.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m meeting your family!”

“You already know Jack. And my sister is harmless.”

She snorted. “You said you were harmless, too.”

“I am,” he said confidently.

“You pounced on me in the shower this morning!”

“It’s called foresight. I knew we wouldn’t have a chance for the next twelve hours,” he informed her, tapping his temple.

She rolled her eyes, but before she could say something deprecating yet equally funny, the door opened.

“You’re on time!” his sister announced, impressed. “I didn’t think you would…” She stopped abruptly as her gaze landed on Lucy. Her lips formed a perfect O as she glanced uncertainly between Dax and her. “You didn’t say you were bringing a guest,” she said, perplexed.

Lucy’s incredulous look belonged in a cartoon. “You didn’t tell her?”

No, of course not. He didn’t want to answer questions.

He shrugged. “I must have forgotten.”

Lucy punched him in the side. “You’re evil,” she informed him matter-of-factly, then smiled nervously at Anna. “Hi, I’m Lucy. His…PR consultant.”

A clear snort sounded from inside.

“I assume Jack is already here,” Dax said sourly and moved past Anna, who pushed her glasses higher up her nose as if she didn’t trust her eyes.

“Hey, Lucy, nice to meet you,” he heard his sister say as he took off his shoes and jacket and went into the living room.

Jack was sitting at Anna’s square dining table. He nodded at him. “I would wish you a happy birthday, but Matt said you wouldn’t react well to that.”

He cracked his jaw. “No,” he simply replied.

“I see,” Jack said, but his face was surprisingly expressionless.

“So, what was that…you’re his PR consultant?” Anna’s voice grew louder as she followed him into the living room. “Are you here to take photos or…”

“Um, no.” Dax knew Lucy’s face was glowing red even before he turned to her. “I’m here as a…casual acquaintance.”

Jack snorted. “Sure.”

Anna looked at him in surprise. “What?”

“Jack,” Dax warned.

“What?” his brother repeated, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not doing anything.”

“Yeah, and if you continue like that, my fist will land in your face,” he informed him gently.

Anna groaned. “Oh come on, guys.”

Jack tilted his head. “It’s strange that I taught you how to use your fists and now you threaten me the most with them.”

“Give credit where credit is due, Jack.”

“Okay, pull yourselves together,” Anna said with a sigh. “We’re going to eat together, not start a fight club.”

“You know they’re both just pretending like they’re the alpha dog,” Lucy murmured to her. “Actually, they’ve been getting along rather well for the past few weeks.”

“Yeah, that’s what Jack said; but for some reason, that information hasn’t registered with Dax yet.”

“You know I’m standing right next to you, right?” he announced grumpily.

“Yep,” his sister remarked, patting his shoulder. “And it’s rude to growl at the hostess.”

“It’s rude to growl at anyone,” Lucy added.

Anna smiled broadly. “Yeah, but you shouldn’t ask too much of Dax, otherwise you’ll never be happy.”

Lucy laughed loudly and Dax groaned inwardly. He’d assumed that the two would get along well. For once, though, he didn’t like the fact that his assumption was correct.

“Come on,” Jack muttered, standing up. “Let’s go to the kitchen and get the food before Anna gets it into her head to take a family photo.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea,” their sister said immediately, her face lighting up.

“Let’s go,” Dax agreed quickly and followed Jack into the adjoining mini-kitchen.

“She’s not letting you pay her rent either, is she?” Jack muttered.

“No.”

“Although you could offer her something much better…”

“She likes her shoebox. And her independence.”

Jack nodded and reached for the delivery bags. Indian, judging by the smell. “So, you and Lucy…”

“Shut up.”

Jack grinned. “All right.”

They grabbed plates, knives, and forks and walked through the narrow hallway back to the living room as Anna’s voice drifted over.

“…oh no. They’ve always acted a bit like Neanderthals,” she said, laughing. “Dax threatened to beat any guy with his hockey stick who gave me as much as a smarmy smile, or to unleash his mafia friends on him.”

“Dax had mafia friends?” they heard Lucy ask in surprise.

Anna snorted. “No, of course not. His mafia friend was Jack, who picked us up from school now and then with sunglasses and a hood on his head, and pretended to have a gun, saying nothing and just looking angry. Our classmates didn’t know he was our brother.”

Lucy laughed. “Wow.”

“I know. But it helped. People in high school were a lot nicer to me than to the other kids who showed up in hand-me-down clothes. So, having Neanderthal siblings has its advantages.”

“Oh, definitely. My oldest sister once used superglue to seal the car doors of a classmate who had groped me in gym class. There was a note on his windshield that said: On the walk home, you’ll have time to think about what you did wrong . I loved her for that.”

“I believe that, and although I don’t know her, even I love her a little for it,” Anna replied warmly. “You know, right now, I’m just…happy Jack and Dax both came. That they can be in the same room together again. The last few years have been terrible! Jack always asked me how Dax was, and I felt guilty when I answered fine because I knew that was too much information for Dax.” She sighed heavily. “I’m hopeful things might finally…get better now.”

Dax’s heart sank and clenched painfully as his eyes wandered to Jack. His brother appeared equally unhappy. They just silently stared at each other for a few seconds. Then they nodded.

They would be friendly to each other tonight. For Anna. It was a silent agreement between hockey players.

And, for the first half hour at least, it worked.

“Your teddy bear was called Poodle?”

“It looked like a dog,” Dax replied, defending himself as he speared another piece of paneer onto his fork.

“It didn’t,” Anna contradicted. “It looked like a bear.”

“A bear dog,” he insisted. “Then Jack washed him with too much fabric softener and Poodle was born.”

“Hey, I was eleven. I didn’t know you couldn’t put a whole carton of fabric softener in the washing machine.”

Dax grinned. “Just like you didn’t know that tostadas don’t belong in the toaster.”

“It happened twice, just twice,” he grumbled.

“And I thought one fire in the living room would be enough for you,” Anna remarked.

Lucy chuckled. Dax’s gaze slid to her. He saw her lips twist, felt the sound of her laughter wash over him, warm and soft…and in that one moment, he was so disgustingly happy, his heart so honey-sweet, it felt ridiculously sticky in his chest. God, it was absurd what emotions Lucy could unleash in him just with her laughter, more than any other woman could with her whole body.

Maybe he should have told Lucy by now that they were in a relationship. Then she wouldn’t have had to introduce herself as a PR consultant. But the bubble they were in was too damn good. He didn’t want to burst it with a false, pointed comment.

“I’m honestly still a bit shocked that Dax cooks,” Lucy said, giving him an apologetic look.

“He’s a fantastic cook,” Anna said, quick with a response.

“Yup. Could cook better than Temple Senior and Mom combined,” Jack said.

A small, angry pang started in Dax’s sticky heart when Jack said Mom—because, man, he’d lost the right to say a single bad word about her!—but he ignored it.

“Oh please. I was terrible back then. I only made pasta, nothing else.”

“But with different sauces,” Anna countered.

He raised one corner of his mouth. “I didn’t get better until…you left, Jack.” He added the last words hesitantly, trying not to sound hostile. Still, he noticed Jack’s shoulders stiffen.

“Hey, at least my departure did something positive,” he replied lightly, but his voice sounded strained.

Dax couldn’t laugh at that, and he noticed Anna nervously shifting in her chair and looking to Lucy for help.

“Um.” Lucy cleared her throat audibly. “Why haven’t you cooked me anything yet?” she asked…which made Anna widen her eyes.

“You cook for her? I don’t understand. What exactly are you now? Ice hockey player and PR consultant don’t really fit. But it can’t be a fling either, because Dax never takes his flings anywhere. So…”

“It’s a sore subject, Anna,” Jack interrupted. “Dax doesn’t dare tell Lucy what they are.”

“What?” Lucy blinked in confusion and looked at him.

Dax’s jaw cracked. “Quiet, Jack,” he warned. “Or do you want to become a traitor again and destroy the beautiful progress we’ve made?”

“Traitor?” Jack echoed, pressing his lips together. “What kind of progress are you talking about? I don’t believe you’re even trying to forgive me.”

“Oh no,” Anna whispered, sighing and putting a hand over her eyes.

“Excuse me?” Dax replied sharply, frowning. “Are you blaming me for everything?”

“Yes, maybe,” Jack said abruptly. “Honestly, you act as if you two were the only ones who suffered back then. As if you were the only ones who lost somebody. But I lost you two!”

“It was your shitty choice!” Dax replied incredulously. “You left, and all I had left in my life was hockey.”

“You’re wrong, Dax,” Jack said, his voice eerily calm. “It was me who had nothing left but hockey. You always had Anna. Always a family. I had a bunch of people who didn’t want me.”

“We wanted you,” Dax responded tightly. “You were our family. Mom’s family!”

Jack laughed dryly. “Yes, Mom’s son—but only until I became too much.”

“Come on, please,” Anna murmured, though both ignored her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dax demanded.

“Mom didn’t want me there, Dax,” Jack said, his tone still disturbingly calm. “She may never have said it out loud to you, but it’s the damn truth. I caused too much trouble. Stealing, skipping school, fighting. I was a bad influence on you, and she let me know it. But she was too cowardly to tell you.”

Dax was on his feet before he even realized he was moving. The chair he’d been sitting on crashed backwards, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Anna and Lucy flinch, but he didn’t pay any attention to them. The anger pumped hotly through his veins, pushing every other emotion aside. “Shut your damn mouth, Jack. If you say one more bad word about Mom…”

“Dax,” Anna pleaded, reaching across the table for his arm. “Please. We don’t have to talk about this now. Can’t we just forget the whole thing?”

“Forget?” he echoed in disbelief. “Is that what you were hoping to achieve with this meal? That I’d forget what happened?”

His sister sighed heavily. “I simply want everything to be…normal again. Like it was back then, okay? I’m tired of mediating. Tired of you being angry and Jack being cold. Why can’t we start over?”

“How can you ask that question?” he shouted. “He abandoned us. He ignored us. For years! He was…he didn’t even go to Mom’s funeral, Anna! How can…how can you…”

“I was there,” Jack interrupted harshly, and Dax’s head whipped around.

“What?”

“I was there,” he repeated sharply. “Of course I was!”

Dax opened his mouth, stunned. “No, you weren’t. I didn’t… What?”

“Just because I wasn’t in the front row like I should have been doesn’t mean I didn’t love her! But it was…complicated, okay?” Nervously, he ran his hand through his hair. “If I had just marched in, then…well, you would have yelled at me. Your father would have yelled at me, and hey, I probably would have knocked him out. Honestly, I’m still mourning the fact that I didn’t. The police would have come, Anna would have started crying even harder, trying desperately to calm everyone down and mediate between us. You or your father might have attacked me, so Anna would have ended up with no one to comfort her.” His eyes shone brighter, and, swallowing several times, he rubbed his neck feverishly. “It would have been a disaster. And…I wanted to give you the chance to mourn her properly. I couldn’t give you anything else, but at least I could do that. A day that was all about Mom and your good memories. Not about me and my bad ones. So my gift to you was…that afternoon. Without me ruining everything. I snuck into the church when everyone was seated and left before you saw me.”

“What?” Anna whispered, appearing as shocked as Dax felt. “You were there…and didn’t even say hello?”

“For good reason, Anna. Were you not listening just now?” Jack said tensely.

“You’re talking nonsense,” Dax said stiffly, shaking his head. “You weren’t there. And what the hell are you talking about when you say you had bad memories?” His jaw cracked. “I know she wasn’t perfect, but she tried. And she cried for days after you left.”

“Did she?” Jack’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

For some reason that made Dax even angrier. “Yes, damn it, of course! You let her down, too.”

Jack stared at him for a few seconds with his mouth gaping. Then he started laughing. “Did she tell you that? Shit…I understand why I should keep it to myself, but that she…” He swallowed. “No…unbelievable…”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Dax snapped. He’d had enough. His fists tingled, his feet tingled. Everything in him prepared for a fight…when a warm, thin hand grabbed his.

Confused, he looked over and saw Lucy’s face. She squeezed his fingers silently. Didn’t tell him to calm down. Didn’t ask him to forget it. Was just there.

Maybe because she knew it was the only thing she could do for him right now. And he was so grateful to her for it that his eyes burned. However, his focus was needed elsewhere.

“She was the one who sent me away, Dax!” Jack snapped, standing up too. “So forgive me for being surprised that she cried for me! I know I screwed up. I should have stopped stealing presents for you. I was old enough to know better. But we had nothing. Your shitty father gambled away all the money, and you had turned sixteen. And you wanted new skates…and, shit, I didn’t see why you shouldn’t have them just because Temple Senior was such an asshole. So I stole them the night before your birthday.” He made a jerky gesture as if stealing were the most natural thing in the world. And, shit, back then, it had been. “But I wasn’t paying attention. They caught me. Temple Senior answered when the police called…and Mom came to pick me up. They dropped the charges because the guy at the store felt sorry for me. But it was my last warning. The next time they would search our house for stolen goods and whatever…so naturally, Temple Senior panicked. Because if they came by they would see all his illegal betting slips, his bookies would get nervous…and…” He laughed mirthlessly. “Honestly, I think he was just fed up with me.” He shrugged. “Just like I’d had enough of him for years. So he kicked me out. No, that’s not true.” He frowned. “He gave Mom a choice. Either I go—or he did. And you can guess three times who she chose.”

Dax’s heart dropped into his stomach, and for several heartbeats he was speechless. His brain tried to process what Jack was saying, but failed. “No,” he finally said coldly. “No, she would never have…”

"But she did, Dax! And I know that’s no excuse. I know I should have talked to you about it. But, shit, I was so angry. And you were better off without me anyway. Less trouble, less reason for your father to yell at you.” He ran his hand through his hair, annoyed. “Then Mom got sick, and I wanted you to remember her healthy and remember the good times. Not the bad times and the anger I carried with me. So, yeah…I ignored you. Yes, I was an asshole, but I was young, angry, stupid, and didn’t know any better! Then she died, and both of you moved out of Temple Senior’s house, and I thought… I thought now we could start over. Alone. Without her.” A cynical smile spread across his face. “I should have known that you wanted nothing to do with me.”

Dax was dizzy. Jack’s face was blurring in front of him. His heart was going into overdrive. His head was one big, heavy mass, yet still too small to contain all the information he had just received.

That couldn’t be the truth. It didn’t excuse anything!

Or did it?

He didn’t know. He only knew that it was too much. That he couldn’t handle it right now—didn’t want to handle it. Yet another of his birthdays had gone wrong.

“No,” he stated simply, and then turned and left.