Page 47 of Right Pucking Daddy (Daddies of the League #7)

THIRTY-NINE

SASHA

“What the fuck is this?”

My eyes shot open, my body raised from the bed as if launched into the air.

My heart thundered, nerves caught fire while my mind came online.

The sound of Mikal’s booming voice echoed in the room.

Hawk, who jumped over me from the bed, placed himself between Mikal and me, growling and barking menacingly.

Julie always said he’d go to war for me if needed, and now I had no doubt.

“Hawk, quiet.” The dog silenced himself immediately. I stood from the chair, patting Hawk on the head. “Good boy. Sit.”

For the first time ever, Hawk hesitated. Considering Mikal stormed around the room ranting in Croatian, I didn’t blame the dog for not being willing to go off guard.

“What’s going on?” Aiden asked sleepily. I moved to his side, Hawk jumping up on the foot of the bed between Aiden’s legs as Anya and I simultaneously addressed the angry man storming about the room .

“Mikal…”

“Mikal…”

He pointed at me, his eyes turning cold when he saw me standing next to Aiden. “You shut up!” Then he turned to Anya and said, “Do not ‘Mikal’ me, Anya.”

“Mikal, Sasha is your best friend. Our best friend.”

“Not any longer.”

“Mikal…”

“Tata!”

Mikal’s eyes burned when he stalked toward me, ignoring the growling dog on the bed—the dog he gave me.

The defenseman of old showed himself in the way Mikal moved.

The Bear, they’d called him, and rightly so.

The huge man moved slowly and with purpose, but could explode with massive amounts of power and speed when necessary, and that was who came toward me now.

I sighed. I should probably feel guilty for the relationship Aiden and I shared, but I didn’t. Funny how love with the person meant for you erased and blurred the lines, because not even after the fear Aiden had been seriously hurt had faded and some sleep did I give a shit.

The door flew open, and a nurse, the crotchety one from earlier who didn’t like me, came in. “What in God’s name is going on in here? This kid needs his rest.”

Anya glared at Mikal as she answered the nurse, “I apologize for my husband. He’s a bit boisterous when he’s scared and upset, but I promise we will keep it down.”

The nurse’s gaze bounced around until it landed on me and then moved down to Hawk. “Coach Storm, I know your dog is a service animal and I respect that, but unless you get him under control, I’ll be forced to ask you to remove him from the premises.”

I sighed. “Yes, ma’am. I apologize. Hawk,” his ears twitched, but his eyes remained focused on Mikal. “Quiet. Down.”

Hawk huffed, but he moved, lying next to Aiden’s legs instead of standing on the foot of the bed, ready to protect.

The nurse, whose name I couldn’t remember, huffed before turning for the door. There she paused and said, “Don’t make me come back in here, or I’ll throw everyone but the patient out on your asses.” The door opened and closed behind her, leaving us alone again.

“Coach… Tata… please don’t be mad. It’s my fault. Alex didn’t know until you called him.”

“Impossible.”

“You asked me not to dig, Mikal. Unless it’s obvious like Malachek, or the player has introduced his family to me, I don’t know who any of the kids’ parents are.”

Mikal swore under his breath, then said, “You’re still his coach, Sasha.”

Aiden moved to stand.

“You should stay in bed,” Anya fussed.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Mikal and I agreed. I wanted to be childish and call jinx, but didn’t think it would go over well, so I held my tongue. He stared at me, his thick, bushy mustache twitching, then he said, “Jinx.”

I laughed. He looked down at his feet with his arms folded over his broad chest for several moments before he looked up, laughing. You could see he wasn’t happy about the mood lightening as he laughed begrudgingly, but I’d take it.

“Why don’t we go get some coffee now that you’ve seen the boy’s gonna be alright and let Anya fuss over the kid?”

Mikal’s gaze stayed focused on me until he finally wavered, nodded, then sighed. Relief filled my chest, but I forced it to remain put. No need to “poke The Bear,” as commentators used to say.

Turning to Aiden, I said, “I’ll be back once I’ve talked to Mikal.”

Aiden looked from me to Mikal and back, nodding as he said, “Okay. Hopefully, they’ll release me soon.”

“Don’t rush it. Let Dr. Ramadi decide without you rushing him to release you.”

“I will, D…” his eyes widened, and I smirked.

“Fucking hell,” Mikal swore, the door opened and closed shutting out more of his Croatian grumbling.

“Oops,” Aiden said.

“It would’ve hit him sooner or later. He just hadn’t put two and two together yet. We already knew what Sasha was into,” Anya said to Aiden then turned and to me, pushing me from the room, “Go make nice and apologize for being an asshole who cut off his best friend. ”

“But not for dating his son?”

“Do you feel you need to apologize for that?”

“Fuck no. Aiden’s an adult.”

“There you go,” she said.

I leaned down, kissed her cheek, and called to Hawk. “C’mon, buddy, we’ve got a Croatian bear to tame.”

Hawk jumped from the bed, and I winked at Aiden when Anya turned to fuss over him. All I could think was better him than me. I hated that shit.

I walked toward the nursing station. The nurse who yelled at me pointed down the hall, past the bank of elevators.

I thanked her and continued down the hall.

Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across the three walls of the empty waiting area.

Mikal stood in the furthest corner with his back to the doorway, looking out at the campus of Manchester University.

The football stadium and hockey rink easy to spot since the architects seemed to design the room to highlight the two very large, impressive buildings.

Hawk growled at the man when I stopped next to him.

“I paid a fucking fortune for that dog. The least he could do is not act like I’m a criminal.”

“Put away the mean ass demeanor and he will. Julie trains her service and guide dogs to provide security for their handlers when the person is threatened.”

“That’s a good idea,” he muttered.

We stood there, side by side, for ages, just sharing space. I struggled with how to start this conversation. Mikal broke the silence before I worked out a solution.

“How… fuck… I don’t even know what to ask.”

“I met him before I met the team. We hooked up, and at breakfast the next morning, he was getting food, and people recognized me.”

Mikal’s head spun toward me, his eyes giving me a once-over as if to say, ‘How?’

“Don’t ask me. I’m still in shape but nowhere near playing condition…”

“Not to mention you look like a cross between a college professor and a lumberjack.”

“Lumberjack? How the fuck did you get to lumberjack?”

He stepped back and waved his hand while looking me up and down again. “Maybe because Paul Bunyan is walking around naked.”

“I’d pay money to see that.”

“Not while dating my son, you won’t.”

“I won’t apologize to you for that.”

“I didn’t think you would, but you need to know…”

“Anything you know about him, you need to keep to yourself. If he wants me to know, he’ll tell me.”

A small smile turned up the corners of his mouth, and he nodded. “Good. And don’t be sharing shit with me. I don’t wanna know what kinky ass shit you’re doing with my kid.”

“Fair enough. ”

“I have a question, though.”

My stomach flipped, wondering what he could want to know.

“I’m biased. I hoped to get an unbiased assessment from you…”

“He’s as good as you think. One of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Mikal’s face bloomed. “Do you know he’d never even watched a game until he came to live with us? He’d never been inside a barn. Never been on the ice.”

I laughed. “He told me he nearly killed himself the first time he skated.

Mikal lost it, his hand running over his head. “He stepped out on the ice in skates way too big with a stick for someone half a foot taller. He stumbled, fell forward on the stick, ramming it into the boards. Broke a couple ribs, one nicked a lung.”

“Jesus, he doesn’t do anything by half measure,” I said laughingly.

“No. He doesn’t. He is slow to trust people. He just started calling Anya and me Mama and Tata. He couldn’t bring himself to use Mom and Dad. At least not consistently.”

“Mikal…”

“I’m only saying this because once I calmed down, I realized what I saw when I walked into his room.”

We’d both been asleep. At most, he caught me with my hand on Aiden’s leg or Aiden’s hand in mine.

“And what was that? ”

“Trust. Aiden trusts you. He doesn’t trust anyone easily.

He doesn’t make friends with most people.

It’s why he did JUCO. He could stay at home and still go to school.

But tonight, he fell asleep in a room without a deadbolt with someone else in the room with him.

So, I can’t be too put out by your… relationship, because you’ve made him feel safe and that’s… well, I couldn’t ask for much more.”

My poor boy. The little he shared with me… well, I’d never been so close to committing a felony. I wanted to fuck someone up. Bad.

“From the look on your face, you feel the same way I do about what he’s been through, and I doubt I know even half what’s been done to him.”

“Aiden says it’s in the past and he’s dealt with it, but…”

“We haven’t.”

“Yeah.”

We stood together, staring at the arena.

The snow-drenched campus stretched out at our feet as the sun breached the horizon, giving the buildings a golden glow.

I missed my friend, I realized. But I wouldn’t change the last seven years, because they gave me something greater than hockey ever could.

They gave me Aiden. Mikal deserved an apology, though.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“So many fucking things in my sorry life. I’m sorry I took my anger and devastation out on you all those years ago. I acted like you purposely injured me. I’m sorry I cut you out of my life. ”

“I understand. I always have. I took your career away intentionally or not. I was still the guy who smacked that puck.”

“Yeah, you were, so,” I turned, holding out my hand to him. “Thank you. That puck you hit led me to the greatest gift, other than Hawk, I’ve ever received. It gave me Aiden.”

He stared at my hand before gripping it firmly. “I’ll gut you if you hurt him.”

“I’d want you to, Tata.”

He let go of my hand, glaring at me while folding his arms over his chest. “That’s not gonna become a thing you fucking asshole.”

“I dunno. I kinda like it.”

“I’m not old enough to be your father, fucker.”

I laughed as I backed away from my grumbling best friend.