Page 49 of Right Pucking Daddy (Daddies of the League #7)
FORTY-ONE
AIDEN
“Aiden, c’mon in.”
I nodded, shutting the door. Sasha and Will stood behind Sasha’s desk. But it was the men filling the room between the desk and the door that gave me pause. The guy who sat facing Sasha’s desk with his back to me stood, turning to me.
“You’re Gavin Samuelson.”
Smiling and nodding, he said, “And you’re Aiden Mercer. Congrats on the hatty.”
My body froze, but my head went nuts. Did he see the game or did someone tell…
“I saw the game. You’re a damn good center forward. Makes me glad Shane told me about you.”
A swarm of bees and a colony of ants flooded my system with nervous anticipation.
I licked my lips, swallowing to give myself time to think before blurting out something stupid.
Nothing came to me, so I glanced around the room.
The expressions on everyone’s face looked…
not bad, but nerves kept me from being able to pinpoint what I saw.
I reached out my hand, realizing I’d not shaken his hand yet. The megawatt smile he was known for, on and off the ice, brightened as he gripped my hand. He pulled me close, turning to look at the guys with him.
“Aiden, lemme introduce you to some people who, after your performance on the ice tonight, are extremely excited to meet you.”
Wait. What?
He pointed to two men of similar builds and said, “This is Asher and Bauer Holt.”
The one named Asher reached out, I took his hand and blurted out, “Wait. You own the Nighthawks.” My eyes darted between the two men Gavin introduced.
“We do,” he confirmed.
I looked at the other guys in the room. A couple of guys sat at a small conference table with Shane, whom I just noticed. I didn’t recognize the guys with him at all, but I knew the man standing with the Holts.
“And you’re the coach for the Nighthawks.”
“Jakob Ilkovitch. Very nice to meet you, Aiden.”
“Same, Coach.”
“Jake will do off the ice. There are way too many coaches in your life for that nonsense,” he chuckled.
“Off the ice? ”
“Dammit, Jake. You let the cat out of the bag.”
“Cat? Bag?” I parroted, confused. Surely he didn’t mean…
“Aiden,” Bauer Holt said, pulling my gaze.
My eyes widened until the corners burned. That was a Nighthawks jersey. He held up a Nighthawks jersey. A Nighthawks jersey that said ‘Mercer’ on the back above the number 14. My number. The only number I’d worn since I started playing.
My mouth went desert dry. I chewed my lips as tears pricked the backs of my eyes. I glanced at Alex, his hands were in his pockets, Hawk at his side, and they both appeared to be poised to jump, but it was the smile stretching Alex’s face that calmed the calamity going on inside me.
“Whaddya think, Aiden? Wanna come dominate the ice in Nashville the way you did here tonight?” Gavin asked.
“For real?”
“Fuck, yeah.”
“Language,” one of the men at the table growled, causing me to jump.
Gavin and Bauer’s eyes rolled comically, and Gavin said, “Ignore my Daddy. He has a thing about my language.” He turned toward the growly guy and said, “That’s not supposed to matter when it comes to hockey.”
“On the ice.” He kicked the carpet and said, “Just as I suspected. Carpet. Not ice.”
Gavin and Bauer huffed, but Sasha and Asher both chuckled while the guy at the table high-fived Gavin’s Daddy. Remembering what Shane said about Gavin’s relationships, the other guy was most likely Gavin’s other partner.
“Way to out the kink dynamic, guys,” Coach Ilkovitch said.
“No worries there, Coach, Aiden’s…”
“Shane!” I yelled.
“What? It’s not like…”
“Boy, if you’re about to out someone, I suggest you zip your lips,” Asher said, the Dom voice making the ‘or else’ crystal clear.
Shane’s eyes widened, and Bauer looked between Asher and Shane, smirking as his eyes landed on Gavin, whose expression mimicked Bauer’s. Daddy’s throat cleared, drawing my eyes to him.
“Can we get back on track? The dick measuring and punishments can wait ’til later.”
A chuckle burst from someone. Soon we were all laughing. When things quieted down, I said, “Well, looks like I’m gonna be a Nighthawk. Where do I sign?”