Page 26 of Tempting the Goalie (Riverside U #5)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

L uc

Me: Are you okay? I feel terrible about tonight.

I’m sitting on a chair in Elyna’s bedroom beside a playpen she has set up for Braden while texting Izzy. My father’s behavior was inexcusable. This whole situation seems insane.

Izzy: I’m fine. I’m more worried about you.

Of course she is because that’s how Izzy is. Always worrying about others before herself.

Me: My mind is reeling. I would call you, but the little guy is sleeping. I’m trying to make sense of the nonsense my dad was spewing tonight.

I wait for a response from her as I watch the balls rolling on the screen.

I hear the front door open, and I leave the room and close the door. I stomp down the stairs.

“Why didn’t you tell me Papa lost his mind?” I demand, feeling the blood pumping hard in my veins when I see Elyna walking through the front door.

“What are you talking about?” Elyna asks, looking worried. “Is Braden, okay?” She starts to rush up the stairs.

“My nephew is perfect. He’s fast asleep,” I assure, and she spins around to look at me.

“He came home drunk off his ass. Some black car dropped him off. Izzy was here helping me, and he went off on her, saying how she looks exactly like Helen. Then he went off on Braden being the spawn of Satan. He scared the shit out of Izzy. She was worried he might harm Braden,” I explain, looking at my sister while trying to understand her.

I know she is a good mom. She may not have been the most responsible person in the past, but it sounded like becoming a mom changed her.

Her eyes fill with tears. “I had nowhere else to go, Luc. Don’t look at me with your judgment because you couldn’t possibly understand what I’ve been through."

"I’m not judging. I’m trying to understand why you would stay in a house with a crazy man,” I say to her.

I’m trying to calm my nerves because my emotions are rolling off me in hot waves.

Putting myself in Elyna’s position is a little hard for me.

“If you were in trouble. You should’ve told me.

I can maybe get a loan that’ll cover a rental.

But staying in this house with that man isn’t an option.

He needs to be admitted to a hospital. I’ve never seen him like this before. ”

“I don’t know what happened,” she begins to cry.

“Ever since I came home, he started drinking more. I thought meeting Braden would soften him up and make him stop drinking, but the opposite happened. I haven’t left Braden alone for a minute, and I sleep with a baseball bat in my bed.

I had a plan in place,” she argues, as she breaks down into ugly tears.

My heart twists as I take her in my arms and try to calm her.

“Shit, Elyna. You need to be honest with me,” I say to her.

“I want you focusing on school. We both need you in the NHL. Actually, all three of us need you,” she says, adding my nephew to the list.

“I do focus on school, and I work hard on the team. I’m doing the best I can,” I assure her. The situation with the viral Instagram reel of my threesome enters my mind, and I wince at my indiscretions. How stupid was I for jeopardizing not just my future but my sister’s and nephew’s too.

“I know,” she whimpers.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure this out, but we can’t stay here with Braden. Izzy has a bad feeling about Papa.”

“I’ve been worried sick too. I’ve been so stressed because of it,” she says and my heart breaks for her.

I release her from my arms. “You need to promise that you’ll never keep any secrets from me. You and Braden are the only family I have left.”

She nods.

“Say it, Elyna. Say you promise,” I urge.

“I promise.” She wipes at her eyes. “Thanks for staying with him. Sorry it ended up being such a late night. Kristie drove and we saw some girls from high school. They were all drinking, including Kristie, so I had to drive everyone home. I’ll need to figure out a way of getting her car back to her tomorrow. ”

“It’s fine. We had some good bonding time together. He’s a handsome little guy. We have a lot in common,” I gloat, almost letting it slip that he liked Izzy almost as much as I do.

Elyna laughs through her tears. “You’re such a man child.”

“Get some rest. I’ll take the couch and keep an eye on things. But come morning, we need to find a way out of this house.”

“I know, thanks, Luc.” She pats my shoulder and heads up to her room. She’s definitely grown-up since having Braden, but she clearly has a lot of weight on her shoulders with being a single mom.

I grab a blanket and lie down on the couch.

Izzy texted me back but I missed it.

Izzy: Were you serious when you said you’d talk to my dad about us?

I was as serious as a heartbeat.

Me: Sorry if I wake you up, but I didn’t want to leave you unanswered. I was serious about talking to your dad.

Izzy: Swing by our house tomorrow around noon. Me sleeping now. So tired.

Her response brings a smile to my face. Everything about Izzy makes me smile. She’s the light in my darkness.

My eyes fall shut as sleep sucks me under.

I don’t sleep very well on the couch, and I am up at 7:00 a.m. when Elyna brings Braden down for breakfast. I would go for a jog and a workout, but I don’t want to leave them alone.

Instead, I head upstairs to shower and get dressed.

Izzy invited me over today to speak with her dad, and I don’t think a wifebeater and basketball shorts is going to make me presentable to ask Mr. Thorne for permission to date his daughter.

After my shower, I put on a gray T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

I slip on my sneakers. It’s still too early to head over to the Thornes’ and my mind is reeling.

I head downstairs to the kitchen where Elyna is feeding Braden some cereal.

It looks like he’s spitting out more than he eats.

“Hey there, buddy,” I greet him, coming up to his highchair and smiling at him.

He starts giggling.

“Someone likes you,” Elyna says.

“I told you we hit it off,” I reply to my sister as I walk over to the coffeepot.

“I made you cinnamon French toast as a thank you for watching him last night,” she says, and I see a heaping pile of thick pieces of French toast. My stomach growls.

“Thanks, I would say you didn’t have to but I’m going to enjoy this.” I laugh.

“There’s maple syrup in the fridge. I bought it from Eric’s shop,” she says. “He expanded it and he carries great things.”

“Cool. So do you like working over there?” I ask Elyna.

“You know the Thornes, they’re all good people. Although working for Phoenix has been special. I don’t know what that guy’s problem is,” she says.

“Do I need to beat up Phoenix because that may be a problem,” I say, as I shovel a mouthful of French toast dipped in maple syrup into my mouth.

“Nah, he’s respectful and does everything by the book. He’s just grumpy is all,” she replies.

“That’s Phoenix for you. He’s a focused guy. It’s impressive what he’s done with the microbrewery. It’s bringing a lot of people from the city to town.”

“He is a good businessman,” Elyna agrees. “I just need to wait for one of those cabins to free up. They don’t have any housing options available and everything else around here is either a dump or not something I can afford.”

“We’ll figure something out.” I’m not sure how, but we will. “By the way, I should probably mention Izzy and I are dating. I’m going over to the Thornes’. . .”

“Hallelujah,” she whistles before I can finish. “Took you guys long enough.”

“It’s complicated, Elyna. We’re best friends. Outside of you and Braden, Izzy is the most important thing in my life.”

“Actually, it’s Izzy first, then me and Braden. You’ve always been in love with that girl. Good to see you finally came to your senses.”

“Okay, well then. I was going to go upstairs and see if the old man is awake. I wanted to catch him sober to find out what the hell is going on.”

“He brushes his teeth with vodka in the morning,” she scoffs. “Not sure you’re going to find him sober.”

“Shit. Well, I’m not leaving you and Braden here with him,” I declare.

“Dude, I’ve been taking care of myself for over a month now. We’ll be fine,” she assures as she shovels more cereal into Braden’s mouth while making googly faces at him.

“If something happened to you guys, I’d never forgive myself. So call me selfish, but I need you to come hang out at the Thornes’. Take Braden for a walk through the orchards or something.”

“Fine,” she huffs. “But just because you’re the most selfless person I know. I don’t know how you even share genetics with Papa.”

“That isn’t fair. He had the love of his life die on him,” I remind.

“I know you were young, but they didn’t have a good marriage, Luc.

I’ve told you this a hundred times. He was drinking ever since I could remember.

Calling him a functional alcoholic is bullshit.

Mom wasn’t happy. I remember her tears. I remember Helen consoling her,” my sister says of Izzy’s mom.

Elyna is seven years older than me, which means she was seventeen when Mom was killed.

“Yeah, I must have made up some fairy tale in my head over the years because you keep reminding me of how unstable he was.”

“You spent more time at the Thornes’ than you did here. Maybe you saw a fairy tale over there,” she suggests.

“The Thornes are amazing people and a good family, but Helen took off. She left her kids behind after Mom died. How happy could she have been?” I ask.

“I ask myself the same question all the time. I always felt like there was more to Mom’s death than we ever knew. I was a stupid teenager back then. I spent most of my time getting drunk with friends. Maybe I was just emulating Papa’s bad behavior.”

“Maybe, but you’ve cleaned up nice. You’re doing a good job with Braden,” I praise because I can see how low she’s feeling, and she needs her morale boosted.