Page 125 of The Maxwell Brothers

Gran groaned. "Language, young man."

I cleared my throat. "Sorry, Gran."

She gave me a knowing look.

Declan frowned. "Why do you want to go watch it from the stands? That's going to be uncomfortable for you."

"I'm not banned from actually going there, and I want to show support to my teammates." Oddly, Coach Benjamin didn’t want me to suit up on the bench with the guys like most players did when they were on the injured list. I asked him about it, and he didn’t give me much of an answer. He said some shit about how I needed to think things through before I got that privilege.

Whatever. Hockey was my life. At my age, I was practically ancient , but I was also the best damn goalie in the league. I still had one season left, maybe two.

"That's commendable," Tate said. "But I think it would suck for you. Especially since they didn’t want you dressed and there with the team while you’re recovering."

Groaning, I looked at Gran as she frowned and tsked.

"You boys are a bunch of misbehaving misfits today."

"Aren't we always?" I wondered out loud.

Gran tsked again. “Some days, you’re better than others, and I tell myself what a fine job I’ve done raising you. Other days, like today, I think I’m just fooling myself.”

She spent a lot of time with us as kids—almost as much as my parents. We owed our somewhat good manners to her. Dad swore every chance he got even now.

Travis came next to me, patting my good shoulder. "You know what? I’ll come with you to the game. I'm so attractive that everyone else will pay attention to me instead of you."

I burst out laughing. That was a very Travis thing to say. He didn't take anything seriously, except perhaps his startup. But since he sold it just a month ago, he had a lot of time on his hands and had no clue what to do with it.

My brother’s fiancé, Lexi, walked into the kitchen. She’d been in the backyard with my niece. It only took her a minute before she asked me, "Let me guess, everyone's on your case?"

"One of the things I love most about you, future sister-in-law, is that you can read our family so well."

"How did they figure it out about Kendra already? Did Tate spill the beans?"

I groaned. She and Tate drove me to my meeting with Kendra the other day because I didn’t want to bother with another Uber, but they only stayed for a couple minutes.

Tate laughed. "No, sweetheart. You just did.”

“Wait, what? Who's Kendra?" Reese asked.

Declan and Travis looked at me with interest.

"The coordinator of the organization that management signed me up with,” I explained. “I just met her, and I have no idea what Lexi is going on about."

"Right. You looked at her like you were smitten," Lexi informed everyone.

"She’s hot. I just had an appropriate reaction to a very sexy woman," I said with a lazy smile.

Declan frowned. "You know you’ve got to focus on your recovery, right?"

“Yes I do. Fucking chill, Declan.”

I wasn’t interested in dating. Just before the fight, I had started seeing Blair, and we hit it off well. After the team announced they were benching me for the foreseeable future, she couldn't bolt fast enough. I wasn't interesting once I wasn't the team's goalie anymore. Ever since, I’d been on a self-imposed hiatus from dating. I had much more important things to focus on. Getting back on the ice was crucial.

“Young man!” Gran exclaimed. “Your brothers and Reese just want the best for you.”

"You know what? I’m going to check on my niece while you all decide among yourselves whatthe bestis," I said, making Tate laugh.

This was typical of my family, but as I said before, I didn't mind. I liked knowing they had my back. We always enjoyed helping each other out when possible, and when it wasn'tpossible, we were there for moral support. I was pretty sure their rallying around me like this was setting a new record in my family, though. I was proud of us. Mom and Dad raised us to stick together, and we were doing just that.