Page 39 of Closing the Distance

And that’s how the rest of the night goes. There’s rarely a lull in the conversation—which is kept blessedly light—and by the end of the night, I’ve gotten to know Alayna and Danae some more and agreed to go with them to a home game sometime.

When we head to Ty’s place for the night, my stomach is full, my heart is light, and for the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful that I might actually be able to keep this paradise Ty has brought into my life.

That is, until later that night when we’re snuggled in Ty’s bed, and he opens his mouth to say what I assume is goodnight, only to completely shock me.

“Will you come home with me for Thanksgiving and meet my family?”

TWENTY-TWO

We arrive at my parents’ house in Vancouver, British Columbia, the day before US Thanksgiving. It’ll be a short trip since we have to fly back on Friday, but it’s worth it to finally get to introduce Lexi to my parents and my older brother, Tanner. He’s been less than supportive over the phone, so I’m hoping once he meets her in person, he’ll chill the fuck out.

I know he’s coming from a place of caution, and while I can’t deny it’s wise given our profession, he also doesn’t know Lexi. And at this point, his continued prodding about me getting a paternity test is only starting to piss me off instead of feeling like a big brother looking out for his little brother. Hopefully, this weekend he’ll understand why I’ve been hesitant to bring it up to Lexi and push something that I don’t doubt.

My dad picked us up from the airport and has been chatting with Lexi the whole way to my childhood home. Both my brothers and I tried to convince our parents to let us buy them something nicer, but they refused our offers. They said no other house would carry the memories this one does, and I can’t deny there is something soothing about returning home and remembering all the love and laughter that filled our house during my youth.

I glance at Lexi, reminding myself she didn’t have that kind of childhood. Maybe over the next couple of days, I can give her a taste of the kind of life I’d like to build with her. One where we’re always surrounded by family, good food, laughter, and so much love it feels a little suffocating.

Dad pulls into the two-car garage, and we all pile out of his SUV. The door to the kitchen opens, and my mom is there, her hands up in the air and a huge smile on her face.

“My sweet boy. Come here!”

I rush over and lift her up in a hug. She squeezes me tight, and when I set her back on her feet, she’s still smiling, her brown eyes bright and shimmering with happy tears. “It’s so good to have you home, Sweetie. Isn’t it great, honey?” she asks, looking behind me at my dad. Before he can answer, her mouth parts and she pushes me aside. “Oh my gosh. You must be Lexi!” She moves past me, quicker than I can blink, and wraps a surprised Lexi in a huge hug. “We are so excited to finally meet you. Tyler talks about you all the time.”

Lexi looks at me over my mom’s shoulder, her arms loosely returning my mom’s hug and her eyes wide with shock and uncertainty. “He does?”

Mom finally releases her. “Of course he does. Every single call.” I may not be able to see my mom’s expression, but I can see Lexi’s. My stomach tightens at the slight surprise she tries to hide. As if she’s shocked I talk about her with my family—which she shouldn’t be since the guys razzed me good when she met my friends last week. Clearly I haven’t done a good enough job showing her what she means to me if she’s still surprised I talk about her with the people closest to me.

“Well, come on inside. I bet you’re exhausted after a full day of travel. You’ll never guess who showed up this morning.”

“Who?” I ask, my brow furrowing. I knew Tanner would be here since that was the whole reason we planned this Thanksgiving get-together, even though my parents usually celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving in October. This was really the only time both of us could get off during the season. Neither Tanner’s team nor the Wolves play on Thanksgiving, and Tanner’s game isn’t until Monday while mine’s on Sunday, so we were both free to come for a quick visit.

“Taron!” she shouts, practically vibrating from pure joy, and it’s no wonder. I can’t remember the last time my mom got all three of her boys under the same roof. Taron plays pro hockey and his schedule is insane.

“How the hell is he here? Doesn’t he have a game today?”

“Achilles injury,” a voice says from behind me, and I spin around to find my little brother, who’s built just like you’d imagine a hockey player to be built. “I’m out for the next three to five games depending on how quickly I can recover, but I was able to get clearance to come here for a couple of days as long as I keep up with my exercises.”

I wrap one arm around his back, pulling him into a tight hug. “Damn, man, it’s good to see you.”

He slaps me on the back. “You too. I hear you went and decided to pull a middle-child move for attention.”

I look at him like he’s just grown a second head.

“You know, knocking up your girlfriend.” His gaze slides past me to Lexi, and his smile turns seductive. “Although I definitely would’ve found a way to keep a woman who looks like that.”

I step in front of him, blocking his view of her, and give him a death glare. “Might want to move your eyes to something else before I punch you,” I growl low, but apparently not low enough to keep Mom from hearing.

“Now, now, boys. That’s enough. Let’s head inside.”

Taron throws me a typical grin, knowing he accomplished his mission of riling me up, and I spin around to find Lexi smiling at me. My breath stalls in my lungs at the lightness in her eyes, so different from the usual weight that I wish she’d share with me.

She grabs my hand, squeezing it once. “Not gonna lie; that whole caveman thing was kind of hot.”

I pull her body flush against mine, wrapping my arms around her and dropping my forehead to hers. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she says, her voice soft and breathy.

I brush her hair away from her face. “No one gets to look at you like that except me.”

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