Page 31 of The Puck Chase

I might not be able to escape my nightmares, but at least for the next few days I can escape ArcherfuckingGray.

Thanksgiving in my family is always a huge affair, and has been for as long as I can remember, and it only gets bigger every year. As soon as I got here yesterday, my mom gave me a list of jobs that Everest and I had to help David with, and I’ve pretty much been going non-stop ever since. Yet still, Daemon’s words play on repeat in my head.Try not to stick your tongue down anyone's throat.If what happened between us was such adrunken mistake, why the fuck would he say that? And more importantly, why do I care?

It’s a thought that has kept me up most of the night, and now I can already hear the commotion of Thanksgiving morning drifting up from downstairs, and it’s not even 9 a.m. yet. Fuck. Everest and I were up until midnight, finishing off the decorations to make mom’s dinner perfect, and all I want to dois roll over and go back to sleep. I know I’m out of luck when my door is thrown open.

“Arch, Mom wants to know where you put the centerpieces,” Aurora mumbles, completely focused on her phone, smiling, and I groan.

“We left them in the den,” I grumble, ducking my head under the covers, but of course she still comes and drops onto the end of my bed.

“Well get your ass out of bed, Mom is losing her mind down there and if I have to listen to her spiel about how she only has so many Thanksgivings left with us, then I am going to lose my mind,” she complains, dragging the duvet off my head, and I huff in annoyance, sitting up.

“Mom isn’t even fucking fifty,” I snap, snatching the covers back from her, before adding, “And get Ever to help you, I’m fucking wiped.”

“I’m not hauling all of those heavy ass vases on my own, dick,” Everest cuts in, strolling into my room like he owns the place, and knocking Aurora’s phone to the floor with a smirk.

At seventeen, the little shit is already taller than me at 6’ 4”, and is basically just pure lean muscle from playing both hockey and basketball. Despite being step-siblings, we are ridiculously close, and he doesn’t hesitate to drop down on the end of my bed beside Aurora, who shoves him fiercely as she picks her phone up from the floor. If it wasn’t for his jet black hair, most people would mistake him for our actual brother, with his blue eyes being so striking and similar to mine and Rora’s.

“Is Mom really on a rampage?” I ask him, knowing that Aurora tends to air on the side of exaggeration, but also knowing our mother, she probably isn’t stretching the truth all that much.

“Yeah, but when is Mom not a rampage?” He tosses back with a smirk, as he tries to look over Rora’s shoulder at her phone, but she snatches it away, slipping it into her pocket.

“Fuck, fine,” I drag out, knowing I am going to have to get out of bed, yet of course neither of my siblings move, as I head to my bag to grab some clothes to throw on.

“Where is Daemon spending the holidays?” Aurora questions, finally giving me her full attention, while Everest’s remains on her, his brow furrowing.

“Who’s Daemon?” he asks, and I glare at my sister like my look might erase her question, but unfortunately, I have no such look.

“A guy I play on the Flyers with, number forty-seven,” I respond, answering him first and giving Daemon’s jersey number, because I have no doubt Everest will remember him. His memory is unlike anything I have ever seen. “As far as I know he’s spending it on campus,” I add, finally responding to my sister, and she frowns, just like I knew she would.

“Where’s his family?” A question I knew she would ask, yet she looks all too interested in the answer, and I internally groan, knowing how she is going to react.

“His dad is in prison, and I don’t think his mom is still in the picture,” I sigh, her face now looking pained, as I pull on some joggers.

“Prison?” She exclaims in outrage. “Oh my god, what did he do?”

I shrug, not really wanting to get into Daemon’s personal business, especially when he has never told me. “I don’t know, we’re not friends, remember?” I don’t bother telling her the rumors I’ve heard about his father, that wouldn’t be fair to anyone. So instead I focus on finding a sweatshirt.

“You should have invited him to come here,” she demands, and I scoff, despite feeling some regret that I didn’t even offer, but in my defense, he did tell me to mind my own fucking business when I asked about his plans.

“Rora, I know everything in your pretty little head is all rainbows and sunshine, and I love that for you, but you need to get over this fascination with my teammate. We are not friends,” I snap, a little harsher than I would usually be with her, but I don’t want to think about fucking Daemon Forbes right now.

“Fascination?” Everest instantly asks. “What the fuck do you mean fascination?” he questions in an accusatory tone, and Aurora glares between us, before rolling her eyes.

“I’m not fascinated with him, he’s my friend,” she huffs, storming towards the door, before turning and pointing between us both. “And just because you two are assholes doesn’t mean I have to be,” she adds, flipping us both the middle finger, before she disappears out of sight.

She’s his friend?Since when?

Shaking my head free of thoughts of Daemon Forbes yet again, I focus on my brother who is still staring after Aurora. “Well, she’s a delight this morning,” I say with a laugh, before gesturing towards my door. “Come on, let’s go move these fucking vases before mom yells at us.”

Making our way downstairs, we spend the next twenty-minutes moving the decorations to the long table our Mom has set up in the dining room, and by the time we are done, she joins us with a beaming smile.

“Oh wow, it looks amazing in here,” she praises, as if she didn’t plan this whole room herself, down to every last detail, and then make us guys do all the work. Yet when she looks at me with a smile on her face, all the work has been worth it.

My mom is beautiful, with the same blond hair and blue eyes that Aurora and I possess, and she has one of the kindest hearts in the world, and I know I am lucky to have her. It doesn’t matter that she has been prepping dinner no doubt since the sun rose, she still looks as perfectly dressed as always.

“Thank you, my boys,” she coos, tears gathering in her eyes, as she comes and places a hand on each of our cheeks in the same way she has done since we were little kids. “It’s so good to have you both here at the same time. I don’t know what I’m going to be like next year when you’re both gone,” she cries, and I smile softly, as Everest brings an arm up to her shoulder.

“Mom, please don’t get upset, we’re here now, and we’ll be here next year too,” he comforts her, and she nods, pulling him in for a hug. He’s always had a way to easily calm her, they have a special bond that I know they both cherish.

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