Page 20 of Pucking Secret

“Thought we’d properly welcome you to Denver.” He holds up two cases of beer.

I stare at him, totally caught off guard. “Um… what?”

“I didn’t figure you’d really want to go out and make a fool of yourself,” Carson explains. “Not until you got to know the guys better. You’ve got that reputation to maintain, after all. So, I’m bringing the welcome party to you!”

I chuckle and step back to let them in, shutting the door behind them..

“This feels like one of those initiation surprises college teams do for new players.”

“Consider it a housewarming,” Wilder says in his rumbling baritone, grabbing two beers from the pack. He cracks open a can and tosses the second one to me.

“Don’t tell Coach,” Zander grins. “If he finds out we brought you beer on your first day, at the start of the season, he’ll have our asses.”

Jensen nods. “Yeah, the old man is a real stickler about staying healthy and fit at the beginning of the season. He’ll jump down your throat if he catches you with a candy bar.”

“Don’t worry, though,” Zander continues with a wink. “He eases up once we’re a few games in and prove to him that we aren’t all fat, beer-guzzling slobs. Then he just worries about us all catching syphilis or some shit because we have so many manwhores on the team. Like Wilder.”

“Get fucked, Zander,” Wilder rumbles, and it isn’t clear if he’s joking.

Releasing a dramatic sigh, Zander replies, “If I could, I would, big guy. If I could, I would.”

We settle in, beers in hand, the guys making themselves comfortable on my couch and the floor. I don’t really have any other furniture yet, but they don’t seem to mind.

“How’d you know where I live?” I ask.

“It’s in the team directory,” Jensen explains. “Phone numbers and addresses are listed in case of emergency.”

“And this was an emergency?”

Jensen gives me a solemn nod. “Team bonding is a vital part of building trust, Owen. As captain, I take my responsibilities in facilitating such bonding seriously.”

There’s a beat of silence before we all burst out laughing.

Carson settles next to me on the couch and leans back, giving me a curious smile. “So, Owen, what’ve you been up to since you left Wisconsin? Feels like you just vanished.”

I take a slow sip of my beer, choosing my words carefully.

“My stepdad wanted to relocate us for ‘family business reasons,’” I say, rolling my eyes a bit. “He’s big on keeping up appearances, so he dragged us to Canada, where his family and their business are located. Whole new life, new city, new everything.”

Jayce, who hasn’t really said anything yet, asks, “What’s your stepdad’s name?”

“Gerald Weston.”

To my surprise, a look of recognition crosses Jayce’s face. “Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of the Westons. Big name in real estate up there, right? Have a hand in half the development in Vancouver.”

“Uh, yeah. How do you know that?”

Jayce shrugs. “My family’s the same. Vaughn Real Estate.”

“Holy shit!” I exclaim. “Your family’s company has been around since the 1800s. Didn’t they help build all of Denver’s biggest buildings?”

“Unfortunately.” Jayce irritably swigs his beer.

“So… you get it, don’t you?” I ask. “The pressure of meeting your family’s expectations, even if you don’t want to?”

“It’s rough when everything you do feels like it’s to make someone else look good,” Jayce nods, his tone laced with abitterness I recognize on a deep level. “Jensen can relate too. His dad is a rich control freak just like ours are.”

Jensen salutes us with his beer. “Finally stuck it to the old man when I found Grace. She gave me the backbone I needed to fully break free.”

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