Page 26 of Rainbow Kisses

A slight pause. “Do you get hurt a lot?”

I shrugged but took a few seconds to think about my answer. Because I realized Maddy had never seen me play.

“Not a lot, no, but I’ve had a couple of broken bones. And something always hurts.”

“Mom isn’t really into sports, so we don’t really watch it.” Another pause. “And we didn’t have, like, regular TV.”

Because they couldn’t afford it, probably.Shit.

“Well, the game we play here is a little different than the NHL. It’s a little, umm…more aggressive.”

It occurred to me that Maddy might not like the game. And I was going to have to drag her to every damn home game.Double shit.

I had her full attention now as she turned to look at me, eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

Might as well lay it all on the table right away, so she wasn’t surprised.

“Well, I play defense, and defensemen do a lot of checking.”

“You mean you hit people.”

“Well, yeah. I thought you don’t watch hockey?”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t mean Mom doesn’t talk about you.”

“So what’d she say?”

“She said you hit people for a living.”

I opened my mouth to say, “Not exactly,” but then shut it when I realized that’s exactly what I did.

“I feel that needs a little context.”

“I’m not stupid, Uncle Bri.” I knew she’d just rolled her eyes even if I couldn’t see her actually do it. “I get that you don’t just go out and hit people. It’s just the game.”

“It’s part of the game, yeah. I guess I just don’t want you to be, uh, surprised at how…physical it can get.”

She didn’t say anything right away, and I figured she’d decided the conversation was over. It wasn’t until we were pulling into the driveway at our new apartment that she had something else to say.

“Are you going to get hurt?”

I parked and shut the engine off so I could turn to look at her. She wouldn’t meet my eyes, but her lips quivered a little. Like she was scared. Hell, I didn’t want her to be scared. I just didn’t want her to freak out when I bled a little. Then again, I’d promised her no lying.

“Hey, Mads.” I waited until she turned to me, trying so hard not to look worried. “Yeah, I can get hurt. It’s a physical game,and I play hard. But I’m big, and I’m tough, and usually it’s the other guy who goes down. But I don’t want you to be afraid. Not for me…or of me.”

Immediately, she rolled her eyes, and a little of that fear got pushed out by feminine exasperation. Now she looked so much like my sister that I just had to smile.

“I knowthat. It’ll be fine, Uncle Bri.”

I huffed out a laugh, and she smiled.

And that’s when Mrs. Travers stomped out of her house, waving her cane like a sword.

“You two going to sit in that truck all night? Come out and get your keys before I freeze.”

The knockon the door didn’t surprise me. I figured it was Mrs. Travers with something else to throw at me.

First, it’d been freshly washed sheets followed by blankets. No idea what we were still missing because the kitchen was stocked with every kind of pot and pan I could think of and would never use, and the bathroom had towels that smelled like the sheets and blankets.

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