Page 80 of Puck You Very Much

“Fine,” he replied harshly, leaning against the headboard. “You know my childhood sucked, right?”

She swallowed but nodded.

“Good. Most days of the year, it was terrible to be home. So, Jack, Anna, and I were mostly gone. Jack and I played hockey, and Anna took refuge in the school library, reading every book she could find. That was our everyday life. I didn’t know if there would be food on the table at dinner, if my mother would spontaneously be working late, or if my dad had been lucky or unlucky at the casino. I hated going home after school.

Nothing was ever consistent…except hockey, Jack, and Anna.” He shrugged. “But on my birthday, I forgot all that. It was the only day of the year my mother could get my father to stop drinking and stay away from the casino. Jack would usually steal a present for me from somewhere, my mom would bake a cake, and Anna would do some silly dance or something to make me laugh. It wasn’t much, but it was the one day of the year that I always looked forward to. My parents knew that. Anna knew that. Jack knew that. He knew that most of all. Because I told him that kind of crap.” He cleared his throat. “I know Jack is only three years older than me, but…he took responsibility. For the birthdays. Christmas. For everything. He made sure Anna could stay in the library until we finished practice. He made certain I wasn’t kicked out of school for getting into another fight. He helped me pick up my dad from the casino. He ran the other half of the household. He told me what I had to do or how I could help. So maybe it’s unfair of me to be upset that he suddenly thrust that responsibility onto me, when he had to bear it for so long. But…” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know, he only had to ask me. Simply ask. Just tell me that it was too much for him. We lied to our parents all the time—but never to each other. But he didn’t say a word about it. Instead, he simply disappeared. I woke up on my sixteenth birthday…and he was gone. His bed empty. His things gone. He vanished into thin air. I didn’t find anything of his…except a dice.”

“The red dice,” she said quietly. “The one you always carry with you.”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

He frowned. “It used to be a reminder that I don’t need help. That I can do it on my own, that I don’t believe in luck, and that hard work is the only thing I can control. My dad treated life like a game, and I wanted to do better. By making my job a game, literally.” The corners of his mouth twitched. “It doesn’t matter. Now it’s more…habit. Whatever.” He cleared his throat again. “Jack took off, ruined the only day of the year I looked forward to, left me alone with Anna and all that shit—and then didn’t contact me for three years. We didn’t know where he was or if he was okay. Until we saw his damn name on TV because he’d been drafted into the NHL.” He laughed mirthlessly. “Then our mom got sick and died, and he missed the funeral. When it was over, he called. On my fucking birthday! To wish me well and ask how I was and if we should meet sometime. As if nothing had happened. The bastard ruined my birthday twice. So now, every year, the day merely serves as a reminder of it. The day Jack abandoned us and saddled me with Anna’s upbringing and security.” He laughed mirthlessly. “It was hard to put up with my father, but it was easier together. Anna was too young to help, but Jack and I…we had everything under control. Until he left.”

Lucy swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat over the last few minutes and reached for Dax’s hand. “Why did he leave?” Lucy whispered.

“No idea,” he replied dryly.

Skeptical, she stared at him. “You didn’t ask?”

“No. I didn’t care. There was nothing that would justify leaving us alone. We were his damn family, we needed him, and he let us down. That’s all I need to know.”

“But…”

“Leave it alone, Lucy,” he interrupted, shaking his head stiffly. “He didn’t try to explain and I didn’t ask him to. That’s all there is to it.”

“Okay,” she said quietly. It was clear that he didn’t want to talk about it any further and had revealed more about himself than he’d initially wanted to.

However, if it were her, she would want to know why Jack had left—what had happened?

She didn’t truly know Jack, but…she knew he wanted to do better, too.

“You should come, you know,” Dax muttered.

Stunned, she blinked at him. “What? Where?”

“To the family dinner.”

“But I’m not family.”

He raised the corner of his mouth. “Yes, and I’m grateful for that. Come anyway.”

“And what about your rule? That I’m nowhere within a ten-mile radius when you spend time with Anna?"

“As long as you don’t hide a paparazzo in your purse, we can break the rule. With your presence, the situation is less likely to escalate.”

“Are you sure?” she asked doubtfully.

He nodded and leaned forward so that his lips brushed the shell of her ear. “Yes. Because I always feel the need to behave myself when you’re around.”

She laughed. “Really? I haven’t seen much evidence of that.”

“Ah, you haven’t seen my worst side yet,” he assured her, gently biting her earlobe. “So, before you get a stiff neck from sitting in the car in front of the house for three hours making certain I don’t get drunk, give innocent children alcohol, and graffitiI hateCoca-Colaon a wall, you better come with me.”

She had to grin. “Well, when you put it like that…fine.”

It was perfectly normal to celebrate a birthday with your fling…right?

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