Page 143 of Friendzone Hockey
“I fall in love with you for a new reason every day. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life falling in love with you on an endless loop,” I promise him.
Dash eats breakfast from my lap. It might be the only place he eats breakfast from now on. He made one plate big enough for both of us and planted himself there. He feeds me bacon and eggs while I feed him pieces of pancake dipped in maple syrup. There’s lots of kissing in between bites. I can’t stop staring at him, rendered speechless by the giant feeling in my chest. The one that feels too big to have a real hold on.
Our breakfast is prepared by Chef Sutter, who’s shirtless like the rest of the gang, a red bandana tied around his silky black hockey hair, all his tattoos visible, and a white dishtowel slung over his left shoulder.
“You cook, Sutter?” I ask. I saw him as an order-in-only kind of guy.
He raises his brows like I’m the crazy one. “You think my full-blooded Italian mom’s gonna let me get away without knowing how to cook? I don’t think so. Your brother’s funny, kitten.”
Dash lifts a slice of bacon to my mouth. I grip his hand, inhale the bacon, and suck the grease off his fingers.
“They gonna be like this all fucking day?” Sutter asks.
“I’ve walked in on you railing Casey over that counter—where we prepare food—more times than I ever needed to, Sutter,” my man says. “You can put up with us.”
“Fair,” he says, pursing his lips. “Our idea might help with the growing number of couples in the group anyway. Should we tell them, kitten?”
“Tell us what?” Not sure I like the serious tone.
“I was gonna move in with Sutter, but we end up here more than we do at his, so we thought maybe we buy a big house together. One in the Southlands so we could be closer to the Meyers? It won’t work forever, but we all travel so much for hockey it might be fun. We’ve outgrown this place, but I’m not ready to let go of what we have.”
“I love the idea. What do you think, sweetheart?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m in. I’m not ready to move on from our found family either. Dirk?”
“Um, yeah. Yeah. I like the idea,” he says.
Then what’s all that hesitation in his tone? I lift a brow. He shakes his head. Whatever I hear, Casey doesn’t.
“Sweet, y’hear that, Jackie? You’re getting new neighbors.”
“I can’t wait to tell Merc. A new pack of brats close to him, just what he’s always wanted,” Jack says, heavy on the sarcasm.
“Shouldn’t we find a place first?” I ask. I was looking last season, but those places aren’t likely to be available anymore in this market.
“We found one,” Sutter says, tossing a grape into the air, catching it in his mouth. “We can have it before the season starts.”
Huh. They’ve been busy.
I pull Dash closer. I never dreamed it was gonna feel like this. I wanna hang onto it forever. I’m gonna hang onto him forever too. And as much as I love our family, I want them to go away.
“Do you wanna see it first, Stace?” Casey asks.
“Dash said he’d be there. I don’t care if it’s infested with mice.” Dash’s smile brightens. “Do you need to see it, sweetheart?”
He shakes his head. “Um, what you said. You’ll be there, we’ll figure it out.” Our foreheads rest together.
“Can’t believe I’m still not grossed out yet,” Casey says. “Dirk?”
“I’m grossed out already. Everyone’s too sappy.”
“No, not that. The house. Do you need to see it?”
“Not really, but uh, Hunter might want to.”
“Okay, kitten, we have work to do. Let’s give the lovebirds space,” Sutter says, taking charge and coming in clutch for us.
Dash’s eyes widen in my direction because, yeah, Sutter doing all that? I guess he does organize children at camp every summer, but the Sutter we’re used to is the barbarian on the ice who can’t keep his hands off my brother.
