Page 39 of Triple Pucked
After our first parents’ evening at high school, Dad spoke to me alone in the kitchen.
“You must look out for Dee.” Dad rested his hand on my shoulder, squeezing. “You’re a good brother. But he’s…I don’t know…he just needs you. You have to help him understand the world. Does that make sense?”
I wasn’t sure but I still nodded, eagerly. “Yeah, Dad.”
Dad patted my back. “Promise that you’ll look out for him. I know that you’ve got all your new mates now, but he doesn’t. Don’t abandon him.”
“I never will,” I swore, fiercely.
Dad’s eyes were unusually serious. “I trust you, Shay.”
How can I break that trust now?
Is my hockey career more important than my dad’s trust?My own twin?
If we lose this bet should I give up my career and stay here in Freedom?
I feel sick.
I push myself harder. The backs of my thighs protest. My knees are close to buckling.
Plus, the pain settles something in me.
It punishes me for allowing myself to believe that my dream life in America with Robyn and D’Angelo could be real — that it could last.
It’s too good for trash like me. D’Angelo’s mansion is like Buckingham Palace or something.
It’s been amazing to glimpse that life, and I’ve experienced every moment as fully as I always grasp life. I don’t regret it.
If I lose it now, however, it will break me.
How do I stop it also breaking my brother?
I’m going to fight my hardest to win the bet against Heine, but if we lose it, then how do I get Eden to separate from me for the first time in his life?
I will fall apart when I’m alone. But I won’t let Eden sacrifice his place with the first people who accept and love him just ashe is. He has his first girlfriend in Freedom, his new brother in D’Angelo, and his first ever friends.
After Blythe, I swore to Eden that I wouldn’t keep secrets from him. This time, however, hiding my pain is paying him back for every blow that he has taken to save my life.
For what happened to us in the Room. For saving us from the couple who hurt us.
Eden was so bloody happy yesterday and this morning.
Robyn is good for him. She’s incredible.
When they’re together, it’s bittersweet because I can tell that they’re emotionally connected deeper than I am. I may be the body that can pleasure Robyn, but Eden is themindshe needs.
My eyes burn.
Blythe always told me that I wasonly good for one thing.
My guts churn.
Blythe said a lot of things. I wish that I could scour them from my mind.
But how can I?
Robyn is the opposite of Blythe in every way. Yet that doesn’t mean Blythe was wrong about me.
