Page 7 of Triple Pucked
Shay grasps my hand.
“Was your brother invited to play too?” Eden’s intense gaze settles on me.
I swallow, shaking my head.
Eden’s lips pinch.
What should be a happy memory is shadowed by knowing that I wasn’t the only one who wanted to be a part of my dad’s poker nights.
Yet Cody’s existence was barely acknowledged by Dad.
Some evenings, I remember the heartwrenching glimpse of Cody’s sweet, freckled face at the door to the kitchen. He was silent, while the players were loud and laughing.
Dad always held court in the heart of the house.
Cody would stare in at us, as if everything he’d desired was just inside but out of reach. He stared longingly at the love and attention being offered to these strangers so casually by Dad, while he was standing alone and ignored.
Story of our fucking life.
My eyes sting with tears, when the sudden memory floods back of the worst poker night, when Dad finally did notice Cody. Instead of inviting him in to join us, however, he stormed across to my brother in front of everyone.
Several of the men stood, trying to calm Dad down.
Dad shrugged them off.
“Dad,” I tried, standing up.
“Sit down,” Dad barked at me, red-faced. “Everyone, keep playing. I need to go deal with my bad boy.”
He grabbed Cody by the scruff of the neck and dragged him away down the corridor toward his study.
How many times did Dad call Codybad, challenging, difficult, when all Cody wanted was to be allowed to be part of our family?
Our Mom had died the year before.
The three of us had only truly had each other after that. But I now understand that Cody never even had that.
He’d never had Dad.
Shay notices my gleaming eyes and tightens his hold on my hand.
“Hey, love, I’m here. I’ve got you. It’s your dad’s loss if he didn’t include your brother because Code is an incredible bloke. We make our own family, and Code is part of it.” He rests his forehead against mine. “Blythe was a bitch about poker too. She played it professionally online. It’s why I wanted to do this. Make it ours but in a fun way, yeah?”
D’Angelo stiffens at the same time that Eden does.
“Is this something that either of you need to talk about?” D’Angelo asks, carefully.
Shay and I shake our heads.
“I’ll just burn coach and Blythe,” Eden says.
“Vetoed,” Shay and I both reply at the same time.
Then we laugh and squeeze each other’s hands.
“Before we turn to arson,” D’Angelo quirks his brow, “I suggest that we set up a reward on the hockey games around these cards. We are so close to making Bay Rebels history and reaching the playoffs. Let’s also reclaim these cards from our pasts.”
Eden rests his strong arms on his knees. “My plan is simpler.”
