I started to wonder what was taking Deanna so long when Zane left the table. But it was shortly after that when I started glancing around and saw the two of them at the bar, talking. Deanna had to let him down again. While there was a small satisfaction at being right, I didn’t like it.
Then, I heard what she said. I teased her the entire night and then convinced her to come home with me again. If Deanna listened to me, she’s lying naked in my bed right now while I walk Otis one last time for the night. I told her to start without me. My mind now runs rampant with images of her pleasuring herself and thinking of me, waiting for me.
“And, and I love him, Zane.”
That one part repeats in my head. Not once has she told me this, but the way she said it, it was almost as if she just realized it herself. And she tells fucking Zane before me. That kid really pisses me off; I don’t know how much more I can take of him pining after my woman. But maybe now he’ll leave well enough alone.
“Otis, hurry the fuck up,” I demand, but he pays me no mind. He wanders around the yard with me in tow like we have all the time in the world. At this rate, Deanna will be asleep by the time we get up there. “Finally!” I grumble. Otis trots toward the door.
I hear a moan as I set the alarm for the night. What the fuck is she doing up there? She’s not supposed to be having that good of a time all by herself. I free Otis and jog up the stairs, hearing another moan. Upon entering my room, however, I stop short. Deanna lies there with her hands behind her head and her ankles crossed. My eyes roam over her body while I try to understand what I see.
She laughs at my confused expression. “About time.”
“Those were fake moans?” I stand at the foot of the bed and begin to shed my clothes. The view of her body short-circuits my brain, especially with her watching me with her eyelids low and her breasts rising and falling with her every breath.
“Sounded nice, didn’t they?” The grin on her face is ridiculously proud.
I push my pants down, but pause. “Have you faked with me before?”
Deanna props herself up on her elbows. Her face is completely serious now. “No. I don’t fake.”
“Good.” Now naked, I grab her ankles and pull her forward. I lift each ankle and kiss them one at a time. “Darlin’.”
She hums.
“You said something tonight.” I kiss further up her legs, crawling onto the bed as I do so.
She huffs. “Can we forget about it?” she asks, clearly expecting me to tease her some more.
“No,” I state simply. She lifts her head, but it falls as I lie over her body, which tenses slightly beneath mine. “Tell me.”
Her inhale is shaky. Her hands tremble as she grabs my face. She’s obviously nervous, but the fact that she’s going through with it anyway? Turns me the hell on and makes me proud as hell of her. “For some reason, I love you. Happy?”
I nod and kiss her. Slowly. Thoroughly. Deeply. I kiss her until she releases one of those moans I heard earlier, only this time, it’s real. “I love you too, darlin’.”
She gasps softly. Did she honestly not expect that? Her short bursts of air hit my face. She seems frozen. So, I lean down and kiss her again. Her hips press into mine, a reminder that we’re skin to skin. I lean over to find a condom, groaning when I feel her hand wrap around my cock. Deanna pushes me to lie on my back and straddles my thighs.
“Tell me,” she demands.
“I love you.”
The slow rise of her lips as she strokes me is the best damn sight I’ve ever had before me. I hope to see it often throughout the rest of my life.
“Hello.” Mom’s voice is stiff and formal. I haven’t talked to her since I hung up on her after calling when I was pissed off over her talking to Deanna.
“Hey, Mom. How are you doing?”
“Just fine.”
“Good. I’m sorry for how things turned out in our last conversation and for talking to you like I did. I had just left Deanna’s. I know better than to call someone while I’m still pissed. Anyway, I’m sorry.”
Mom is quiet for a full ten seconds, probably hoping I’m sweating over whether she’ll forgive me or not. “Apology accepted. I’m assuming you and Deanna worked things out since you called me to apologize.”
“Yeah, we did.”
“Good. Christmas is coming up, you know.”
“Yes. You’re coming, right?”
“Well, I was wondering if you and Deanna would like to come here.”
“I don’t know; I can ask.” Why does she want us to come there anyway? I normally fly her here.
“Please do.”
Mom and I talk for a few more minutes before we hang up. Something is off for her to want me to go back home. Or maybe I’m being crazy. I call Deanna.
“I miss you,” she answers.
“Bad day?”
“Not really. Just miss you.”
“I’ll be home in a few days. What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m out to lunch with Raelynn.”
“Oh, well, I’ll be quick then. Mom wants us to fly out to see her for Christmas. I told her I would ask; I don’t know what you want to do about Otis.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “Do you want to go?”
“I guess.”
“Okay. I’ll figure something out.”
“Call me later.” I pause. “I love you.”
She giggles. “Love you too.”
I smile as the call disconnects. She either gets a goofy smile on her face or laughs when I tell her, as if she still can’t quite believe it. It’s one reason why I tell her as often as possible. I want to soak up her reaction for as long as possible. I want to imprint it in my brain for the inevitable tough times. It’s the kind of memory I want to bring up when we’re old and forgetting what we had for breakfast, but can somehow remember these snippets from our younger days. Her reaction is something to savor and remember.
“You smiling freaks me the fuck out.”
I glance over at Liam Irving, our goalie, as he takes a seat next to me in the hotel’s restaurant. “If you smiled too much, it’d freak me out, too.”
He smiles, and I laugh. “You seem more relaxed than usual,” he says.
“How so?”
“The smile is a dead giveaway.”
I chuckle. “I don’t feel any more relaxed than usual. How’s your daughter doing?”
The mention of his daughter brings a real smile to his face. “She’s fine. I’m ready for Christmas, so I can spend some time with her.” He talks about his daughter, Ainsley, for the next thirty minutes while we eat. These parents, I swear, all you have to do is mention their kids, and off they go. I’m not so sure Scotty is as bad as Bruiser, Savage, and EJ. Come February, Marco will be just like them, I’m sure.
“Hey, would you want to dogsit over Christmas?” I ask him later when we’re walking to the locker room.
He shakes his head. “Ainsley is scared of dogs. Sorry.”
“You need a dogsitter, Hook?”
I turn around and see the Kessy twins. I have no idea which of them spoke since I didn’t see which one did it. Their voices are too similar in that regard. The only way I can tell them apart is because Cal is a tad taller and Collin keeps his face clean-shaven, whereas Cal rarely does. There are other ways to tell them apart, but those are the easiest for me.
“Yeah. Over Christmas. I’m going back to Michigan, but Deanna has Otis. He’s a Rottweiler, so he’s a big dog, but he behaves. You two want to do it? You can watch him at my house if you’d rather.”
The twins glance at one another for a moment, and I get that creepy feeling that they are communicating without talking again. Then, they both nod and say, “Sure, we’ll do it.”
I shake my head. “I thought you stopped that.”
The fuckers grin. “Not yet. Are we getting paid?”
“Yeah, in food.”
They nod, seemingly satisfied with that. After the game, I need to text Deanna that I found a solution for Otis and confirm with my mom we’re going. Tomorrow, I’ll email my travel agent to book our flights. It’s all falling into place.
If only I can figure out why Mom wants me home in the first place.
The next couple of weeks sail by without a problem. Something I didn’t notice before was how constantly suspicious Deanna seemed to be over her life and how that affected her. Granted, I didn’t know she worried and wondered if she was making the right decisions as much as she did. But I can tell a difference in her.
She seems more relaxed. She lets go of things. For example, I haven’t heard about her mother’s notebooks since our argument. I’ve been to her house, too, and I haven’t seen them lying around anywhere either. She checks in with her dad here and there, but his continued dismissal of her makes her shrug her shoulders in a what-can-I-do kind of way instead of making her worry. Best of all, I haven’t heard her mention how she makes bad decisions.
Maybe she’s finally realized she once made terrible decisions, but slowly grew up over the years and the number of bad decisions diminished as she did. That’s what I believe, at least. Once, she listed a bunch of shit she did that wasn’t good, but it was all either in high school or prior to or just after her grandmother dying, if I’m not mistaken. She has grown up; she just didn’t see that.
Now, we’re in the air and on our way to Michigan. Deanna squeezes my hand, which is in her lap, and I glance over at her.
“Do you think Otis will be okay with Collin and Cal?”
I laugh. “Yeah, darlin’.” She’s like a mom leaving her newborn for the first time. She was giving the guys instructions on how to care for him, telling them about his favorite toys, and making sure they knew he could be on the furniture...while he was currently standing on the couch, making that pretty obvious. Thankfully, the guys nodded seriously at her every word. “What did you get me for Christmas?” I ask to distract her.
She rolls her eyes. “Gifts are supposed to be a surprise. Unless you plan to tell me my gifts, then I’m not telling.”
“Fair enough.” That was the answer I expected anyway.
“Are you excited about coming home?”
I sigh and lean my head back against the headrest. “I don’t know. I feel like something’s up, so in that regard, no. Otherwise, yeah. I always like coming home.”
“What makes you think something is up?” Deanna rests her head on my shoulder as her free hand starts drawing circles on the topside of my wrist.
“Since I’ve been in the league? Haven’t been to Michigan for Christmas. Mom hasn’t asked me to come home, so I always fly her out to see me. Wouldn’t you think something is up?”
“I see your point.”
“At least if something goes wrong, you’ll be with me.”
At that, she lifts her head to show me her smile. “And I’ll do my best to be helpful.” She quickly kisses me before resting her head on my shoulder again, content with sitting like that until we land.
Turns out, my gut feeling was right. Confusion swamps me when we spot Mom waiting by baggage claim with a man, who looks a lot like my very first hockey coach, Perry Hall.
“Who is that with Maryann?” Deanna asks.
“Looks like an old coach. What the fuck is he doing here?”
“Be happy for her,” Deanna says quietly right before we reach them.
Her comment confuses me further. What is there to be happy for my mom about? Mom steps forward to hug me, but my eyes are on Coach Hall. What the fuck is he doing here? That’s the big looming question.
“I’m so happy you’re here!” Mom gushes and she turns to Deanna to hug her. “You too! I’m glad you came! Who is with Otis?”
“The Kessy twins offered to take care of him.”
“That’s good.” Mom steps back. “Deanna, this is Perry Hall. He coached Brayden a long, long time ago. Brayden, you remember him, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
Deanna squeezes my hand as she shakes his hand and they exchange a few words.
“Well, let’s go!” Mom says with a big smile on her face. She’s not going to explain his presence? What the hell?
We follow them outside to a vehicle that most certainly is not my mother’s, which means it’s Coach Hall’s. As he pulls out of his space, Mom turns to angle in her seat and look at me in the backseat.
“You’re probably wondering—”
“Yeah,” I interrupt, wishing she’d get on with it and glaring at Deanna when she squeezes my hand in a death grip again.
“She’s my girlfriend,” Coach Hall speaks before Mom can.
I blink and stare at Mom, who watches me carefully. My brain explodes. Mom? Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Coach Hall? What the fuck? I don’t understand. Has Mom dated since I was born? I don’t remember ever meeting a boyfriend before. Or her going on dates. I rub my forehead as pain bursts forth behind it. I don’t understand. I simply don’t understand.
“That’s awesome,” I hear Deanna say. “How long have you been dating?”
“Three years,” Coach Hall answers.
I squeeze my eyes closed and pinch the bridge of my nose as more pain threatens to split my skull wide open. Three years? What the fuck, Mom? Why is she just now springing this on me? Deanna talks to them, but my ears refuse to listen. I grab Deanna’s purse, ignoring the looks, and search for pills. She must have some over-the-counter medication in here for headaches. Don’t all women carry that stuff around all the time? Mom always seemed to have some on hand when I was growing up.
Ah-ha! I grab the bottle, shake it until two land in my hand, and dry swallow them before returning her bag. None of this makes sense. Am I still alive? Did the plane crash and this is some sort of afterlife experience? Maybe that’s why my head hurts.
The forty-five-minute drive to Mom’s house is a long one. From the corner of my eye, I see Deanna and Mom glance over at me multiple times. Sorry, but my mind can’t seem to wrap around this. When we finally get to Mom’s house, my mind is blown once again.
Mom’s house has been infused by a man. This is not the same house I remember. Damn, I need to come home more often. Coach Hall’s things lie around everywhere. Coats hang by the door, boots sit on the floor, a pair of reading glasses lie on the table next to the recliner, and new blankets that I know my mother would never buy rest on the back of the couch.
“I need to lie down. Maybe that will get rid of my headache,” I say.
Mom frowns, but I kiss her on the cheek and pull Deanna to my old room.
She slaps my arm the moment I close the door. “What is wrong with you?” she whispers harshly.
“Me? My mom just sprung her boyfriend of three years on me! And I know him!”
“That should make it better.”
“It doesn’t!” I drop our bags by the door and move over to the bed, lying down and facing away from the door.
“Brayden.” Deanna crawls over my body to lie in front of me. “Aside from keeping it from you for so long and it being your old coach, what’s so bad about your mom having a boyfriend?”
I groan. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“Why?” Deanna seems perplexed.
“Mom has never had a boyfriend!” When Deanna stares at me like I’m crazy, I add, “Just leave me alone. I want a nap.” With that, I close my eyes.
Deanna sighs. “Maybe you just never met them. Or maybe she spent all that time flirting with Perry.”
“Please stop.”
“We’re stuck here for the next two days. You need to get used to the idea that she’s with him and be happy for her. She obviously had high hopes when she asked you to come.”
“I’m just trying to figure out how this is possible. How did they get together? Is he living here now? Because it looks like it.”
“Weren’t you listening on the way here?” Deanna interrupts.
“No. As soon as he said she was his girlfriend, I got a headache and stopped listening. A headache I still have, by the way.”
She rolls her eyes at me again, but adjusts her position so she can massage my temples and tell me what she learned of my mother’s new relationship. Apparently, they ran into each other all the damn time and eventually, Coach Hall asked her out. The rest is history.
“This is a terrible Christmas already,” I mutter.
Deanna laughs. “I never would’ve thought the idea of Maryann having a boyfriend would be what knocked you down.”
“You’re mean. I just need time to recover.” We hear Mom giggle and I groan, leaning into Deanna. “What are they doing out there?” I groan again. “I don’t want to know.”
Deanna laughs once more. “They are probably talking. I doubt they are out there having sex in the living room.”
I poke her in the stomach. “Do not mention my mom and sex in the same sentence.” I shudder saying it myself. “My mom is too old for that anyway.”
Deanna barks out a laugh. “I’ll remember that when we’re in our fifties.”
A reluctant smile appears. She thinks about us in our fifties? I try to imagine that myself. Granted, I’ll be closing in on sixty when she turns fifty with our age difference. Although unrealistic, I can see us together with Otis. I can see us having fun, laughing a lot, and yes, still having sex. Maybe I’ll be traveling less. Or maybe I’ll be traveling more as I take Deanna to places around the world. It doesn’t seem like a bad life.
Mom might have some version of that with Coach Hall.
I pull Deanna’s hands away from my temples. “Let’s give it fifteen more minutes and then go hang out with them.”
The smile she gives me is wondrous. “You will make your mom very happy.”
That’s the least I can do after all she’s done for me. I’ll figure out how to adjust.
Mom and Coach Hall sit too close for comfort on the couch when we emerge from the bedroom. Coach’s expression doesn’t change, but Mom’s face lights up when she sees us.
“Is your headache gone?” she asks.
“Yeah. Just needed to rest.” I sit in the loveseat and pull Deanna down next to me. “Sorry about earlier, Coach. It’s good to see you again.”
“You can call me Perry. It’s good to see you again too. Looks like my coaching paid off with you.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I guess so.” I’m not sure I can call him Perry, boyfriend of my mom’s or not. He’s always been Coach Hall to me. I don’t know if that can change after three decades.
“What’s it like down there in North Carolina?”
“Warmer than it is up here. The weather’s great there.” Deanna squeezes my hand like I should say more, but I don’t know what else to say. This is fucking awkward. “Deanna’s lived there all her life.”
I release a breath as the questions are now directed at her and Coach Hall learns about her instead of me. The main question swirling around now is why did Mom keep this from me? And why did she decide to finally tell me?
“Brayden, do you want to help me with lunch?”
“Yeah.” I want answers. Once we’re safely in the kitchen and away from Coach Hall and Deanna, I say, “What the hell, Mom?”
She sighs. “You never did see me with men when you were growing up and I didn’t know how to tell you. Perry wants to marry me; he was tired of waiting. It was past time to tell you. I figured you would react as you did or worse.”
I glare at her. “I could’ve reacted properly if you had warned me that I was meeting your boyfriend. You didn’t even give me that much of a warning. You two were just standing there. I’m not that good of an actor to plaster a smile on my face for appearance purposes.”
“I’m sorry. I knew the moment you interrupted me it was the wrong decision. You’re happy for me, though, aren’t you?” The worry in her eyes fills me with shame.
“Mom, you raised me. What do you think?”
She smiles and hugs me. “I’m very happy, I promise. And he’s a complete gentleman.”
“That’s good, Mom. I’m glad you’re happy and with someone. You deserve it.”
“So do you. What did you get Deanna for Christmas?”
I shrug. “Some presents.” She’ll find out soon enough. “I will tell you this.” I take a deep breath. “I’m thinking of asking her to move in with me.”
“Already?”
“What do you mean ‘already’?”
Mom hesitates to answer. “You and Deanna have had some issues.”
“Your point,” I push her along.
“You shouldn’t rush into anything.”
“How long before Perry moved in here?” I ask, his name sounding odd to my ears.
A blush unlike any I’ve ever seen before burns my mom’s face. “That is none of your business.” She turns away from me, which in combination with her answer, only makes me want to know more.
“Mom, tell me. I should know before I give you away at a wedding.”
She glares at me. “Two weeks.”
My eyes jump out of their sockets. “Two weeks! Are you kidding me? Mom—”
“Oh, shut up, Brayden, and ask your own girlfriend to move in with you.”
I laugh and decide to let it go. After all, here they are three years later, planning to get married. I’ve been with Deanna longer than they were together before they moved in with each other. Plus, I have no intention of letting Deanna get away. It’ll all work out in the end one way or another. The most important thing is to focus on getting used to my old coach being my mom’s boyfriend.