Rhys
Present
"Rhys!"
My heart fluttered as Kayden scread out my na. He was here I thought and smiled widely.
I didn’t turn around imdiately, but I felt the heat of him as he sprinted toward and threw himself into my back. His arms wrapped around my waist, his face pressing hard against my spine.
When I finally turned in his arms, I didn’t even have ti to breathe before Kayden’s mouth was on mine. He kissed so hard, with everything he had, that he made forget about the nightmare of that phone call with my grandfather.
I kissed him back, my hands sliding up to cup his face, holding him as if he might vanish if I let go.
"We won!" Kayden scread against my lips the mont we pulled apart, his eyes shining with so much joy that I couldn’t help but feel guilty knowing all his secrets.
"Did you see on the ice? Rhys, I freaking won against stupid Leon!"
He let out a jubilant laugh and threw his arms around my neck again. "When the Southern Stallions lost, Jaxson and I t up with Leon and teased him. We joked saying Leon is now... Leon gone."
He laughed again and placed his head on my chest, swaying with a surge of adrenaline-fueled strength. But the second his chest pressed hard against mine, his excitent hit a wall.
"Ah...!"
He let out a sharp, strangled gasp and winced, his entire body jerking as he recoiled. His face went pale, his eyes flickering shut as he clutched at his side.
"Kayden?" I caught his elbows, my protective alpha instincts slamming back into place. My heart pounded hard against my ribs for a different reason now. "Are you alright? What is it?"
Kayden stayed hunched over for a mont, his breath hitching in his throat. He tried to offer a small, shaky smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "I’m... I’m just sore," he gritted out, his hand pressing firmly against his ribs where the bruises were likely darkening by the second.
"The ga was crazy because it reached Ga 7. If only we had you and Miller on ice then maybe..."
"You did well," I interrupted. "You played well without us and won. The others also did well—that’s what it ans to be a team."
Kayden let out a sigh and yawned, his shoulders finally dropping. "I am tired," he admitted. "Throughout the ride here, I slept off."
"That is why I booked this place," I said, guiding him toward the edge of the water. "They have amazing spa treatnts, but first you need to soak your body in the hot spring and let the soreness you feel disappear."
As I spoke, the attendants—five of them—appeared and pointed towards a shoji door for Kayden to change.
"Thank you," Kayden murmured as he walked towards them and disappeared behind the screen.
The mont he was gone, the silence of the courtyard felt deafening. I stared at the moonlight reflecting off the water, my mind spiraling with so many thoughts.
I wondered if I should tell him about my newest discovery. I didn’t want to be invasive, but I rembered Kayden telling he had recently t his mother.
Did Linda even know Kayden was her son? If she did, why did she pretend? And if Kayden had already figured it out, why didn’t he ntion her that night at the pool?
Was he afraid I would be mad that he was Linda’s son? I couldn’t care less, because Linda had abandoned him as a baby. Also, Linda had made it clear that her only son was Raymond. She was a bad mother, and I would have cursed her more if I knew she was the one Kayden had told about.
I stood there, caught between the urge to demand the truth and the need to protect the boy in the other room. I didn’t want to ruin this night. I couldn’t.
I stepped into the steaming water, groaning as the heat sank into my muscles, but it did nothing to calm the storm in my head.
When Kayden approached the edge of the spring, I just stared at him. My heart was racing fast against my ribs with a terrifying certainty. In that mont, looking at him in the soft amber light, I knew I loved this boy so much it felt like a physical ache.
Kayden stretched forth his hand toward when he reached the edge, and I took it, pulling him gently into the water. He landed right in my arms, the heat of the spring splashing up around us. As he settled against , my eyes caught the glint of the necklace around his neck.
Kayden saw staring at it and he smiled as he touched it. "It was my good luck charm tonight," he murmured, his voice low. "I was going to return it to you now that the ga is over, but..."
"Keep it," I interrupted. I reached out, my thumb ghosting over the tal resting on his chest. "I want you to have it and keep it with you."
"Really?" He exclaid, his eyes brightening as he turned to face .
I nodded.
He wrapped his arms around my neck. "Thank you," he said, sighing, and then turned his back to again, resting his head on my chest.
"How are you feeling now with the water?" I asked.
"The water is cooling my system," he said, letting out a long, relieved breath. He chuckled then, letting out a tired but genuine sound. "Do you know that I sneaked out? I am sure Elton is calling repeatedly right now."
"I already reached out to Elton and the coach," I responded, my voice steady as I kept my hand anchored on his waist. "I told them we were together, so they won’t be looking."
Kayden let out a deep sigh of relief and placed his hands on mine around his waist. "This is exactly what I needed, where I needed to be," he murmured. "I thought you had left when I didn’t see you in the locker room."
I let out a deep chuckle. "I didn’t leave; I was setting this up," I told him. That was half the truth, because I had booked this place earlier, even before the ga started. The main reason was my grandfather; I couldn’t face him after what I had discovered.
I wanted to ask him, to tell him everything I had heard—but not tonight. It was supposed to be a celebratory night, not a night about family dramas. Instead, I asked him sothing different entirely.
"What will you do if we win the Stanley Cup this season?"
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