Hockey Holidays

by Toni Aleo

  “Do you hear something, boy?” Isaac asked. Hope snuck into his voice, and he squeezed Avery’s hand. Hal pinned Isaac with a fuck-you glare and growled. He always growled at Isaac. They had a love- hate relationship that worked for them. The boxer refocused his attention in the same direction as before. Then he did something very un-Hal-like. He whined. Hal never whined. He growled. He barked. He snarled. But he did not whine. Isaac and he were alike in that manner.

  “He hears something,” Avery said. Isaac could tell she was trying not to get her hopes up, but Hal did have superior hearing compared to them.

  “He damn well does. As much as I hate putting my faith in that animal, we don’t have many other options.”

  With one final whimper, Hal launched himself down the road, nose to the ground. His head came up once, and he barked. He swerved off the road and dived into the brush and down the steep bank. Running behind him, Avery and Isaac braked to a halt at the edge of the steep bank almost impassible with thick brush and twisted madrona trees.

  Seeing no choice, Isaac put his head down and pushed through the brush. Avery was hot on his heels as he cleared the way. His heart pounded hard in his chest, not just from exertion, but from fear. They could hear Hal farther down the bank, crashing through the brush and barking. His barks became more frequent.

  “That damn dog better not be chasing a rabbit,” Isaac growled as he picked his way through the brush, hanging on to limbs here and there to keep from sliding down the wet bank. He could see the moonlight glistening off the water below. They were almost to the narrow beach that ran in front of several houses in the neighborhood. In fact, not too far from here, there was a set of steps leading down to the water, but they had to do it the hard way.

  “Isaac. Stop for a minute.”

  Isaac stopped and frowned at her. Avery called again for Sadie.

  “Listen.” She called for Sadie again. Isaac heard a very faint sound, but he was certain it was Sadie.

  Unmindful of the brush slapping against his face, he half ran, half slid the rest of the way down the bank. Avery followed a second later. There, on a rocky beach, huddled near the bank, was Sadie hugging Hal tightly to her. She glanced up and the tears on her face were illuminated by the moon.

  Hal was getting a nice, juicy bone tonight, even if it meant wasting one of the T-bones on the dog.

  Avery ran to Sadie and hugged her. Isaac stood nearby. Hal’s accusing stare was followed by a guttural growl. The dog blamed him for all this, and the dog might be right.

  “Are you okay, honey?” Avery asked as she ran her hands over the little girl’s body to make sure nothing was broken.

  “I was cold, but the angels warmed me up.”

  “Angels?” Isaac frowned and furrowed his brow. He started to step closer, but Hal’s snarl meant business. That damn dog. He had to go. Yet, deep down, Isaac knew he deserved Hal’s anger, and the mongrel would still get that bone.

  Avery’s eyes met Isaac’s over Sadie’s shoulder. She didn’t understand the angel part, either, but they were going with it.

  “Let’s get you home.” Sadie was too big for Avery to carry, so Isaac stepped forward. This time Hal let him, while eyeing him suspiciously.

  Isaac bent down and picked her up. Sadie wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “You won’t yell anymore, will you?”

  “No, I won’t. I promise.”

  “When men yell, they make people disappear.”

  Isaac cringed and swallowed back a huge lump in his throat. “No one is disappearing. I promise you.”

  “Okay.”

  Avery touched his arm and smiled at him, instead of giving him the glare he deserved. Sometimes he so did not deserve her, any more than his brothers deserved their women. The Wolfe brothers had been assholes to each other from the moment they’d walked in the door this morning. He hated the realization they were their father’s sons, and as of right now, that stopped if he had anything to do with it.

  They would be better men than their father ever was.

  Chapter Six

  An hour later, the power was still out. Sadie was in clean, dry clothes and wrapped in a blanket next to the fire and sleeping soundly in Zeke’s arms. Brayden and Sophie were curled up on the couch and yawning. Hal lay in a cover, noisily gnawing on a bone and growling at any adult who glanced in his direction. Everyone else was gathered around the blazing fire, sipping hot chocolate and not saying much.

  Isaac drew in a deep breath and moved to stand in front of the fireplace. The rest of his family gazed up at him with puzzled expressions. Oddly, he didn’t see any animosity in his brothers’ eyes, only weary contentment. They’d averted a disaster, and they would be stronger for it.

  “I’d like to apologize to each and every one of you for my childish behavior, especially to my brothers.”

  Isaac’s brothers both opened their mouths to protest, but Isaac silenced them with an upheld hand. To their credit, they didn’t push him like they would’ve even a few hours ago.

  “Blake, my former teammate and the owner of this home, lost his entire family on this very day six years ago when their floatplane crashed on a stormy night similar to this one. They were on their way to celebrate Christmas in this house like they had every year since their children were young. Blake can never get them back. They’re gone forever.” Isaac paused and wiped his eyes with his sweater sleeve. Normally, he’d be appalled at crying in front of everyone, but they were his family. If he couldn’t show real emotion to them, who could he show it to?

  Avery moved beside him and put her arm around his waist. He smiled down at her, cleared his throat, and continued. He wasn’t the world’s best speaker, but he hoped he could express his thoughts well enough.

  “Sadie said angels kept her safe while we were looking for her. Nice angels. They left when we showed up. You guys know I don’t believe in stuff like that, but I think they were angels. Maybe our mother and our sister. Maybe Blake’s family. We’ll never know who her guardian angels were, but I do know angels kept Sadie safe from a rising tide and from the cold.”

  No one said a word, so Isaac continued.

  “I’d like to think our mom is up there in heaven right now, smiling down on us and damned proud her three sons rose above the worst adversity life could throw at them and became productive, kind members of society.”

  Zeke and Tanner nodded, wiping their own eyes on their sleeves, while their wives clutched their hands.

  “We lost each other for a long time, but now we can do something Blake never can. We can find each other and make good memories. We were raised to be competitive. It was pounded into our heads from birth. If we weren’t winners, we were losers. Being a loser was worse than being dog sh—” Isaac paused as he noticed three pairs of young eyes watching him intently, as Sadie was now awake. “Dog poop. We aren’t those guys anymore. In a family, a real family, there aren’t any winners or losers. There’s just love.” That last word came out choked.

  Zeke and Tanner stood, as if on some silent cue, and walked to Isaac. They had a three-way bro hug, which left Isaac a little off-balance yet filled with joy. When they finally separated, they gazed at each other for a long time. Isaac felt the shift and knew they did, too. They were family. They didn’t need to compete to prove their worth. They just needed to be themselves.

  “Am I going to get a pony for Christmas?” Sadie interrupted their sappy reunion.

  Paisley laughed and gave her a hug. “Yes, honey, but you’ll have to wait until we get back home, then we’ll pick one out for you.”

  “We will?” Zeke frowned.

  “Yes, we will.” Her glare was pointed and determined.

  “I guess we will.” Zeke laughed, and his brothers joined in.

  “I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?” Brayden asked with all the innocence of a child, the incident all but forgotten and replaced by his growling stomach. The adults exchanged glances. In the excitement of Sadie’s disappearance, they’d forgotten al
l about food.

  “Uh, hamburgers.” Emma’s tone was apologetic, but the kids clapped enthusiastically.

  “Hamburgers? A new Wolfe family Christmas Eve tradition,” Zeke joked.

  “Next year it’ll be at my house, and we’ll serve prime rib,” Tanner said.

  Isaac opened his mouth to argue but snapped it shut when he saw the look on Avery’s face.

  Avery, Emma, and Paisley stared down the men, who cringed slightly upon realizing they’d almost been sucked into competing again.

  “Hamburgers, it is. A new tradition.” Isaac clapped a hand on his brothers’ shoulders, and Avery took a quick picture with her cell phone camera. They were brothers, and they’d figure this thing out if it took the rest of their lives. He gazed into each brother’s eyes and saw the unshed tears there and smiled. They smiled back.

  “Let’s eat,” Isaac announced and took a seat at the table beside his brothers, letting little Sadie sit at the head of the table, which was where she belonged because she’d given them the real gift of Christmas.

  The gift of love.

  ~ THE END ~

  If you’d like to read more about the Wolfe Brothers and my other Seattle Sports teams, check out my Game On in Seattle series. All the books in this series can be read as standalones, though your reading pleasure will probably be increased by reading them in order. The books listed below feature the Wolfe brothers.

  Melting Ice (Isaac and Avery)

  Blindsided (Tanner and Emma)

  Bottom of the Ninth (Zeke and Paisley)

  Books by Jami Davenport

  The following Jami Davenport titles are available in digital and many are available as trade paperbacks.

  Gone Missing

  New Romantic Suspense Series debuting late 2018

  Evergreen Nights Series

  Save the Last Dance

  Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed?

  The Gift Horse

  Madrona Sunset

  Game On in Seattle

  Skating on Thin Ice (Seattle Sockeyes Hockey)

  Crashing the Net (Seattle Sockeyes Hockey)

  Love at First Snow (Seattle Sockeyes Hockey)

  Melting Ice (Seattle Sockeyes Hockey)

  Blindsided (Seattle Steelheads Football)

  Hearts on Ice (Seattle Sockeyes Hockey)

  Bodychecking (Seattle Sockeyes Hockey)

  Bottom of the Ninth (Seattle Skookums Baseball)

  Game Changer (Seattle Steelheads Football)

  Goaltending (Seattle Sockeyes Hockey)

  Penalty Play

  Shutdown Player

  Shot on Goal

  Men of Tyee

  Sacked in Seattle

  Tackled in Seattle (2019)

  About Jami Davenport

  USA Today Bestselling Author of Sports Romances

  Subscribe to my newsletter to receive free digital books and be notified of new releases, special sales, and contests: http://eepurl.com/LpfaL

  USA Today bestselling author Jami Davenport writes sexy contemporary, new adult, and sports romances, including her two indie endeavors: the Game On in Seattle Series and the Men of Tyee Series. Coming this fall will be a new romantic suspense series. Jami's new releases consistently rank in the top fifty on the sports romance and sports genre lists on Amazon, and she has hit the Amazon top hundred authors list in both contemporary romance and genre fiction multiple times.

  Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland drool monster, and a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat.

  Jami worked IT for years and is a former high school business teacher but recently achieved a life-long dream and is now a full-time author. A horse lover since birth, Jami showed dressage horses for over thirty years. Now she gardens and goes camping, along with other travelling adventures. She's a lifetime Seahawks and Mariners fan, is waiting for the day professional hockey comes to Seattle, and still misses her SuperSonics. An avid boater, Jami has spent countless hours in the San Juan Islands, a common setting in her books. In her opinion, it's the most beautiful place on earth.

  Join Jami’s reader group here

  Website Address : Facebook Address

  Book+Main Bites : Google+ : TSU : Authorgraph

  Stephanie Julian - The Playboy

  Redtails Hockey

  Kyle is back in the minors to rehab his career but that's not all he's hoping to fix. Convincing the girl he left behind to take another chance on this former playboy will be harder than resurrecting his career.

  To my Royals, my first hockey loyalty.

  Chapter One

  Kyle Deangelo stared at the door in front of him like it was the offensive line of the New York Renegades on a breakaway.

  The last time he’d faced that line, he’d had his ass handed to him.

  Shit.

  He took a deep breath, shook his head.

  Just knock, for chrissake.

  Easier said than done.

  Maybe he shouldn’t be here. At her door. He should just leave her alone and stay the hell out of her life.

  He’d left her without looking back more than a year ago. She’d moved on. He’d moved on.

  Of course, the past year hadn’t gone to plan, had it?

  Which was how he’d ended up back here.

  Just knock on the fucking door already, you chickenshit.

  Fuck.

  He made a fist and rapped his knuckles against the wood. Then he waited. He didn’t hear anything at first. The silence was practically deafening.

  Then he heard voices, muffled. And a weird sound he couldn’t identify.

  Like a…baby crying?

  What the hell?

  Footsteps now. And another pause.

  He was pretty sure she was checking through the peephole to see who was knocking at her door at eight-thirty in the morning. Probably should’ve waited until at least nine. But he knew she was an early riser and would be up.

  And he hoped to hell she didn’t have company. Specifically, male company.

  His jaw clenched and his fingers curled into fists.

  Chill the fuck out, asshole. You’re not here for a date. You’re here to say hello.

  Yeah, right.

  Okay, he was here to warn her that he was back.

  Like she’s going to care.

  He gritted his back teeth as the door finally began to open.

  Forcing what he hoped was a friendly grin, he told himself not to say anything stupid.

  And his mouth dropped open as the door swung wide and Leah Wilson stood in the center.

  Holding a baby on her hip.

  Holy shit.

  His eyes wide, he looked back at Leah. Then back to the baby. Then back at Leah.

  Who now stared at him with arched brows over her pale blue eyes and an expression that clearly said, “You have something to say, spit it out.”

  “Uh. Hey. Leah. How are you?”

  The baby, who was probably only five or six months old, had to be a boy. His blue pajamas had trucks all over them. His brown hair curled all over his head, little face scrunched and red, as if he’d been crying.

  “Kyle. What are you doing here?”

  It took him a second to get his brain in gear. For a guy who prided himself on being quick on his feet, it was kind of a kick in the balls.

  “I just wanted to stop and say hi.”

  Damn, how fucking lame did that sound? But his brain was glitching like a meth addict and he had to be really careful he didn’t say something completely insane.

  Then he paused and, as the silence drew out, her eyebrow rose while the baby on her hip began to babble.

  And he couldn’t stop his gaze from dropping down and examining that kid’s every feature for similarities to Leah’s.

  He hated to say there were a hell of a lot, from the pug nose and the big blue eyes to the dimple on her chin and glossy light brown hair.

  “So, you’re back?”

  Okay
. She really didn’t sound happy to see him.

  What’d you expect? A brass band and an invitation back into her bed?

  Nodding, he tried to keep his eyes on hers, but the baby kept drawing his attention.

  Holy shit. Was it hers? If it was…

  Was it his? His brain started to do the math and the numbers were adding up to a big, fat Holy fuck.

  Would she have kept something like this from him? Would she not have told him she was pregnant?

  “Yeah but, Leah, what the—”

  “Hey, Leah. I can’t find my briefcase. Is it out there?”

  A man walked out of the bedroom at the back of the apartment, headed straight for them. He had his head down, fiddling with his tie. He was almost to them when he looked up and realized Kyle was there.

  The guy’s expression went from mild annoyance to outright hostility in zero seconds flat.

  A split second later, Kyle’s back stiffened as he realized why.

  “Hey, Rob. How’s it going?”

  Leah’s brother didn’t look happy to see him. In fact, Kyle was damn sure that if the baby hadn’t been in the room, the guy would’ve punched him.

  Kyle might’ve given him the first one free.

  Rob’s jaw flexed, like he was chewing nails. Or glass. Then he glanced at his sister, and the look Leah gave him must have convinced him to keep his mouth shut.

  Though Leah was younger than Rob by two years, her older brother had always deferred to her. As did her other older brother and her parents. Leah was the calm in the eye of any storm.

  “Kyle.” Rob paused, took a breath. “Back down again, huh?”

  Kyle took the jab with a nod, figuring he owed Leah that much. She’d never take a shot at him. It just wasn’t in her nature. But her brothers would gladly pummel him.

  Nodding, Kyle looked her brother in the eye. “Traded back to the Colonials two days ago. Glad to be back east. Too hot in Phoenix. I’m looking forward to seeing some game time.”