Dirty Pucker (Denver Bashers #2)

12. Del

Chapter 12

Del

“ T hanks so much, honey,” my mom says as she watches me put the window screen back in place.

“It’s no problem.”

Her eyebrows furrow together as she looks at the window at the back of her house. When she blinks, the fatigue and worry are crystal clear.

“Maybe it wasn’t your dad. Remember how windy it was the other night? That could have rattled the screen loose.”

I turn to her. “Maybe. But it could have been him too.”

I don’t tell her that I’m certain it was him because that would just upset her even more. The way the screen was ripped out of the windowpane, it’s clear it was a person who did it, not the weather.

Anger simmers beneath the calm exterior I try to show my mom. When I think back to the day she called me last month, I can hear the terror in her voice clearly.

Out of the blue, my dad called her. He demanded she give him half the money for their house. Even though he never made a single payment toward the mortgage. He was too busy going out, getting drunk, and gambling away our money.

I’d bet anything that after all these years he ran out of money to feed his gambling habit, and now he’s harassing my mom to get what he wants.

When she refused to give him anything, he threatened her.

Her trembling voice echoes in my mind.

He threatened to kill me if I didn’t give him the money, Del. He threatened to come to the house and take what’s his. I’m so scared. I-I don’t know what to do.

When I asked if she called the police, she said she did, but they refused to do anything. It was a he said, she said matter.

Rage simmers inside of me like lava.

She glances at the grass for a long moment before she looks up at me. Her eyes are shiny with unshed tears. “I just feel so guilty, Del. I let you uproot your life and change the team you played for, just so you could come back home. I should have told you no when you offered to come back to Denver. I know you wanted to get away after all the bad memories you had growing up here with your dad. I was just so unnerved to hear from him after all these years…”

Her lips wobble and my chest cracks in half.

I hate seeing my mom cry. I saw her cry so many times because of my dad growing up.

I hug her tight.

“You have your own life, honey. And I feel so awful being such a burden on you with all this. You’re so busy with hockey and I hate taking you away from it to help me.”

My throat aches. I swallow through it. She feels so small in my arms as I hug her. “Mom. Listen. You’re not a burden. Not even close. I wanted to move back. I want to be close to you and Dakota. You two are my priority.”

She sniffles and exhales as she squeezes her small arm around me.

“If anything, I’m the burden. You sacrificed so much just so I could play hockey.”

I think about all the overtime my mom worked as a nurse when I was a kid to pay for my gear, all the traveling I did, and the extra coaching I had as I got older and became a better player. Even when she was married to my dad, he didn’t help much financially. He was too busy going out and getting wasted to hold a job for more than a couple of months. And when he did work, he gambled away his paychecks. When my parents finally split up, he never paid child support, so my mom worked her ass off to support Dakota and me as a single parent.

My mom leans back and frowns up at me. “Del, honey. Don’t you talk like that. A child isn’t a burden to their parents. It’s our job to take care of you.”

“And now I’m an adult, and it’s my turn to take care of you. So please don’t call yourself a burden, Mom. You’re not. Everything I do, I do it because I want to.”

She blinks and a small smile pulls at her lips. She reaches up and pats my cheek. “Thank you, honey.”

We walk through the sliding glass door back inside to the kitchen. I boil her a kettle of hot water for some tea. A cup of tea is the best way to help her calm down when she’s nervous or upset.

She sits at the dining table. “How was practice today?”

“Good. Tiring.” I grab the milk from the fridge.

“You’re twenty-nine. Too young to complain about being tired.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you did the drills Coach Porter ran us through.”

She smiles. When the water finishes boiling, I drop a couple of tea bags into our mugs and pour in the water. I splash a hefty amount of milk into hers, just like she likes it. I pour myself a cup and join her at the table. She thanks me and takes a careful sip.

“How is working going at the nursing home?” I ask.

“It’s okay.” She sighs. “One of my patients passed away the other day.”

She works part-time at a nursing home a few miles from her house here in west Denver.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Mom.”

“It was expected. He was ill for a long time. And he was ninety-one years old. It’s still hard when it happens though.”

“Of course.” I pause. “Have you thought more about cutting back your hours?” I ask, hoping I don’t sound too pushy.

She gives me a look I know all too well. That Mom look that shows she knows exactly what I’m hinting at.

“Del honey, I told you, I’m too young to stop working. I’m not even fifty yet. It’s important that I have something to focus on, even though you take care of so much for me already.” She pats my hand. “You already paid off the mortgage to the house. And you paid to remodel the kitchen and the bathrooms. And you got me a new car. And you don’t let me pay for anything when we go out or take a vacation together.”

“I make more than I need, Mom,” I say. “You’ve worked hard your whole life. You deserve to rest and take it easy for a while. Even if you quit working, there’s still a lot of less stressful things you could do to keep you busy. Like travel.”

She shakes her head and laughs. “I’m certainly not going to retire early so I can go galivanting across the country on my son’s dime.”

I shrug. “Why not? You could do that.”

I hate talking about money. I always have. Growing up, money was always tight and we never had much to go around. My mom worked herself to the bone to provide for my sister and me, but we still almost ended up in dire straits multiple times.

I lost count of the number of times the power in our house was shut off because she couldn’t cover all the bills, despite all the hours she worked. I remember catching rides to practice with my teammates because our car had broken down and my mom couldn’t afford to fix it until the next payday. I remember my feet throbbing after games and practices because I had outgrown my skates, but we didn’t have enough money to buy new ones.

When it became clear that hockey was going to turn into a lucrative career for me, I vowed to take care of my mom and my sister.

I still remember when I signed my first contract after being drafted in the first round, right after my freshman year of college. The second my pen touched the paper, I became a millionaire.

And I remember how the primary emotion I felt in that moment wasn’t joy. It was relief. Because from that day on, I could financially support my mom and sister. We’d never have to struggle again.

She tilts her head at me and flashes a knowing smile. “I appreciate it, honey. I really do. But I’m perfectly happy with my job. I love being a nurse. I’m not ready to give it up just yet.”

I nod, even though I wish she would reconsider. As sweet as my mom is, she can also be stubborn.

We finish our tea and take our empty mugs to the sink.

“Has Dakota been by lately?” I ask.

“She came by last weekend. We had a fun girls night and watched a movie and ordered takeout.”

“That sounds nice.”

“It was,” she says. “She’s dating someone. The gym teacher at her school.”

“Really?” I try to keep my tone easy, even though I’m instantly in protective mode. My sister has a habit of dating jerks that break her heart. As much as I hope this new guy is a good one, I have zero faith that he actually is.

When my mom chuckles, I look up at her. She hands me a clean dish rag to wipe my hands.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she says.

“I’m not thinking anything.” I lean against the counter.

“Del Anthony Richards, you are a terrible liar, and I love you for it.”

“You know the losers that Dakota’s been with. I can’t help it if I’m not thrilled to hear she’s dating another one.”

“Honey, your sister is a grown woman. Sure, I agree with you. I’m not a fan of who she normally dates. But she’s allowed to date whoever she wants. Even if they suck.”

I burst out laughing. “I’ve never heard you say anyone sucks.”

She chuckles and shrugs. “How about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

I shake my head. She makes a disappointed sound. I hate it when my mom gets on my case about dating stuff.

“Mom, you know how crazy work is for me. Dating is impossible with my schedule.”

“You dated that supermodel for a while. What was her name again? Something Marley…”

I sigh. “Makenna Marley.”

“That’s right. She was lovely.”

“We weren’t right for each other.”

That was a few years ago and it ended terribly. We fought constantly over our crazy schedules and never being able to see each other. And the day after we broke up, she hooked up with Xander. I haven’t had a serious relationship since. I’ve hooked up here and there, but that’s it. I haven’t been interested in pursuing anything with anyone.

Until I met Ingrid.

I think back to earlier this morning when she filmed me for the Bashers’ TikTok account…how fun it was to tease her and flirt with her.

And then I remember how Theo was ready to kick my ass over it.

She’s off-limits. Quit thinking about her as anything more than a friend.

“Did you say you needed my help with something in the garage?” I ask, attempting to change the subject. I follow her out there and move a few things in the garage, then get ready to leave.

She walks me to my Audi SUV parked in her driveway and hugs me.

“Call me if you need anything else. Even if it’s late or in the middle of the night,” I tell her.

She gives me another squeeze. “I will, honey.”

She hugs me so tight, her body trembling for a few seconds. My chest feels like it’s cracking in half feeling her shake in my arms.

She’s terrified of my dad.

Anger slices through me. After all these years, he’s still tormenting her, still shattering her sense of security.

I push it aside and hug her tight. When we break apart, she tiptoes up and kisses my cheek.

“Love you, honey.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

I watch her walk into the house before I climb into my car and drive to my place.

Restless energy zooms through me. I feel like a caged animal aching to break loose. The anger that I swallowed back minutes ago bubbles up inside of me. My muscles tense as I death-grip the steering wheel.

I can’t just let this go. I can’t just sit here and let my dad think he can keep tormenting my mom.

I grab my phone and dial the number I haven’t called since I was a little kid.

My pulse spikes. It’s been more than fifteen years since I’ve spoken to my dad. After we finally got him out of our lives, I never wanted to talk to him again.

But I’m going to now. Because he needs to know that if he doesn’t stop harassing my mom, he’s going to have to deal with me.

He finally answers. “Hello?” His voice is rough and hoarse.

“If you ever come to the house again, or harass Mom again, I’ll fucking end you.”

There’s a long pause on his end of the line, then I hear grumbling noises.

“Del? Is that you?”

“Yeah.” My voice is hard.

“You think you can threaten me?”

“Yeah. I do. Stay away from her. Stay away from all of us.”

He coughs and curses. And then he laughs.

My blood turns to lava. My entire body is rigid with anger.

“And what exactly are you gonna do about it?” he taunts.

“Whatever I have to do to keep my mom and my sister safe from you.”

There’s a long pause. “Oh yeah? Maybe get a little violent with me? You do that, Del. See how well that goes for you. You’re a hot-shot hockey pro now. I could call up some sports reporters and tell them all about my son threatening me. How do you think that would play out? Or maybe you do kick my ass. You could get in trouble with your team. Maybe even get fired. There goes your career.”

Panic slices through me. This asshole. Of course he would taunt me with a threat like that.

“This is between me and your mom. Think again before you interfere, Del.”

He hangs up. The rest of the drive, I’m tense with the same anger and panic as before.

As soon as I make it to my condo, I throw on some running gear and crank out a few miles in my neighborhood. My body is tired from practice, but I need to get this anxious energy out of my system.

My dad is threatening to ruin me if I keep trying to protect my mom. The thought of losing my career because of him pisses me off and scares the shit out of me.

But there’s no doubt in my mind what I’m going to do. I’m going to keep protecting her. He can do whatever he wants to ruin me. I’ll deal with the consequences later.