Stick Play (Boston Bucks #4)

10. Ash

10

Ash

“ D ad?” I ask again when he lays back down, turns the TV off, and moans like he’s in total agony.

“I need to try and get some sleep. Don’t go far, Gina.” Suddenly his voice is feeble, and I flashback to the time he had his heart attack. My gut tightens. Dammit, I really hope he is playing matchmaker here. If he’s not, I can’t risk his heart failing on him again. Maybe Gina should stay. Would that be asking too much? She’s busy enough as it is, and my father isn’t her problem.

Dad points to her bag. “I might need something in that bag. Something to help me relax.”

“Do you feel like you’re going to vomit?” she asks, everything in her words and demeanor so damn sweet and caring, my heart could be at risk.

He coughs again. “It’s possible.”

She reaches into her bag and pulls out something for nausea. “This will help and it will also help you sleep.”

“Oh, yes, I’d better take one. I could use a good night’s sleep.”

She pushes a pill through the foil package. “What about your cough? Is your throat sore?”

“Just a tickle. I probably just need a glass of water. Son, why don’t you run and get that.” As he waves me away, he smiles at Gina. “I’m in good hands with Gina.”

Jesus Christ.

Not really wanting to leave them alone—Lord knows what the man is going to say to her—I stand there for a moment.

“He could use some water,” Gina says. “That’s one thing I don’t have in the mom bag.”

“Mom bag.” Dad laughs, like a man who is faking sick. But I can’t accuse him of that, or come right out and say he’s trying to trick Gina into staying overnight. What if he really is sick, and something happens? I’d never forgive myself.

“Do you think he needs to go to a clinic or the hospital?” I ask.

“No,” Gina assures me. “I think he might just have a stomach virus, and his throat isn’t sore. The air inside can get dry in the winter, and that’s probably the cough.” She glances back at Dad. “Maybe we should set up a humidifier in here.”

“Oh, great idea. Do you have one of those, Ash?” His bushy brows bunch together as he focuses in on me.

I fold my arms. “No.”

“We can order one online, and it will likely be here tomorrow,” Gina provides.

“Let me get the water first.” I glance out the big window and take in the fat flakes falling. “Gina, if you have to go before the snow gets heavy, I totally get it.”

Dad moans and holds his stomach. Gina frowns and takes his hand. “If you need me to stay Grant, I can stay. I have the kids, though.”

“This is a great house for kids. Look at Ash, he’s like a big kid himself, getting on a sled today.” He laughs as Gina looks at my nose, and then as if remembering he’s sick, he puts his hand on his stomach and wipes the smile from his face. As if that’s not enough to convince Gina to stay, he adds, “Big TV’s, games room. Lots to do. I’m sure they’ll love to have a sleepover.”

She frowns, and runs her hands over her yoga pants. “We don’t have any clothes or even our toothbrushes.”

Dad snuggles into his blankets, looking so damn pleased with himself. “I’m sure Ash can round up some things. Isn’t that right, Ash?”

“Gina, I don’t want you to stay if you don’t want to. If you do, there are plenty of bedrooms and I can probably find clothes, though they’ll be too big for you all, especially Tate.”

“Can we stay, Mom?” Zoe asks from the doorway. “This place is the best. There’s a whole games room.” She opens her arms wide. “The TV is this big.”

I turn, not realizing Zoe had been standing there listening in. She gives me a big smile. “Your house is one hundred times bigger than ours. I love it here.”

A strange noise crawls out of Gina’s throat and when I glance at her, there’s a hint of concern in her eyes. “Gina?”

Dad moans again and she stands. “Why don’t you get him some water so he can take his pill?” She pauses for a moment, and glances at the window. “And maybe you can find us all some clothes to sleep in.”

“Yay.” Zoe jumps up and down before rushing back to the games room, to tell Camryn and Tate, I assume.

I nod at Gina, and head to the kitchen. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and by the time I get back upstairs, Gina is leaning in, and listening to Dad who’s talking quietly. I have no idea what they’re talking about and maybe I don’t want to know. Clearing my throat to make my presence known, I step into the room, uncap the bottle and hand it to Dad.

“Thanks, son.” Gina hands him the pill and he takes a sip of water to swallow it down. “Can you stay in the bedroom right beside me?”

“That’s my room, Dad.”

“Oh right.”

“She can stay across the hall.” I glance at Gina. “Is that okay? It’s a king-sized bed. We can put the kids all together in the room beside yours. It also has a king-sized bed. Plenty of room for all three.”

She gives me a warm smile, a bit of worry from earlier dissipating from her eyes. “They’d like that.”

I jerk my thumb out, toward the hall. “How about you give me a hand to find some clothes? Dad, are you okay for now?”

He can’t seem to hide his big smile, and while that convinces me more and more that he might be faking, it also gives me a measure of relief.

Gina tucks Dad in, then follows me into the hall and I point to my room. “I’m right here.” We walk into my bedroom, and I note the way her steps slow to take it all in. Not that there is much to take in. I have a bed and a dresser. It lacks the warmth of her house, but I don’t have anyone to impress.

“Such a big room,” she finally says.

I pull open my closet. “I have some old sweats and shirts. We can cut them down for the kids.”

She laughs. “I don’t want to ruin your clothes.”

I pull out a gray pair of sweats and hold them up. “These might work for you.” I toss them to her, and she examines them.

“I can work with these.”

I pull more sweats out, and throw them on the bed. “I don’t wear these anymore. The kids might have fun cutting them up.”

She grins. “They’d probably like that.”

“I also have some very old jerseys from when I was younger.” I pull out the smallest ones I can find. “These could work.”

Gina frowns and folds the sweats. “Are you sure? They don’t have value to you?”

“This was before the NHL. Earlier in my career. I just never toss anything. I should probably go through this closet and donate things.”

“You could probably do a raffle and make money.” She sits on the edge of my bed, and as she makes herself comfortable, my damn dick twitches. Fuck, I suddenly can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to see her between my sheets, with me between her legs. Fuck. “It’d be a great donation for peewee hockey. I know you give a lot of your time to that.”

I cock my head and eye her, working to get my mind off sex, although that’s a difficult task with her in my room, the memories of what we did in her kitchen, twice, racing around my lust-rattled brain. “How do you know about peewee hockey? You’ve been checking up on me.”

“How can I?” She throws her hands up in defeat. “You don’t have any social media.”

My throat tightens. She’s right. I don’t. I got rid of all my personal accounts after my ex dragged my name through the mud. So many horrific comments on my posts. I couldn’t fucking take that, so I deleted everything.

“Ash?”

“Yeah.”

“Everything okay?”

“I’m good. Just uh, I hate social media.”

“Honestly, I do too. I have accounts for the café, but don’t post on my personal ones anymore. I don’t want people knowing my business.”

“But you did try to check mine?” I tease.

“A girl can be curious.”

I push all thoughts of my ex to the back of my mind as I laugh and reach into the closet to pull out a sweatshirt for Gina. “How is this for you?”

She walks over to me, and takes it. “It’s perfect for right now, but it might be too warm to sleep in. Do you have a T-shirt I could borrow?”

“Right.” I go to my dresser, tug it open and find a T-shirt for her.

“Thanks.” She holds the clothes in her hands, and glances toward the door. “We should probably go check on the kids. It’s quiet. When it gets too quiet, I get worried.”

I laugh at that. “This house is well insulated. I made sure of it because I need to sleep during the day sometimes. You can’t hear much from up here. They’re probably still in the games room having fun.”

We walk into the hall, and I open the bedroom door, showing her where she’ll be sleeping. It’s pretty much the same as my room. A bed and dresser. Kids are in there,” I tell her with a nod.

As we walk by Dad’s room, she peeks in and he’s on his side, facing away from us. I quietly pull his door closed, but not all the way.

“Looks like he’s resting nicely now,” she whispers.

We head downstairs to the games room, and the kids are having a blast with the pool table, and my old pinball machine.

“Hey guys, looks like we’re going to have a sleepover,” Gina says.

Camryn beams with happiness. “I know, Zoe told us.”

Gina cocks her brow. “You’re all okay with that?”

“Yes, I love it here,” Camryn says and Tate nods in agreement.

“I have some clothes for you guys. We’re going to cut the legs off these pants and make shorts. Doesn’t that sound fun? I also have some of Ash’s old jerseys for you to wear.”

That gains Zoe’s attention and she comes running over. I hand her the jersey and she pulls it on. It’s huge on her and I start to roll up the sleeves.

Her eyes light up as she glances up at me. “I love my new jersey. Camryn and Tate get to wear their dad’s number and now I get to wear yours, Ash.”

The excitement in her voice makes me laugh. “You can have it. You can take it home.”

“Mommy, Mommy, I get to keep Ash’s jersey.” She throws her arms around my waist. “Thank you, Ash. I’m never going to take it off.” Once again, I see that worried look on Gina’s face, but she turns from me and walks to my pinball machine. She runs her hands over it.

“I love this, Ash.” She looks back at me, and the haunted look is gone from her face. “Where did you get it?”

“Dad got it when I was a kid. He was doing some electrical work for an old arcade and they were tossing the old machine out. Dad asked if he could have it, and when they agreed, he brought it home and fixed it for me.” He’s such a good dad and maybe I’m being an asshole, thinking he’s trying to matchmake here. “I can beat you at it later, if you like?”

She laughs. “You think you can beat me.”

“I don’t know. Did you have a misguided childhood?”

Her smile is a mixture of warmth and pain. Nothing about our upbringings were traditional, that’s for sure and I really hate that she thinks she’s an asshole magnet. Gina just hasn’t found the right guy for her, that’s all.

“No, I was a saint, Ash. Just like you.” She grins. “Oh, I guess now I can ask your dad all about your childhood.”

I laugh. “Maybe don’t do that.”

She grins and focuses in on the kids. “Okay, kiddos. You have fifteen more minutes in here, and then you’re going to wash up, help me cut up these clothes and I’ll put on a movie before bed.”

As I watch her put the clothes on the sofa, I can’t help but grin. In the span of an hour, my house went from one person sleeping here, to six. I’m used to the quiet and solitude, but I can’t really say as I hate any of this.

And that’s probably not a good thing, for numerous reasons.