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She nodded.
"It's really nice to be able to really get ahead again with the social media stuff, but thanks for getting Scuba to take a break with the constant requests."
"No problem." I yawned as the day caught up on me. "Sleep tight, my beautiful girl. I love you."
"Love you too. I will see you in about a week."
I ended the call and plugged my phone in. Right as I was about to turn over, I saw a text from Natalie.
Maybe one day, I’ll sext you this way. But you have to stay out of trouble. On and off the ice.
I chuckled. I was screwed. I was never that good, but I would try. For her and for my dick.
Chapter 25
Natalie
It seemed like all our efforts to highlight Spencer's charity work were finally making progress. So much so that I wasn't going to the shelter unless he needed me to carry things in.
I waited for him to come back from today's visit.
When he came in the door, it wasn't his genial self. Nope. He had the most dour look on his face. He was in one of the worst moods post post-shelter visit.
He didn't even greet me. Instead, he went straight to his liquor cabinet and pulled out the bottle of Johnny Walker Black. He poured himself a massive amount of amber liquid.
It didn't take a genius to know that something was up. I just didn't know what caused him to be so upset. "What happened?"
He gulped the whiskey without looking at me. He slammed his head against the cabinet and finished off the drink. Before he could pour himself another, I took the bottle away from him.
That was when he crumpled onto me into a hug and just stayed there for a while. I held onto him and just stayed still.
I hated seeing my big, strong hockey player this broken.
“Just found out Eric’s mom, Annette, is going back to his dad. They are moving out of the shelter tomorrow.”
Normally, Spencer didn't let his guard down with the shelter residents. But he had that bond with Eric. Hell, even I'd gotten attached to the little hockey nut.
"Damn. That sucks. Although that doesn't mean we won't see them ever again."
It was only a small glimmer of hope, but Eric was part of the hockey team that Spencer funded. It was a way to make sure everyone had a chance to play hockey, complete with a full set of equipment for all the kids. Even if they left the shelter, they could continue to play for the team. All they had to do was show up.
"That's where things get tricky. Apparently, Eric's real dad was a hockey player. Because of that, stepdad doesn't like hockey. Eric asked if I could help him get to practice."
Thank God Spencer's face was buried into my shoulder. My eyes went wide. I'd always suspected that Scuba was Eric's dad, and this was proof that I was right. But this wasn't the time to bring up that discussion.
"Oh shit. That's never going to work. You know the shelter will never share his address."
We'd tried to keep in contact with a few of the families over the years. But if they didn't share the information, we couldn't find out things.
"If Miss Scary finds out, she's going to kill me, but I gave him and his mom both of our numbers. That way, we can pick him up if needed and take him to practice."
I snorted at the name he gave Lucy. You could tell he was intimidated by that ballbuster. While the plan sounded great and all, hockey gear wasn’t something easy to hide, and we weren’t Eric’s guardians.
"What are you going to do about his hockey gear? What does his mom think?"
"We're going to store it for him. I hope you don't hate me for volunteering to help on the days when I'm not in town or playing a game. Annette doesn’t care if Eric continues to play as long as his dad doesn’t find out.”
This felt like a terrible idea, but his heart was in the right place. After all the years spent at hockey rinks with elite players, it was easy to spot Eric's talent. "I can't hate you, but it will definitely complicate things for a bit. How many more weeks is his season?"
