Page 78 of Scarred

The thought of her with another man doesn’t sit well with me, as a possessive streak runs through my body so forceful that it completely blindsides me.

I rub the ache in my chest that suddenly appears and try to play it off. “I hate to break it to you, but you just had excellence. Not to mention I’m the top NHL goalie in the league,” I smirk. “You’ve reached your peak. It can only go downhill in life after me.”

“You really are a cocky bastard, aren’t you?” She laughs before shifting on her side to face me.

“I’ve been called worse,” I chuckle, smacking her on the ass and walking to the bathroom to relieve myself. I feel her eyes on me the whole way and find myself smiling again.

I’ve laughed more times tonight than I have for the past three years.

Besides my daughter and Mae, and a few players on the team, I’m usually closed off to everyone else and don’t so much as crack a smile. It’s unsettling how much she pulls it out of me without even trying.

After taking care of business, I walk back into the room to find Luna buried under the covers on her side, sound asleep.

It would be so easy to crawl under there with her and bring her warm body to mine. The fact that I’m even considering it has me looking for my clothes. Being careful not to wake her, I throw on my sweats and t-shirt before tying my gym shoes.

I hesitate by the bed before reaching down and brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. Even in sleep, I can’t stop staring at her. She’s given me more tonight than she will ever know, lifting a dark cloud that’s been looming over my head for years.

Before I change my mind and stay, I leave her room quietly, afraid the part of me I’d spent three years protecting never walked out that door with me.

TWENTY-FOUR

LUNA

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Maverick eyes me over his cards with his dimpled grin, his green eyes locked on me. He’s good at bluffing, but I’ve learned to read him like a book.

“I’m all in,” I say again, pushing all my chips to the center pot.

“And here we go again,” Travis laughs, taking a sip of his beer.

“As if poker could end in any other way,” Bella says, rolling her eyes and settling back with her wine glass in hand.

It’s Sunday, which means it’s our usual family dinner and game night. Over the years, it’s gotten bigger, especially since Mom and Maya have decided to join forces and host together, alternating houses. With seven grandchildren between them, it’s always better when the adults outnumber the kids—otherwise, all hell would break loose.

Tonight, the children are all corralled with a movie inside while my parents and the Lanes visit in the other room with Mimi and Papaw.

This Sunday, it was my parents’ turn to host, so we’re at the house where I grew up.

After Bella left shortly after high school graduation, she moved into an apartment with Sophia, and my parents sold their home. They were able to downsize and get the home they always wanted on the canal with a boatslip.

When my Dad retired, he started a part-time charter fishing business. Offshore fishing is his first love, and I admire both my mom and dad for doing something they enjoy.

This home has been the only one I’ve ever known, and it holds some of my best memories here.

Like beating Mav in poker as I stare at my two-pair, king high in my hand. I know he’s bluffing this time. He has a small telltale sign that I picked up on. It’s very subtle, so it took me years to see it, but now that I know, he hasn’t beaten me since.

Poker is half luck of the draw, half reading the room, and when you get lucky with the first and have figured out the second—there’s no stopping you.

“Let’s see them.” I grin at Maverick, and he taps his cards on the table while he studies me before finally throwing his cards down.

Ace high.

I knew he was bluffing.

Noah snickers beside me, and I grin, laying my cards down.

Everyone leans forward to read them as laughter fills the air.

“She beat your ass again,” Travis’s grey eyes turn to Mav with a chuckle.