Puck Drills & Quick Thrills (CU Hockey 5)

West looks away, jaw set, and at first I think I’ve pissed him off, but then he nods. “I’ve been wondering that for a while. Even before I met you. But this is the kids’ home—how do I take them away from where their parents raised them?”

“Is this you assuming again, or have you asked them?”

He catches his lip with his teeth, and I have my answer.

“Maybe we ask them.”

“We?”

I snort. “Duh. You don’t need to do these things on your own anymore. If we’re on the same page, why don’t we ask them? We’d probably need something with six bedrooms and at least two bathrooms …”

“Six bedrooms?” He counts on his fingers. “Us. Zoe, Rhys, Hazel, the twins. What about Asher?”

“Do you have a mortgage on this place?”

“No, it’s paid off. That was the one gift my parents let me give them while I played.”

“Then maybe Asher stays here. It’ll give you both time away from each other, the kids can sleep over whenever they want, Asher can come to our place to babysit—we’ll get somewhere close, of course. Besides, he’ll be going into his last year of college next year. He needs to focus. He and Kole need time to themselves. We have my place, but they’ve got nowhere to call their own.”

“Wow. You’ve been thinking about this.”

“Mostly for you, but since we’re already apparently living together, maybe we could both buy the place?”

West’s smile is blinding. “You want to buy a house with me?”

“Yeah. If they’re on board, let’s move in together. On purpose this time.”

Bringing our idea to a family vote gives me almost as many nerves as meeting West’s siblings for the first time. This could either work out amazing or turn everyone against me.

I grab West’s hand under the table, knowing he needs the comfort as much as I do.

“So, there’s something I wanted to chat with you guys about, to see what your thoughts are.”

Zoe narrows her eyes. “Why doesn’t this sound good?”

“No, it is,” he assures them. “Probably. Maybe. But we only do it if everyone says yes.”

“Jasper wants to move in,” Rhys says suddenly. “I vote yes.”

A laugh bursts from me, and the nerves ease. “Thanks for being on board.”

“That’s what it is though, right?”

“Yes and no,” West says. “Yes, we want to live together. But with him, and then Kole, and then all of you getting older, we’re unsure if this house still works for us all.”

His words are met with silence. It’s heavy, and everyone has gone still.

Asher’s the one who breaks it. “If we move, what happens to this house?”

“We keep it.” West doesn’t hesitate. “Either lease it out, or leave it empty, or … you could stay here. I don’t know if you and Kole have talked about it, but it might be good for you to have your own space.”

Asher sits back in his chair, looking stunned. “I could move out of the basement.”

“You wouldn’t come with us?” Hazel asks.

“We wouldn’t go far,” I hurry to reassure her. “If this happens, and if Asher chooses to stay here, we’ll make sure we’re close.”

“And I’ll still see you all so much you’ll hardly realize I don’t live there,” Asher says.

She still looks doubtful, but her stare flickers to West. “Will it make you happy?”

“It’s not about me. It needs to be a group decision.”

“I vote yes.”

That shocks me. Out of everyone, I thought Hazel would be the hardest to convince. “You’re okay with it?”

“I don’t want to go, but I had a feeling this would be coming.”

“Can I have my own bathroom?” Zoe asks.

“No.” Thank fuck West shuts that straight down. “But we’ll have more than one, so it won’t be as busy as it is here.”

“Yeah, that works.”

“You’re coming with us, West?” Emmett—I think—asks.

“Of course.”

“As long as you’re there, then okay.”

Wow, that’s all but one—I hadn’t expected it to be so easy.

“Bennett?” West prompts.

He shrugs. “Sure. Can I go play Xbox now?”

West almost laughs as he agrees, and the twins take off. Zoe disappears back up to her room, and Rhys pulls out his phone and says he’s starting to look at houses.

Asher’s watching us. “It’ll be nice not to see your ugly faces around here every day.”

“Likewise,” West throws back.

“Oh, you’re kidding if you think I won’t be at your place raiding the fridge every day. I’m a starving college student with a hockey player’s appetite.”

“We’ll keep the cupboards well stocked,” I answer dryly.

Asher goes to leave but pauses when he reaches the doorway. He doesn’t turn around as he says, “I’ll kill you if you repeat this, Eckstein, but I’m kinda glad you’re here.”

He goes before I can respond. Good thing too because I think I’m in shock.

I turn to West. “He used my last name. My real last name.”

“You’ll be besties before you know it.”