Attached to You (Carolina Rebels 4)

“I just wanted you.”

Which means no, she’s not okay if I had to take a wild guess. Deanna throws me for a loop more often than not, but I do know her well enough to know that this is too much of a step toward attaching a string. Her saying she wanted me is a string latching onto me and that means something happened that wasn’t good. I hold her tighter, not willing to let her go. She did seek me out after all.

A whine alerts me to Otis’s presence as well. How in the hell did I miss him? Man, I’m no good at this hour of the night. I let him jump onto the bed and I’m happy when he goes to the bottom. That trainer is already helping with things. Deanna suddenly bursts into tears, and I’m frozen for a second. What the hell is happening?

“My mom died today,” she sobs.

“What?”

“She died this morning in a car accident.”

My heart breaks for her and the sadness clearly in her voice. “Oh, darlin’, I’m so sorry.

”

“Hold me.” She wiggles closer, wetting my chest with her tears.

Holding her is the only thing I can do. I almost want to ask why she didn’t call me or come over sooner, but that gives our relationship more credit than it deserves. She was also probably busy dealing with things. It shouldn’t bother me that she waited until two in the morning to come see me for comfort. She’s here now, so I hold her until she falls asleep.

In the morning, she lifts her head with her red, swollen eyes landing on mine.

“Will you go to the funeral with me?”

“When is it?” I ask while I panic. What if someone there realizes I’m Brayden Hayes, Carolina Rebels hockey player, and not Brayden Hayes, financial analyst, like I’ve told Deanna? Or what if it’s when we have a game and I can’t go? What kind of excuse could I possibly feed her? This is starting to become more and more trouble.

“Saturday at eleven thirty.”

Of fucking course. We have a game that day. I’ll have to leave morning skate early to go. Fuck. I don’t like this, but she’s watching me with big hopeful eyes. She came to see me last night. Damn it, I want to be there for her. “Are you sure you want me to go?”

“Just say no if you don’t want to come, Brayden,” she snaps, turning away from me.

I grab her waist to keep her close. “I’m only making sure it’s something you actually want and won’t regret later.” My lips find the crook of her neck for a kiss and she relaxes against my chest.

“It would be helpful to have you there,” she answers.

“I’ll be there.”

“Thank you.” Deanna rolls over to kiss me. “I should go so we can both get ready for work.” She doesn’t give me the opportunity to kiss her again like I planned or to hold her a second longer; she’s out of bed before she finishes her sentence. That’s when I realize she’s not wearing pajamas; she has on jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Is she still wearing the clothes she put on when she went to work yesterday? I really need to start paying attention to things when she comes over in the middle of the night, if it ever happens again.

I’m also officially concerned. We have a game tonight, but I think I’ll stop by her shop sometime between morning skate and my afternoon nap. I can bring her lunch, check on her, make sure she’s okay. We’re friends at the most; that’s what I’ve told her. Friends check on friends when they’re going through something like this.

My mind is on Deanna all morning and all throughout my time at the practice facility. I barely notice Zane’s grouchy mood because whatever girl he’s seeing is apparently ignoring him and he’s pissed when Ian says as much. I guess he doesn’t want everyone knowing his business, which is fine. That I relate to and understand. I’m about to leave to buy lunch and meet Deanna, but I stop by the bathroom first.

The sounds I hear make me pause. The sharp gasps are fast and loud. Is someone hyperventilating? I round the corner to see Collin with his head against the wall, hyperventilating, and Cal rubbing his back in an almost motherly way.

“Is everything okay?”

They both jump, but Cal is the only one who looks at me while Collin manages to inhale an, “Oh fuck.”

“We’re fine.” Gotta give credit to the kid. His voice is solid and he has a hard glare on his face that clearly communicates I should leave. Collin’s breathing worsens and he grabs his brother’s shoulder. “Will you get the fuck out? He’s fine! You aren’t helping him!”

“Doesn’t look like you are either,” I murmur, wondering what in the fuck is happening here. Deciding to take action, I grab Collin’s shoulders, spin him to face me, and grab his face. “Hey, one deep breath.”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re doing,” Cal tries, pissed that I’m helping for some reason.

I ignore him, stare at Collin, and breathe the way I want him to breathe. Whenever he tries to glance away, I force his gaze back on me. It takes a solid two minutes before his breathing is normal and he pulls away from me. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” He refuses to look at me, his gaze flicking over to Cal as if he could save him from this situation. His hands tremble, too.