Chapter 1
Knight Callahan
Legacy Event
Today was the Legacy Event.
The event Mr. Phillips started years ago.
The event that honored my dad.
My uncles.
And my grandpa.
The man who coached the Aurora Blades for over twenty-five years.
I remembered watching him coach games when I was little.
Standing behind that bench, yelling at players, arguing with refs, and somehow knowing exactly what his team needed before they did.
The man fucking loved this game.
He loved this team.
Then he had his stroke.
And after that, the Blades became a revolving door of coaches.
One after another.
None of them lasted.
None of them could bring back what we’d lost.
So when I finished college and got my shot at the draft, there wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to end up.
The Blades were it.
This was home.
This was year two for me.
And we sucked.
That was just the easiest fucking way to put it.
We had talent.
A shit ton of it.
But everyone went out there, did their job, and went home.
That was it.
No connection.
No fight for the guy beside you.
No fucking heart.
And being Captain?
I was trying.
I really fucking was.
But I was frustrated.
Because every time I pulled that jersey over my head and saw the C on my chest, I thought about my dad.
I wanted to honor him.
He’d been Captain.
A damn good one too, according to every fucking person who’d ever played with him.
Dad retired when I was around two.
After him, Uncle Jace got the C.
The team still thrived for a few years under Uncle Jace.
But eventually, the original core started leaving.
Retiring.
Moving on.
Then Grandpa went down.
And somewhere along the way, the Blades stopped being the Blades.
It was pretty fucking sad when you thought about it.
This team used to be known for winning.
But more than that?
They were known for being a family.
You couldn’t watch an old game without seeing it.
Dad and Uncle Cole chirping each other.
Uncle Declan losing his shit.
Uncle Roman standing in net looking like he wanted to murder somebody.
Uncle Rhett and Uncle Luca somehow knowing where the other one was without even looking.
Uncle Jace trying to keep all their asses under control.
They fought.
They pissed each other off.
They drove Grandpa fucking insane.
But they were a team.
A real one.
Now?
We just played hockey.
And that was the fucking problem.
I looked across the arena at the banners hanging from the rafters.
Names I knew.
Numbers I’d grown up seeing.
History everywhere you fucking looked.
My family’s history.
My history.
And tonight, we were supposed to celebrate it.
Celebrate what the Aurora Blades used to be.
I just wished I knew how the hell to make us that again.
I’d slipped into the event without Aunt Lennox seeing me.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to my aunt.
I did.
I just was so fucking irritated right now, and Aunt Lennox knew me too damn well.
One look at me and she’d know something was wrong.
Most of our family was already here.
My parents weren’t yet.
My sister had just arrived and was talking to Aunt Lennox.
Emery worked for the team.
She hadn’t followed in Mom’s footsteps and gone into the trainer field.
Instead, she’d taken after Aunt Carson, Aunt Harper, and Aunt Reese.
Director of Media Relations.
And she was damn good at it.
Probably because she didn’t take shit from anyone.
Especially hockey players.
I watched Zane Mercer walk up to them.
Fucking Mercer.
Lately, he’d been messing with my sister.
A lot.
I wasn’t sure what the hell that was about.
But I was going to have a talk with him.
Mercer fucked with everyone.
That was just who he was.
He talked shit.
He flirted.
He liked getting reactions out of people.
But lately?
He’d been trying to get a reaction out of Emery way too fucking much for my liking.
I watched him say something to her.
Emery’s eyes narrowed.
Zane grinned.
There it fucking was.
He leaned closer and said something else.
My sister shoved his shoulder.
He laughed.
I pushed away from the wall.
Yeah.
No.
We were going to have a fucking conversation.
“Don’t.”
I stopped.
Slowly looked beside me.
Cade James stood there with a drink in his hand.
“What?”
He nodded toward Emery and Zane.
“Whatever you’re about to do.”
“I’m not about to do anything.”
Cade snorted.
“C, you have the same face every time you’re about to do something stupid.”
I looked back across the room.
Mercer was still standing too fucking close to my sister.
“I don’t like him fucking with her.”
“Emery can handle Mercer.”
“I know she can.”
That wasn’t the fucking point.
Cade took a drink.
“Then leave it alone.”
I glanced at him.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Mine. Because I don’t want to spend Legacy Night pulling our Captain off our right winger.”
I grunted.
Then looked back at them.
Zane said something.
Emery rolled her eyes and walked away.
The motherfucker watched her go.
Not casually either.
His eyes followed her across the fucking room.
Oh.
Hell no.
Cade sighed beside me.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t fucking say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Yeah.
Mercer and I were definitely having a talk.
Emery went back to talking with Aunt Lennox for a few minutes before heading off.
Then Aunt Lennox finally looked around the room.
Her eyes landed right on me.
Fuck.
I immediately started walking.
Too late.
She pointed at me.
I already knew what was coming.
Five minutes later, I’d been called baby boy, reminded that apparently I’d always be a baby, and sent off to help the adults.
This fucking family.
I shook my head as I walked away, but I was smiling.
I loved this family.
I kept myself busy after that.
Helping wherever someone needed me.
Talking to whoever stopped me.
Trying not to think about the team.
Then I saw Uncle Jace and Aunt Harper.
Which meant Blair would probably be here too.
I hadn’t seen Blair in years.
She’d been studying abroad.
I ignored the weird little fucking kick in my chest at the thought and went back to talking to Cade.
“You think we can beat your dad’s old team?”
I laughed.
“Probably. Dad’s fifty and complains about his knees daily.”
Cade laughed.
“Uncle Cole says his back.”
“Yeah, but you know damn well the second they get on that ice, they’re all going to think they’re twenty-five again.”
“No shit.”
I grinned.
“Dad will probably try to check somebody.”
“Probably you.”
“Definitely me.”
Cade laughed.
Then my attention shifted past him.
Because Uncle Jace wasn’t alone anymore.
Blair was with them.
And—
Fuck.
I stared.
Actually fucking stared.
Her hair was longer than I remembered.
She was laughing at something Aunt Harper said, her head tipped slightly to the side.
Same Blair.
Except—
Not.
When the fuck did Blair Wilder look like that?
“Knight?”
Nothing.
“Knight.”
Cade waved his hand in front of my face.
I blinked.
“Hm?”
His brows went up.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Sure.”
“Fuck off.”
I started to walk away.
Then Blair’s gaze met mine.
Her entire face changed the second she saw me.
Her smile got bigger.
“Hey, Knight.”
I stopped.
“Hey, B.”
She smiled.
And for a few seconds, neither of us looked away.
A few too fucking many.
Then Blair turned back toward her family.
I kept walking.
Straight to the other side of the room.
I needed a fucking beer.
I grabbed one and took a long drink before leaning against the wall.
What the fuck was that?
I looked across the room again.
Straight at Blair.
Of fucking course I did.
Jesus Christ.
I took another drink.
My parents had finally shown up.
Dad was already giving Aunt Len shit about something.
Eventually, she shooed him toward Uncle Cole.
I laughed.
Mom joined Aunt Len.
They started talking.
Then both of them looked at me.
I narrowed my eyes.
Mom smiled.
Aunt Len’s grin got bigger.
Oh, fuck off.
I looked away.
I wasn’t doing anything.
I had looked at Blair.
That was it.
I’d known Blair my entire fucking life.
She was Uncle Jace and Aunt Harper’s daughter.
Our families did everything together.
Birthdays.
Holidays.
Games.
Vacations.
Everything.
She was just Blair.
B.
Except apparently tonight my brain had decided to notice that Blair Wilder was fucking gorgeous.
Great.
Exactly what I needed.
Eventually, Blair started making her way around the room.
She stopped with Emery and Gemma.
The three of them started talking.
I tried not to look.
Actually fucking tried.
Lasted maybe thirty seconds.
My eyes went right back to her.
Fuck me.
Nash leaned against the wall beside me.
“Who are you staring at?”
I turned to him.
“No one.”
He looked across the room.
“So, is the no one the redhead?”
I flipped him off.
“Fuck off, Calder.”
He laughed.
Thankfully, he left it at that.
His attention shifted toward where Elena, Cade, and Beck were standing.
My cousin Sloane still wasn’t here.
No surprise there.
She loved to travel.
Or, as Emery called it, run from things.
Nash just chilled beside me.
And thankfully, nothing else about Blair was mentioned.
Because I didn’t have a fucking explanation for why I couldn’t stop looking at her.
Not even for myself.
