“Have a good practice. And don’t tell my dad where you were. I don’t want you to die,” I tell him as he opens the door.

He chuckles. “I won’t—for now.”

With that, he slips out the door, closing it carefully behind him before Ralph can catch up. She jumps up into the windowsill to watch him go, and I can’t stop myself from following her. My hand instinctively reaches out to pet the top of her head, but she bats it away, so I stare down at her, affronted.

“What’s gotten into you?” I ask. She just stares back blankly, her bright yellow-green eyes unblinking in the sunlight, and I click my tongue against my teeth. “Oh, don’t give me that look. I know exactly what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that at all.”

I leave her on the windowsill and walk back to the kitchen to make myself a plate of the scramble Declan made, but Ralph bounds after me and leaps up onto the counter beside me.

“Um, excuse me, you little diva. What do you think you’re doing? He’s making a monster out of you.”

Ralph meows and stares at me from the counter but doesn’t act for a second like she’s going to move. Maybe it’s silly, but I swear she’s silently judging me and chasing me around the house just to let me know that she sees what’s really going on here.

With my hands on my hips, I glare back at her.

“Don’t give me that. You’re obviously softening up for him too,” I tell her, and when she meows back what I’m sure is a very loud yes, I pat her head. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

29. Declan

Chapter 29

Declan

It’s probably no coincidence given what’s going on with Hannah, but I’m fucking killing my drills at practice today. I’m skating circles around the other guys, I haven’t missed a single shot or play I’ve made since we started, and I’ve still got plenty more energy to keep this up.

Or maybe this is all just because we’re finally out of the pre-season and into the real games. It won’t be much longer before I’ll officially hit the ice as a full-fledged member of the Aces and show Denver and the rest of the NHL just what I can do.

I can’t fucking wait.