Page 11 of Thrown Off Balance
The regulars of Kennedy’s Pub know we hang out here and they leave us alone for the most part. Every once in a while, we’ll get a fan asking for an autograph or a picture, but we’re mostly treated like every other person. That’s why we come here. Why we love it.
“Do I get to sit next to my boyfriend or is that not allowed?” Sloan asks Jax.
“Aw, c’mon, Sloan. I was just getting to know my new friend. Are you really going to take him away from me already? That isn't really fair.” Jax pouts, putting on a real show.
I'm sure Sloan can see through his act, but Jude is eating this crap up. He’s loving how much attention Jax is showing him and he’s too dumb to realize Jax couldn’t care less about him. He’s giving me the chance to spend more time with Sloan without Jude interrupting us.
“Yeah, babe. We’re having a good time,” Jude pipes up like an idiot.
Sloan grumbles something under her breath and slides in next to Killian. I take the open space next to her and lean back, trying to relax.
Resting my head back against the booth, I let my eyes close. It’s been such a long week. I'm more than ready to go home and climb into bed. If we hadn’t seen Sloan, I would’ve dropped Jax off here and gone home, or convinced him to go home with me. I'm only here for her, yet the exhaustion of the day is setting in.
“Are you ok?” Sloan asks softly.
“Yeah, I'm just beat. Games are rough and they zap all the energy out of you. Especially when I spent the entire game protecting Jax.”
“Why do you do it?”
“Because he’s my brother.”
“You say that like it’s so simple.”
“Because it is that simple. I’ll always protect him. He’s my best friend and my brother. I’ll sacrifice myself every game for him.”
“If you got hit wrong, your career could be over.” She stares up at me like I'm crazy.
“Yeah, and I’d survive. I don’t live and breathe hockey, Sloan. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but I don’t feel like it defines who I am.”
“And Jax feels like he’s no one without being a hockey player.” She nods her head, understanding what I'm saying.
“I don’t think it will always be like that for him, but right now? Yeah, it defines him.”
“If it isn't my favorite hockey players!” A woman squeals from my right. I glance over and find Emma and Bella standing there with big smiles on their faces.
“There are my girls!” Jax’s grin gets impossibly wide. He loves when Emma and Bella show up at Kennedy’s to hang out with us.
Emma and Bella grew up on Mulberry Lane with us. Their dads are twins and the girls basically look like twins too. Jax used to joke around about how we should marry them and then our kids would look identical too.
I’ve always viewed them like sisters. I know there has been some attraction between the kids of Mulberry Lane over the years, but not for me.
My focus was always on Sloan and once she left, I only cared about hockey.
Bella and Emma pull two chairs up to the edge of our booth and take a seat. Emma chats with the guys while Bella listens and watches everyone carefully.
Where Emma’s the outgoing and life of the party type of girl, Bella’s much more reserved and is happy sitting back and watching what’s going on. She isn’t afraid to get in the middle of everything when she wants to or needs to though.
“What would you do if you didn’t play hockey?” Sloan asks quietly.
“I don’t know. I guess I hoped I’d have a family by now. Seeing Charlie and Sophia get married and start families… They’re so happy. I want that too.”
“Did Charlie finally marry Wyatt?” She arches a brow.
“Yup. They have a little girl named Carter.”
“Gah! That makes me so happy. I wanted them to get married so badly when we were younger! How long have they been married?”
“A little less than two years, I think. They broke up for a long time, but they found their way back to each other. I’ve never seen either one of them happier.”
