Page 5 of Come Back To Me

“Kenzi?”

I lunged forward, and Kenzi stepped back just as Coach Davis grabbed the back of my sweater.

In a matter of seconds, Jackson was there, pulling Kenzi behind him.

I turned to look at Coach. “What the fuck?” He frowned, probably at my language, but right then I wanted a damn explanation.

“She’s awake and you didn’t bother telling me?” The last time I saw her she was still in a coma, that was a good few days ago.

Coach wanted to say something, but when he simply shook his head at me in dismissal, I disentangled myself from his grasp, and stormed out of his office.

Jackson was guarding Kenzi, who peered at me from behind her brother. The look in her eyes unnerved me, but not enough to overshadow the relief I felt. She was alive. My girl was alive. But why was Jackson standing in front of her like a guard dog?

A few of the other guys filtered in, and when Liam and Aiden saw me, they took hastened steps, walking awkwardly in their skates.

“What’s going on?” asked Liam, looking between me, Coach Davis and Jackson. “You okay, Squirt?”

That was directed at Kenzi - her brothers had called her Squirt all of her life. She absolutely hated it.

“I’m fine,” she replied. The sound of her voice made me want to fall to my knees. I thought I would never get to hear it again, and seeing her in front of me, fuck, it was doing crazy things to my insides. I just wanted to touch her, make sure she was real, look into those baby blues and feel her.

“Kenzi.” Her name fell from my lips in a praise. I stepped forward, but again, I was stopped. Aiden halted my movements with his damn stick. I expected his expression to be murderous, but instead all I saw was pity.

“Don’t,” he mumbled, giving me a slight shake of his head.

“Why did no one bother telling me she’s awake?” I struggled to keep the emotion from my voice, a mixture of anger, and a sense of betrayal. I knew Kenzi’s family would blame me. Hell, I had been blaming myself, but I didn’t expect them to keep something so hugefrom me.

Aiden looked at Coach, a silent message passing between them, and then dropped his stick. I was too confused by what was going on to move, so I stared at Kenzi, wondering if she was in fact nothing more than a figment of my imagination. But something in my gut told me it was real, it was happening, and with Kenzi’s next words, my world was once again left shattered and dead.

“Daddy, who is this?”