Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,58

should come to us!” Edie squeezed Kennedy’s arm. “Right, honey?”

Another apologetic look from Kennedy. “I’m sure he has plans.”

Thanksgiving was next week. “I actually do—have plans, that is—but thank you anyway.”

“Well, you’re welcome, anytime, Reid. I know you’re new to the city so you probably don’t know many people.”

“Except his brother and the entire team.” Kennedy sent another apologetic look his way.

“But his brother has been here for years and probably has his own life. And Reid’s like you, hasn’t settled yet. Sometimes it takes a while to find your place in this world.” Edie divided a look between both of them when she said that. “Sometimes it takes a while to find the right people.”

Later that afternoon in downtown Chicago …

Bast opened the door of his apartment and grinned. Reid wanted to smash his face in. He had another full fridge and a report that Bast and Kennedy had an ice-cream date.

“Hey, you brought your buddy!”

Bucky was still a touch leery of strange men, especially ones who had the nerve to cozy up to a brother’s roommate. Ever careful, he molded his scarred body to Reid’s leg.

“Didn’t bring Kennedy, then?”

“No.” Not waiting for an invitation, Reid walked in. “She’s working.”

“Aren’t you paying her enough?”

Ignoring Bast’s question, Reid sat on his sofa and got Bucky settled at his feet.

His brother sighed. “I got that water you like. The flavor-free kind.”

“Très drôle.” Reid liked his brother’s apartment, which looked lived in after his six years in the city. Art on the walls, books on the shelves, even a case for his trophies. The Championship ring, which his brother had won three years ago with the Hawks, twinkled on a shelf.

Reid wandered over and picked it up, something he always did when he stopped by, like it could transfer some of its shine to him. Bast had told him he could put it on, but Reid would never do that. Bring a slew of bad luck on his head? He set it down again, his envy pitiful.

“Dad should have made the trip anyway,” Bast said, though Reid hadn’t said a word. It was annoying to be known so well.

“We both know why he didn’t.”

Bast frowned. He never liked the reminder that Henri viewed his sons differently. “He expects a lot. Of both of us.”

Perhaps. Yet Reid felt the weight heavily on his shoulders. “Coach wants to put me in as center.”

Bast’s eyes lit up. “You’ve always wanted to play that position.”

Had he? There had been a time when he thought it would suit him better, but the doubts had seeped under his skin and into his blood. He went for the glory position of winger because it would score more points with Henri. Scoring points was what his life consisted of: with his father, his brother, his teammates, the league.

“I might suck at it.”

“You won’t. You’re incapable of sucking at anything, Reid.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Remember when we used to go to that rink at the community center in Grenville and that big piece of shit, Teddy Something—”

“Gunderson.”

“Teddy ‘Tree Trunk’ Gunderson challenged you play tender for a puck challenge and you didn’t even have pads?”

His body was bruised but his spirit was unbroken. “The first of many reasons to despise him.”

“And then you beat the shit out him in the parking lot. Defending me.”

“He shot that puck at your head.”

“Yeah, after he shot twenty of them at yours in goal. And half of them didn’t miss.”

When Henri heard that Gunderson had made the mistake of directing a dangerous puck at Bast he scolded Reid for coming to his brother’s defense.

You’re not his keeper, Reid. Let him defend himself.

No matter how much Henri tried to drive a wedge between them, Reid never took the bait. At least not anymore. They were competitors on the ice but brothers everywhere else.

It had taken a while to get here. Bast had been in awe of Reid when they were little and Reid had taken that hero worship and thrown it back in his face. Not just verbally, either. He had not been a good brother to Bast and now he wanted to be. Edie’s comments about Reid not knowing many people in the city had resonated—Reid had Bast and he needed to nurture this while he had the chance.

Only now Bast was getting close to Kennedy and Reid didn’t enjoy this new influx of negative feeling. He had a hard enough time escaping his guilt at not being better at his job