Delayed Call Read online

  Looking up at her, he nodded. “Then how do I fix it?”

  “That’s all you, JoJo,” she said with a smile, cupping his face. “You have to want to share who you are, you have to want to tell someone your story. When that happens, then slowly you’ll get better. You’re so good at being closed off. You’re good at being Nate Way at the community because you’re not Vaughn Johansson there, the guy who lost his brother—and almost everything else because of some bitch. You can be this amazing man who has a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone. Vaughn is this hard exterior you wear, this playboy show-off. And while you’ve always been that guy, because you can be, the moment you allow Vaughn and Nate to merge, I’m pretty sure you’ll find that you’ll feel complete. Vaughn is a beautiful guy, he just uses Nate to show that. Does that make sense?”

  Holding her gaze, he felt his eyes start to itch. “Yeah.”

  She smiled. “Sometimes you let Nate out when you’re not at NateWay, but you stuff him back in real quick because you feel vulnerable. Again, that’s you. It’s your defense mechanism—because you haven’t always been like that. It happened when Hazel happened.”

  “I know when it happened, Wrenny. That’s not my problem. My problem is I don’t know how to fix it.”

  “I don’t either,” she admitted, holding his gaze. She smiled softly and she shrugged. “Maybe you have to have a reason to do it. Something to urge you into it. You always play your best when you’re under pressure—when the delayed call is on the other team and you want to score. You just need that call.”

  He nodded. “I see what you did there.”

  She grinned. “I’ve been working with hockey players a long time.”

  Swallowing hard, he nodded. After a moment, he whispered, “I hurt her.”

  Her shoulders fell as she cupped his face in a big-sisterly way, but she was really the little sister. He waited for her to ask who, she was nosy, but instead, she whispered, “Is it fixable?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Have you tried?”

  “No, because if I fix it, then what happens next?”

  “What do you want to happen?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, you need to figure that out, JoJo. Only you can decide how you want to live this insane thing called life. It’s all on you. No one can do it for you.”

  Looking over at her, he gave her a weak smile. “So I can’t ask you to go talk to her?”

  She scoffed. “No, and I wouldn’t because I want you to grow. I want you to be the amazing man I looked up to when I was younger. The one who built NateWay with your bare hands because you wanted to honor Nathan. I want— No, we all need that man back. The one before Hazel. You, above all, need him back.”

  He nodded then before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her temple. “Thanks, Wrenny.”

  “Anytime. You should come in more.”

  He smiled against her hair. “I don’t need therapy.”

  She laughed at that. “Everyone needs therapy, Vaughn. You, especially.” Pulling back, she looked up at him. “But tell me something. Who do you wanna be?”

  He didn’t even hesitate. “Someone Nathan would have looked up to.”

  Her lips curved in a sad smile. “Why?”

  “Because I loved him, and I wanted to be great for him.”

  She nodded. “Then be great, Vaughn. Don’t hold back.”

  Be great. He had that in the bag.

  Don’t hold back. Now, that was going to be a problem. He was used to just being so shut off to anyone because no one ever cared to know him more. When he wanted sex, he went and got it. When he wanted a companion, he went and got a dog because it was easier than putting himself out there. But after that night with Brie, he recognized that she wanted to know more. That she wanted all of him. She wanted him as a companion, and he was starting to realize that he wanted the same. But he had no clue how he would ever talk to her again without her trying to kill him.

  Yeah, he was in a pickle.

  Three-on-three overtime hockey—and he was left to defend the guy on the breakaway. That’s how she had him feeling since he’d walked away from her.

  He hated that feeling.

  He’d rather have a winning-streak kind of feeling, and he felt like that when he was with her. Something had to change, and he was really starting to think it had to be him.

  “Mr. Jo, can you teach me your wrister? It’s like the best shot in the world, and I want to be just like you.”

  Vaughn had thought his day was ruined. After his chat with Wren, he felt like shit, probably looked like shit. And while her words ran through his mind along with thoughts of Brie, after five minutes with the Adler kids, even people with a dead soul would be smiling. Looking down at the youngest, Quinn, sporting his Adler Assassins jersey, Vaughn grinned. But before he could answer him, Shea called out to him.

  “Wow, thank you, spawn of mine. You know I had the hardest shot in the league, right? For, like, ten years,” Shea said from across the kitchen with a hurt expression on his face while Elli just chuckled softly.

  “He’s right, Quinny.”

  Quinn beamed at his nickname that Vaughn had for him. Usually, everyone called him QA. “I know, but yours is sick.”

  “Baby, was mine not sick?” Shea asked, smacking Elli’s butt, and she laughed.

  “The sickest, baby. I remember when it broke glass.”

  Grinning big, Shea took her in his arms, kissing her lips. “I did break glass for you, didn’t I?”

  “You did, and you got fined for it.”

  Kissing her once more, he said against her lips, “Still the best two thousand bucks I’ve ever spent.”

  “They do that a lot,” Quinn said, rolling his eyes, and Vaughn snickered.

  “That’s true love there, buddy.”

  “Ew, love is gross.”

  Vaughn held his serious gaze. “I hear you, dude.”

  Grinning, Quinn asked, “But anyway, can you show me how to do your wrister?”

  “Of course, go get your stick.”

  Quinn practically came out of his skin, which made Elli smile happily as Shea grumbled, “He’s not that awesome.”

  “Actually, Cap, I am.”

  “Why did we invite him over?”

  Elli laughed. “To smooth things over with Brie, but she blew us off last minute.”

  Vaughn could guess why. “Want me to leave?”

  “No, I love you, and I love her, but she had some things come up with her brother. He’s going home from the hospital today and she wanted to be there, so I gave her a pass. But there was no way I was canceling with the greatest wrister in the world,” she teased, and her husband frowned.

  “I had a great shot!”

  That had them both laughing as Shelli came into the kitchen, her guitar in her hands and her face full of distress. “Momma! The twins won’t leave me alone, and I’m on Skype with Mrs. Avery, trying to learn this new song. Help. Please. I’m begging you.”

  “Lord, please help me,” Elli said with her eyes closed. She yelled out, “Evan, Owen! Leave Shelli alone, please.”

  “She sucks!” Owen hollered back.

  “And she hit us!” Evan added, and Vaughn grinned.

  “Boys!”

  “Hey, baby, I can teach you the song if you want,” Shea said, but Shelli turned up her nose. She was looking a lot like Elli at that moment, so regal and lovely, dark hair down her back and sparkling green eyes. She was really growing up.

  “Daddy, you didn’t write songs for Ed Sheeran or Selena Gomez. I think Mrs. Avery is more qualified.”

  With that, she turned around and headed out of the kitchen as Shea looked to Elli. “Do any of the kids I made with one shot love me?”

  “Please,” Elli complained, just as a scream came from the back room. “Boys!”

  They appeared, both with trouble written all over their faces before they looked up to their mom. “Mom, Shelli is impossible. She shut