The Keeper (Playing To Win Book 1)

We stop at the door and knock before walking in. Mom’s rule has always been I’m supposed to walk in because it’s still my house. But still, it doesn’t feel right. “Hello . . .” I call out, then take Easton’s hand in mine. “They’re probably in the kitchen.”

“We’re in the kitchen,” Mom yells back.

I turn to E and shrug. “Told ya.”

We moved into this house after that night. I loved our old house. It was sandwiched between two of my brothers’ houses. But even with that, none of us wanted to step foot in there again. This was the house Mom and Brandon bought together. It’s where we became a family. Before this house, it was just Mom and me.

“Hey, shortcake.” Brandon drops a kiss on my head, then offers Easton his hand. “Hey, Easton. Good to see you.”

“You too.”

Brandon smacks Easton’s back. “Have I shown you the new sound system we installed in the gym downstairs?”

“Uh, no.” E looks confused.

“He’s trying to take you away to force a little alone time on Mom and me,” I groan and see right through my stepfather.

A smile breaks out on Easton’s face, and he slaps Brandon’s back. “You know what? I’d love to see that sound system. Lead the way.”

He looks back at me and winks.

I mouth back, I hate you, then make my way down to the kitchen, where my mom’s making a salad. She was barely my age when she had me after a completely fucked up life. It was just us for so long before Brandon came along. We had my brothers and sisters, but Mom and I were a team. Tears burn the back of my eyes as I walk in.

“Hey, Mom.”

She puts her knife down and pushes away the cutting board full of tomatoes. “Oh, sweetheart. Don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll cry.”

We both move at the same time and wrap our arms around each other. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask you what you wanted and how you felt, Lindy. I was so caught off guard and mad about the way everything happened. I just dug my heels in, and the harder you fought, the harder I pulled.”

“You shouldn’t have had to find out the way you did, and for that, I’m so sorry. But Mom, I’m not sorry for marrying Easton. I love him,” I tell her and take a step back.

“That should have been what I asked you that day.” She cups my face like she used to when I was little, her eyes filling with her own tears. “And does he love you, Madeline?”

“He does.” I smile, thinking about just how much. “He’s been bugging me to fix things with you from the beginning. He kept saying he’d give anything to see his mom one more time, and I was wasting time with you.” My heart tugs, just from saying that out loud. “He’s such a good man.”

“And where is he? And Brandon? Are they hiding?” she asks, then pours me a glass of wine.

“Brandon’s showing Easton something in the gym. I think he wanted to give us some space.” I sit down and sip my wine. “I hired a new security detail.”

“I heard,” she muses as she finishes dicing her tomatoes while I watch.

“Did Sam tell you?” I ask, already annoyed. He wasn’t supposed to say anything.

“Sweetheart, how many Revolution games has that man been at with you? Your family spreads gossip faster than a teenage girl. Now, we need to talk about a few things.” She adds her tomatoes to a big salad, then sets it aside to eat when dinner gets here.

“We do,” I agree.

“You said some things at Sweet Temptations I’ve never heard you say before, and I need you to talk to me. Did you feel like you had to skate for me, Madeline?” There’s a shakiness in her voice, and it makes me feel like shit because I put it there.

“No, Mom. I never felt like you forced me into skating. I skated because I loved it. I still do. But you said I’m floundering because I’m not sure what I want to do right now, and that stung. I don’t think I’m floundering.”

“It’s just so not like you to not have a direction. And then you went to Vegas, and Everly posted those pictures, which looked so bad. And we had to discover you were married on social media. It just all hit so hard.”

“I like to think I’m transitioning right now. I spent my entire life training for the Olympics. I missed so many things. And now, I don’t have to train any more. Now, I skate because I want to with no pressure. I teach the kids because it’s fun. I’ve got more money than I could ever spend, and I don’t want to miss anything else, so I’m not in a rush to jump into a job that isn’t what I want. And I’m lucky enough that I can take my time figuring out what it is I want. But the one thing I’m absolutely sure of is Easton. He’s what I want.”

I reach across the counter and rest my hand on hers, knowing this is going to be hard for her to hear. “I’ve never been happier than I’ve been with him, but no one in this family was happy for me. It hurt. And even worse, you all tried to make Easton into the bad guy. You were all supposed to love him, and you turned on him.”

“Madeline.” Mom pulls away. “We didn’t turn on him. We needed you to help us understand. And I don’t think any of us did a good enough job of meeting you in the middle. I will say that Lenny and Jules were on your side. They stayed quiet while we figured out what was going on, but they never stopped giving me grief. Becket too. Don’t worry about this family turning their backs on that man. We all love him. But we were as mad at him as we were with you.”

“He wants to marry me again. In front of everyone.”

“Oh.” Mom is careful not to give away her thoughts. “And what do you want?”

“I don’t want some big, stuffy thing. That’s so not me,” I tell her honestly. “We’re already married. I don’t really see the point.”

“The point, princess”—Easton wraps and arm around me from behind, startling me—“is for us to promise to love each other in front of the most important people in our lives. Juliette pointed out to me that the people who love us should get to celebrate with us.” He looks over at my mom. “Hey, Ashlyn.”

Brandon walks in with the takeout. “Are we eating in here or the dining room?”

“Here,” Mom and I both say at the same time.

“So? Come on, princess. Don’t make me beg.” Easton drops down on one knee, and I try to pull him back up.

“What are you doing?”

“Madeline Kingston Hayes. I have loved you for what feels like my whole life, and I promise to love you until we’re old and gray. Will you marry me? Again?” he adds, and I laugh.

“Get up, hockey boy.” I pull him up and press my lips to his. “If you really want to do this again, I’ll marry you.”

He lifts me off my feet and holds me to him. “Love you, baby.”

“I love you too, you big goof. Now put me down.”

He drops me back to my feet, and my mom and Brandon hug us both. “I’ve always wanted to plan your wedding,” she whispers.

“Small, Mom. Just family and a few friends,” I tell her.

Brandon clears his throat. “Your family is bigger than the average person’s wedding, shortcake.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Easton

I pull Brandon to the side while Lindy’s hugging her mom goodbye. “The only thing I regret about marrying Lindy in Vegas is not asking you for your permission first.”

“She’s her own woman. We both know that. You don’t need my permission, and you’ve had my respect for a long time. There’s no one in this world I’d rather see her spend her life with, Easton. Be good to each other. And be prepared—because you may think you know what being a part of this family means, but you don’t have a clue until you marry one of them.” He pats my back. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The snow falls around us as we walk to the SUV, and when I open her door, Lindy stops and kisses me. “It’s like we’re in the middle of a snow globe.”

“I guess it does, now get in before you get cold.”

“Thank you for making me come here tonight, E. You were right. I needed to do that. I know how much you miss your mom, but I’ve got to believe she’s watching over you, and she’s so incredibly proud of the man you are. I know I am.”

I wrap my hand around her head and press my lips to hers. “I fucking love you, Lindy.”

“Good. Then let’s get home so you can show me just how much.”

“Deal.” She gets in the car, and I close her door and round the front hood. When I look behind us, there’s a man in a sedan one house down. He’s sitting in the car with the headlights off, and something about it feels wrong.

I turn our car on and look in the rearview, but he doesn’t move.

Maybe I’m overreacting. But something just feels off.

“You buckled in, princess?”

Lindy looks at me funny. “Yeah, why?”

“I think that’s a paparazzi behind us. Just being careful.”

“Ugh, when are they going to stop following us? We’re boring.”

“You’re never boring, baby.”

I pull onto the street and watch to see if the sedan follows.

Thankfully, he doesn’t.

Nothing like overreacting.

Stupid fucking tabloids.

Once we pull through the intersection outside of Ashlyn’s neighborhood, a motorcycle flies up next to us—in the fucking snow—and the guy pulls out his camera.

“What the fuck?” Lindy gasps in shock.

“Ignore him. We’re fine,” I tell her, even though I don’t like how close this guy is getting to us.

We pull onto Main Street, and headlights flash behind us.

It looks like the sedan from Ashlyn’s neighborhood is back, and he’s coming toward us at a pretty high speed, considering the snow that’s already fallen tonight. “Is that fucker taking pictures too?” I shout, and Lindy turns to look, just as the motorcycle slides on the ice and veers in front of us.

I slam on my breaks to avoid hitting him, but it’s too late.

He runs into us at my front corner. The bike slides across the hood of our SUV, and the guy collides violently against our windshield, just as the sedan slams into us from behind, sending us spinning into mass chaos.

Metal crunches, and time stops as I realize I have no control over what’s happening.

“Baby.” I look over at Lindy as our car comes to a stop in the middle of the road, and she screams.

I turn my head and am blinded by the oncoming traffic. Headed right toward us.

In a last attempt, I throw my arm across Lindy, helpless to stop what’s happening. I hear a car lay on its horn and see it barreling down on us, trying to break. But I know he won’t be able to stop in time.

Glass shatters, and the impact feels like an explosion as the front of the SUV crumbles.

The airbags explode, and the last thing I hear is my wife’s scream before the silence is deafening.