My Hockey Alpha

Chapter 305

Bonus 5: The Tease

Enzo

Dust and sweat clung to my skin as I wrestled with the new living room furniture.

It was a final touch to the renovations we’d been slogging through for months, transforming our once dull house into a vibrant home. Despite the exhaustion tugging at my muscles, a sense of satisfaction washed over me as I looked around the house. Our house.

Just as I was finishing up on the final bench for our massive dining room table, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

A picture of Nina lit up the screen, her smile making my lips curve in response. “Hey, love,” I answered, using my cleanest elbow to press the speaker button.

“Enzo,” she started, and I could already hear the hesitation in her voice.

“I… uh… had a little run-in with a raccoon. I maybe… sort of… kind of got myself stuck in a ditch.”

The last part of her sentence came out all at once like an avalanche. I could tell immediately that she was embarrassed. And I was a man; it was my job to capitalize on her embarrassment. What good would it be if I didn’t tease my fiancee a little?

“Are you

wanna hit it!” Nina huffed on the other end of the line. I could almost see her pouting, her arms crossed in

single-handedly saved the entire town of Mountainview from the Crescents, survived on her own with a bullet hole in her leg, got spooked by a little

should leave you alone anymore,” I continued to tease as I stood and wiped the sawdust off of my hands. “Raccoons today, and what’s next? Squirrels

up,” she said, ignoring my

took on a more serious tone.

fine,” Nina replied, letting out a small sigh of relief. “Just artnoyed, both

hung up and prepared to leave. Just as I was heading out the door, however, a glint caught my eye. I frowned as I approached the little hallway table that sat

whirlwind of renovations. I picked it up gently, tracing the image of her smiling face. I missed her. It wasn’t fair that she wouldn’t be there for my wedding with

him. I wanted nothing more than to make up for those lost years, to finally come to a respectful understanding with

bright colors and the eclectic furniture. I think that my father would have liked it, too, although he seemed to pick up a fondness for the color gray

a way for him to punish himself, a way to convey the feeling in his heart that his life had become void of color since my mom

the photograph down and made a mental note to

look around the nearly finished living room, I

her. As I pulled up next to Nina’s car in

her sulky expression struck me as comical, and I

my father’s truck, but I decided to use it rather than

to steal much of anything. The act of ransacking my dad’s house was more of a way to show their disrespect than anything else. They may as well have spat on his grave. But I supposed that it was a good thing