Chapter 29: Chapter Twenty-Eight

“When I saw you on the first day of school, I thought here comes another dumb jock. Obviously, you weren’t and the more I got to know you and your brothers the more I liked all of you. You welcomed me into your home and now it feels like my second home,” she said.

I didn’t say anything, and I didn’t look at her either. What was I supposed to say to all that? Everybody liked her too and I had tried not to. People always hurt you the moment you let them in, and I never wanted to share my past with anyone.

“I spend so much time with you because my house feels cold and empty. My parents are never there, they love me and my sister, sure, but it’s hard being alone all the time. My sister spends most of her time dancing, she’s really good but she’s older than me and she’s got her own life,” Madison continued.

“I like you, Kage, but I have no idea if you like me back or not. You don’t talk about your life or your dreams or what you want. I don’t even know what your favorite color is or what music you listen to. I don’t know what makes you tick. You’re this closed off enigma and try as I might,I don’t know what’s going through your head,” she said. “There’s a sadness in your eyes that I wish I could fix, but only you can do that. It’s like you’ve closed yourself off to the world and nobody stands a chance to get in.”

She had no idea how right she was. I was alone on my own island, and it was the safest place for me to be. Trust didn’t come easily, and I had every reason in the world not to trust anyone. Alexander, Joe and my brothers, they’d broken through, but she was a girl.

“You don’t have to tell me your secrets but tell me something. I don’t want to be on the outside forever, I like who you are as a person, the way you handle conflict and how you avoid aggression. I just like you,” she said.

“Green,” I answered her and turned to look at her.

She smiled at me and leaned her head against me again. “You like green.” We sat there for another half an hour in silence as a million thoughts raced through my mind. Madison liked me, she wanted to get to know the real me. She wanted to be let in, but could I do that?

“There’s only so much I can do alone, Kage,” she said as she kissed me on my cheek and stood up. She started walking away from me and I realized that this was the moment.

“I like you too,” I said, and I could hear that she had stopped walking.

I stood up and really looked at her, the sincerity in her eyes and the way her eyes searched out mine. Despite everything, she really did like me, and I liked her too. I took her hand, and we started walking back to the house together.

“Kage and Madison sitting in a tree,” the guys chanted from the patio above as we neared the house, and I looked up.

“What are you, five?” I asked them as Madison laughed.

“I need to get home but I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Madison said as we stood by the front door.

“It’s my turn to make breakfast,” I said.

“I’ll help you,” she said.

I felt awkward as we stood there, and I knew I was supposed to kiss her, but I wasn’t sure if she wanted that. I got my answer a few seconds later when she took my face in her hands and kissed me goodbye. When I opened my eyes, she was already halfway to her car, and I smiled when she waved as she drove past me.

Things with Madison were just easy. Nothing really changed except that we now openly held hands and sat closer together. I opened up more to her and one day as we sat on the patio outside my room, I told her that I was adopted, that we all were. It was the only thing I could tell her about my past.

We had our first match coming up and when I skated out onto the ice before the match started, I had to smile as they all stood in the audience each holding up a letter of my name with Madison holding the exclamation mark. They would cheer and hold up those signs every time I scored.

I went from liking Madison to falling in love with her very quickly. She was good for my soul, and she never brought up the past again after I’d told her about my adoption. Instead, she focused on the future, and we talked about our lives and what we wanted.

She became a permanent fixture in my life to the point where I wanted to share more with her, but I still held back. I didn’t want her to look at me differently and I was afraid that she would after she knew everything there was to know about me.

We were all in a good place and she didn’t mind spending most of our time with my brothers. We went to the movies, went on drives with the bikes. She was at every single game, supporting me and cheering me on, along with Alexander and my brothers.

Things with Josh had escalated to the point where lawyers got involved and Alexander somehow got me off. Josh became a non-entity in our lives and we ignored each other in the hallways. No criminal charges were ever laid and Alexander didn’t discuss what was said in those meetings with the lawyers.

Time passed quickly and before I knew it, we’d been seeing each other for six months. We’d spent New Year’s together as her parents had flown home for Christmas. She’d given me a silver and black watch with her name etched on the back and I’d given her a necklace with a peridot stone, my birthstone.

She was at our house during winter and spring break and the end of the school year loomed ahead of us. She’d been accepted to Berkeley to study Nutritional Sciences, which at first was a bummer because she’d be moving to California.

Mr. Walsh had urged me to apply to a multitude of universities and I got accepted everywhere. California had three NHL teams and enough minor league teams that I really considered accepting Berkeley. I couldn’t imagine being separated from Madison.

Sloan had become withdrawn ever since Hailey had left Jamestown and I worried about him. He spent less time with us as a group and more time alone with his piano. He’d been accepted to Julliard, and we had celebrated with him when he got his acceptance letter. It was his dream, and we were all happy for him.

“Hey,” I said when Sloan opened his bedroom door.

“Hey.”

“Can we talk?” I asked him.

He opened the door wider, and I followed him inside where he sat down on the chair by his desk, and I sat down on his bed. Sloan had never been very talkative but lately it felt like he was avoiding any sort of physical contact.

“What’s up?” he asked me.

“I’m worried about you,” I said.

“Why?”

“You’re different, Sloan, quieter than normal. What’s going on?” I asked him.

“I have a lot on my mind, Kage,” he said.

“Talk to me,” I said.

“Julliard’s a lot of pressure, I’ve gotten used to having you all here around me. I’ll miss this,” he said.

“We’re brothers and we’re always going to be in each other’s lives. We’ll come home for Christmas and so on, we’re all going in different directions but we’re still family, Sloan,” I said as he nodded his head.

“I know, some days I just feel like I’m going to go there and be all alone,” he said.

“I’ll always just be a phone call away,” I said.

“I know.”

We sat in silence for a little while and the expression on his face was one of hurt. Moving away couldn’t be the only thing bothering him. He was brilliant and Julliard had been his dream ever since I had met him. He was tough and resilient.

“My father’s getting out of prison,” he finally said.

“How do you feel about that?” I asked him.

“Scared.”

“Sloan, he doesn’t know where you are. You’re stronger than that eight-year-old that had to face him. You’re a different person now and Alexander won’t let him near you,” I said.

“I know, Kage, but the dreams are starting again,” he said, and he looked so lost that my heart broke for him. His father had tried to kill him after his mother had committed suicide. It had taken him a long time to deal with his own demons.