Not All Hockey Boys Are Bad

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

He looked the same as he did 5 years ago, the same as the day he left. He looked more aged, true, but he looked the same.

I hadn't spoken to him since he climbed in to his car the day he left and drove a way. I couldn't bring myself to after I heard my mom crying quietly in the middle of the night all those years ago. He chose to leave us, and I haven't found a way to forgive him yet.

His face had lit up after I called him dad and I instantly regretted it. I should have called him Mark or father since he had stopped being my dad when he walked out our front door and never came back.

My father had reached me now. His long legs, which skipped over me covered the distance quickly. "Rosie," He repeated my name smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"A hockey tournament." I said brashly.

Mark's eyebrows rose. "In a hospital?" He questioned. His smirk made me uneasy, and aware I wasn't ready to joke with him.

I bit my lip to keep me from rolling my eyes. "No, that's why I'm in Seattle. I'm in this hospital because my boyfriend was hurt."

I watched as Mark registered my words and his face twisted in concern as if he was going to try to act fatherly. It was hard standing here watching him pretend to care when he had hardly made any actual effort to stay involved in my life other than birthday cards. "Boyfriend?" He finally asked.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "You have a boyfriend? Has your mother met him? Does he treat you well?" Mark said. He was seriously going to grill me about Jack? He had no right to play the dad card, especially because he chose to leave my life.

"Don't start. I don't need this from you." I say holding my hands up to silence him. "Please don't pretend to care."

Hurt registered in his eyes and the twisted part of me felt satisfied but I knew it wasn't right to want to hurt my dad like this. However, I wanted to pay him back for all the hurt he caused mom and I.

I balled my hand into a fist to keep from tearing up in front of him. Mark noticed and looked down to my hand. He was going to say something, he even took a step forward to do so, but before he could Georgia, Cole, and Talon walked down the hospital hallway to meet us.

Their presence gave me relief. They can be my excuse to escape my dad. "This guy bothering you?" Talon asked standing to my left with Cole as Georgia came to stand by my right,

It felt as if I had personal bodyguards ready to protect from the evil ways of my dad in a lab coat.

"A little, but I was just leaving." I say bitterly giving Mark a sour look. After I began to turn away.

"Ro, wait." Mark said placing a hand on my shoulder. I jerked away as if he burned me. "We need to talk and catch up."

"There's nothing to talk about." I say.

A lady steps out from the floor's front desk. "Doctor Owens, you're needed on the tenth floor for a MRI on Debra Jones."

"Be right there." Mark responded, giving the lady a tight smile before he returned his attention to me.

"Sounds important, you better leave now, Mark." I say. "After all leaving is what you do best." The words are out of my mouth before I can speak. There's no taking them back, and I won't let myself regret it.

I avoided looking at Mark, my dad, again. I only stole a glance at Georgia, Cole, and Talon. Georgia and Talon were glaring at my dad while Cole looked shocked. Not being able to take it any more I pushed my way around Talon and my dad, booking it to Jack's room.

*****

Jack in the process of sitting up when I made it back to him. His hair was sticking up in random places, his arms were outstretched, and he was yawning loudly. He must've barely woken up.

"There you are, thought you left me on my own." He says smirking. His smirk dropped when he noticed my rapid breathing. "Wait, what happened?"

Jack knew about my parents, about how my Dad divorced my mom then up and left. He knew how hurt I'd been because I told him, the day at the diner. I trusted him enough to tell him how much I hated my dad, and how I never wanted to see him again, yet I did.

I didn't speak-couldn't speak as I walked over to the bed and sat down next to Jack. He wrapped an arm around me instantly. I had to remember that Jack was the one who was hurt here, not me.

"Rosie..." He encouraged.

"I, uh, ran into my dad." I mumbled burying my face into Jack's shoulder hoping somehow I could erase the encounter in the blue hospital Jack was wearing.

"The one who left? The one who hurt you?" Jack asked.

I nodded.

His whole body seemed to tense and his hand that was rubbing my shoulder was gripping tightly onto my skin. "Did he say anything to upset you?" Jack managed to say through gritted teeth.

"What didn't he say, he's the dad who left." I justify.

Just as Jack was about to say something else the curtain to his little hospital cubicle was pulled back revealing the seniors of the hockey team plus Georgia.

"Dudes..." Jack groaned slipping his arm from my shoulder before wrapping it around my waist.

"Don't dudes us, we're onky checking up on you two." Talon says. He's has been increasingly kinder to me ever since he scared those Harland boys off. "After she," Talon pointed to me. "ran off, we wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Jack looked at me. I blushed. "I'm good, but you shouldn't worry about me worry about Jack here with the head injury." I reached up to gently run my hand through his hair, forgetting my dad and focusing on how he was doing.

I stood up then despite Jack's protest. His teammates were already making their way into the curtained room, and I understood he needed the time with his teammates.

Regardless of the team watching or not I leant down to place a kiss on his forehead. "Talk to your team, I'm going to get food." I say.

As soon as I had passed through the curtains I could hear the hockey boys bombard Jack.

"Dude, the fall was sick!"

"It totally looked like you were going to die."

"Next time we play them, we're kicking their asses, that's a promise."

The last one I heard caught my attention, because they better kick the Bear's asses for doing that to Jack cuz if they didn't I will.