Miles Dempsey

Nola didn't place.

As much as she wants to bring herself down, she really did amazing. Hell, I was in awe of her. I couldn't take my eyes off of her the whole performance. Memorized isn't a great enough word to describe the feelings her performance gave me. I felt it, the crowd felt it. I'm pissed that the judges couldn't see past those mistakes because she deserved to be up there in the top 24.

Seeing her crying made me feel like I was on fire. I had to fight the urge to comfort her. Her parents and brothers did a good job at it but I wanted to hold her and tell her that she was going to be okay. That her performance was way better than whatever the hell she was thinking.

Nola likes getting in her head a lot so I know this loss hurt. As much as I wanted this for her, I'm still confident she can make it to the Olympics next winter. There's a competition in September that can qualify figure skaters for the Olympics. If she can do well there, I'm positive she'll be on that Olympic team.

It's too soon to talk about that possibility right now so I didn't bring it up. All I tried to do was make sure that she was okay. That was my first priority.

"My parents aren't going to say no." Those are Nola's words before she pulls me toward the exit. I'm happy to be getting out of this place but I'm not happy to see that specific look on her dad's face again. I tried not to make it obvious, but I noticed the way he was staring me down. He's protective of her I'm sure and that's the reason behind the daggers he was shooting.

I open up the door before Nola can grab it, holding it open for her. As soon as we step out, eyes wander in our direction. I remove my hand from hers when I realize she's still holding it. All I did was come see my friend skate. I don't need a protective dad on my ass when whatever he's thinking is wrong.

My action doesn't seem to phase her because she goes straight for Ember, intertwining their arms. "Mom, Dad, can Ember and Miles come back home with us? They booked a one-way but they don't have to be here any longer than I do," she says. The small brunette lays her head on Nola's shoulder. This time, both of Nola's parents turn to look at me.

I'm sure they'd say yes to Ember. Me? They're considering.

Nola's mom was the one who stared at me longer this time. Her blue eyes squinted a bit like she was trying to figure out if she could trust me or not. When her dad didn't say anything, I figured he was waiting for his wife to speak up first. "Of course, we should get going soon, though," her mom finally says, a faint smile making its way onto her lips.

I've never looked at her mother long enough to realize how much she looked like her. The blonde hair, blue eyes, and thick brows. They're basically the older and younger versions of each other. I look nothing like my mom. Or even dad for that matter. That's obvious since I'm adopted.

Kind of a sad fact but when kids would ask me who I looked like my mom or dad, I would blurt out the fact that I'm adopted. The look on their faces was always priceless. They had no idea what to say to that. I don't blame them though because I wouldn't either.

Still, I'd get a laugh out of their reactions.

Now that I'm grown up, I tend to keep the fact more to myself. As a public figure that's almost impossible. If I could have kept that a secret forever, I would have. With the regular season coming to an end, the thought of finding my birth parents has been itching at me more. I want to take that step into solving this twenty-four-year mystery.

The only thing I was waiting for honestly was for Nola to compete at Worlds. If she had become an Olympian today, I would have celebrated with her for as long as possible and then handled business. If she hadn't moved on, I was going to be close to her for as long as she needed support. Everything was going to be about her until I made sure she was better.

She comes before me in my head so me finding my birth parents is on the back pedal for now. I know Nola is acting fine right now but it only just happened. It's all going to hit in the next couple of days even weeks and I'm going to make sure I don't have my own world crumbling down when that does happen.

We get into a small van that takes us all to our hotels. Turns out, we had been staying at the same one Nola's parents had been staying in. We all checked out of our rooms and then we went to the hotel where Nola stayed and picked up her stuff. I was about to offer to help her bring down her things but her father beat me to it.

The ride was a little less awkward than I thought it would be. Ember, Brooks, and even Nola's little sister, Kiersten who'd I just met talked to me. When we had gotten onto the private jet, neither of Nola's parents had spoken a word to me. As soon as we took off, they disappeared into the one bedroom the airplane had.

I sat next to Nola on one of the couches and Ember sat beside her. They talked about things that didn't have anything to do with figure skating. I figured Ember wanted to distract her which was a good idea. Since it was going to be a long flight, I rested my head back and closed my eyes.

***

Time had passed because when I woke up, the uncovered windows had shown darkness. Everything was quiet. Nola wasn't next to me anymore and Ember was asleep on the same couch as me. I looked around to find Nola's brothers, sharing another couch. They were all asleep. Kiersten and Mrs. Scott were missing as well.

"You're awake." The deep voice caught me off guard and my head turned toward the other side of the private jet where Mr. Scott sat. He had a laptop opened up on his lap. His light blue eyes pierced into mine with a hard-ass stare. I've only met him twice and he didn't seem to hate me the first time but this time around is different. Seeing his daughter in my arms earlier might have been the reason why.

"You and I are the only ones," he says when I don't respond. Mr. Scott shuts his laptop, setting it on the table in front of him before getting up and walking over to sit on the loveseat in front of me. I have a feeling I'm about to get interrogated. "How's Nola?" I ask, even though I think it's the wrong question to ask.

His eyes narrow slightly but he doesn't falter, keeping his cool. "She's asleep. She'll be alright." That's not what I asked. I nodded awkwardly, breaking eye contact. When I don't say anything though he speaks again. "So..." he starts, rubbing his lips. "How long have you and my daughter been...friends?" I can hear the uneasiness in his voice as he says the word friends.

That's what we are. Nothing uneasy about it.

"A couple of months," I reply. He lets out a chuckle. "The last time she talked about you months ago wasn't pretty. What changed?" he questions. My brows furrow slightly but I try not to show any reaction. I know she talked about me to her family months ago. Brooks already exposed her on that part a while back. "We just called a truce, I guess. Turns out we're more similar than I thought."

His brows raise slightly like my words are a surprise to him. "She told me you're John and Claire's nephew, is that right?" The mention of my aunt and uncle brings a slight smile to my lips. It's been a while since I've seen them because I'm always so busy but there's not a day my aunt doesn't text me. "Yessir."

"They've never mentioned you. Funny," he says, sipping a glass of wine I didn't even realize he had. His comment takes me aback a little. I don't think I would have been offended if he didn't add the 'funny' at the end. He's Nola's dad, I remind myself. If it were anyone else, I'd be a smart-ass right back.

I clear my throat. "I forgot to thank you for letting me come back with your family, so thank you." Mr. Scott smiles over at me but I'm a professional at distinguishing a fake smile from a real one. That one was fake. "You're welcome." Comes his short reply.

Tension rises once again so I open my mouth to speak but he cuts me off. "What game are you playing with my daughter, kid?" I fail to keep an expression off my face. What the hell does he mean by that? "Game? I'm not playing any game," I retort. He chuckles bitterly, rubbing the light stubble across his jaw.

"You mean to tell me a twenty-something is actually interested in a just turned nineteen-year-old?" he speaks in a hateful tone. God, I knew this would happen sooner or later. "Sir, it's not like that with Nola and I. We're just friends. I wouldn't lie to your face," I admit. There isn't a reason to lie to him. If things were different, I'd tell him the truth.

"That hug from earlier didn't look like just friends," he shoots back. Well, I can't disagree there. But it was purely platonic. "I'll admit it didn't but it wasn't like that. It's never been like that between us. I'm not just feeding you bullcrap. You can ask Nola." The scowl on his face isn't gone yet.

I'm starting to think he won't believe me regardless of what I say.

"I did ask Nola but I'm not believing it. You two are lying to my face and I don't like it." I'm about to speak to shut his assumptions down but a door creaking breaks the silence. Mrs. Scott walks over to her husband and bends down to kiss his cheek. I look away for a second. "Your turn, babe," she says. "I'm fine. You can go back," he replies in a whisper.

Nola's mom shakes her head. "C'mon. I've gotten enough rest. Maddy's gonna kill us if we're not well-rested when we land." Mrs. Scott grabs her husband's hands and tries to pull him up. He groans but gives in. Before he walks back into the room his wife came out of, Mr. Scott glares at me once more.

Mrs. Scott fills his place as the door closes behind him. "Hi, Miles," she says with a smile. The more I look at her, the more I see the resemblance to her daughter. They have the same exact smile too. My heart starts racing a bit faster. "Mrs. Scott," I respond, clearing my throat. "Oh, call me Brynn. Was my husband trying to threaten you?" she says like she already knows.

In her attempts to make things lighter, my flat facial expression doesn't change. "Not exactly but I know he's just being protective of his daughter," I tell her. She smiles lightly. "So you two are....?" I'm sure she wants me to finish that sentence so I say, "Friends." Brynn nods her head slowly. "You don't believe me either?" I question.

She chuckles. "I always believe my kids. Nola said the same thing, I just wanted to confirm. Cgc was the one who didn't buy it." Not that I need her dad to believe me, but I rather not have him hate me for no reason. "You know I've never watched a minute of hockey in my life but you look very familiar," she adds.

My brows furrow. "I've been in a Spectrum commercial before," I half-joke. Two years ago I was in a Spectrum commercial for our team's sponsor, but I'm sure that's not why I look familiar to her. She turns her head to the side and examines me. "No, I don't think so. Hm, who knows." She shrugs her shoulders. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you for being here for my daughter and bringing her best friend along. That was nice of you."

This time, I actually smile. Unlike with her husband, I don't feel that heavy tension when speaking to Mrs. Scott. The way she looked at me earlier made me believe that there could be uneasiness towards me but she's not making me feel that way at all. "I wanted to be here and I know Ember did too. Just took a little convincing to not get her to feel bad for the amount of money it took to bring her with me," I chuckle.

Mrs. Scott laughs, raising her brows. "Ember is a sweet girl. We know how she gets uneasy with that stuff. We're very fortunate to have what we have so it doesn't bother us bringing her along but we'd never force her. I know she cares deeply about Nola though and vice versa, of course." No lies told there.

Nola cares about Ember a lot which is why I would have done anything to get the girl here. They spend quite the time talking earlier, catching up on stuff even though they were only apart for a couple of days.

We talk for about thirty minutes before Kiersten wakes up and asks her mom for some food. Slowly but surely everyone starts waking up. Nola appears from the room rubbing her eyes. She sees me awake and smiles, walking over to sit next to me. "Sorry, I passed out. How long have you been up for?" she questions. "That's fine. You needed the rest. I've only been up for about an hour," I say.

Like the heavy sleeper she is, Ember sleeps soundly on the couch next to Nola. She giggles at the curled-up position her friend is in. "Nola, Miles, do you guys want salads too?" Mrs. Scott holds up two salads. "I'm fine, thank you," I reply. Nola gets up though and accepts the salad from her mother.

The rest of the plane ride is decent. Everyone's awake about two hours before the plane lands so we all play some board game. Nola and I win as a team and I can see where she gets her competitiveness from. Her whole family is the same way. Ember and Brooks come out in second place and Kayce and Foster get third.

Once we're off the plane, I thank Mr. and Mrs. Scott one more time for letting me join them back on the private jet. Since we're in Los Angeles, I offer to take both Ember and Nola home. I don't miss the warning look from Nola's dad again. He's been eyeing me this whole trip but at least his wife has been nice to me.

It's almost five in the afternoon when we get to LA. Since the team does have a game in an hour, I decided to go back home and watch it. Even though I'm here, there's no way I would be able to just hop on the ice. Thankfully I'll be able to play in tomorrow's game though. I've told the coach that I'd be active already to which he just replied with a thumbs up.

Simple man.

As much as I wanted to spend time with Nola right now, I thought it would be better for her to spend some time with Ember or even alone. I told her she could call or text me whenever she wanted to. So far, I haven't heard zip. The boys took the W against Winnipeg thanks to one score from the kid and three from Tate. He's been killing it on the ice lately.

After tomorrow, our next four games will be on the road. Despite everything that's been going on in life lately, my main focus was still hockey. The postseason was approaching quickly and if we were going to make it to the finals, we still had to polish up. There were teams that were better than us and if we were going to get past even the first round, work had to be done.

I didn't even wait for the kid to get home, I locked my bedroom door and knocked out. If I was going to give it my all tomorrow, I had to be well-rested.

Jet lag wasn't going to kick my ass.