The next few days go by in a blur of meetings and phone calls. Gabe is gone, I signed a new contract with the Wildcats, and Bridget and I are no longer discreet, aka we’re kissing anywhere and everywhere.
Her parents were shocked by the article. I went with her to talk to them, and I could see the genuine regret on their faces. They were confused why she never said anything and a little blindsided that they were so wrong about his character. There’s still some hurt there, but my girl is tough. She’ll get through this and I think her relationship with her family will continue to improve over time.
Today I brought my Mini Mites to the Wildcat arena to skate and play around. The guys stopped by too. They might not be impressed by me, but when Jack stepped out onto the ice with me, the kids stared at him in awe.
A bunch of them are teamed up, trying to steal the puck from Leo, and the others are shooting at our goalie, Mikey, trying to get one past him.
I skate over to the bench where Jack is signing a bunch of merch I bought to give the kids.
“Thank you,” I say.
“Of course. This was fun.”
“Not for this. Well, not just for this. I meant for the article.” I haven’t had a chance to talk to him one-on-one since it came out.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He refuses to make eye contact with me.
There isn’t a player I know that’d willingly give a reporter locker room gossip. Not only could it hurt their career, but it can also turn teammates on you in a hurry. No one wants to look over their shoulder all day. What he did was risky.
“I don’t know how you got her to do it, but it means a lot.”
He snorts. “If you want to thank someone, thank Nick.” His gaze drifts to where the new guy is on the ice. He brought his son, who is just a year or so younger than the other kids.
“Galaxy? Why?”
“Penguins.”
“He was the unnamed source?”
Jack shrugs. “He’d heard rumors when he was there but brushed them off. He mentioned it to me after your fight in the locker room, and I might have let it slip over dinner with Meredith.”
“How’d you know she’d run it?”
“I didn’t.” His jaw hardens. “Not for sure anyway.”
I curse under my breath. He did exactly what he swore he wouldn’t do—he gave his reporter girlfriend a hot scoop. And she did what he feared, but in this case also wanted—she ran with it.
“We broke up,” he adds.
Yeah, I’ll bet. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Writing it was the right thing. It saved you, and Gabe got what he had coming. It all worked out for the best. I owe Meredith a lot for that.”
“Then why’d you break up with her?”
He tips his head to the seats where Bridget is sitting with Everly. “You were ready to give it all up for her. I can’t fathom that.” He laughs softly. “I put myself in your situation and I couldn’t say the same. Maybe that kind of relationship is out there for me too.”
I arch a brow. “Wow.”
“You’ve got a good one. Don’t fuck it up and make me regret all this. And don’t tell anyone about that last part. I’m sure the feeling will pass.”
I laugh. “I won’t.”
Nick skates by.
“You misjudged him. He’s a good guy,” Jack says as if reading my thoughts.
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Good. And invite him to your party.”
“My party?”
“Yeah, we should throw another one after the game tomorrow night. The last one was all doom and gloom. I’m in the mood to celebrate.” He skates off without another word.
My pulse races as we walk down the tunnel. With every step, the noise of the crowd gets louder. I hold my stick horizontally across my body, twirling it to release some of my nerves.
I let out a breath, roll my shoulders, and force my mind to focus. My eyes are locked on Declan in front of me. His broad back is all I can see, but when the first guy’s skates touch the ice, I know it. The roar inside the arena vibrates inside of me.
One by one, my teammates take the ice in front of our home crowd. The buzz of excitement in the arena is electric. The night is ours and this moment is magic.
The music is loud, the announcer louder, and my heart thumps wildly in my chest, nearly drowning out everything else.
When it’s finally my turn to take the ice, everything gets quiet. I go through my usual routine: skating around, finding a puck, and then firing it at the net before I skate back to center ice. Slowly, things come back into focus. That’s when I look for Bridget.
She’s standing with thousands of others, but I could pick her out even if I didn’t know exactly where to find her. She’s my heart existing outside of my body.
When I meet her gaze, she holds up the sign in her hands. “I Wanna Puck #53!”
Chuckling, I skate over to her. She comes down to the front of the plexiglass.
“Is that a request for a souvenir or did you just proposition me at work?” I point to the sign.
“Everly dared me.”
Her friend waves from their seats a section up.
I flip the puck up with my stick and catch it. “I’ll puck you any time, babe.”
“What about your jersey?”
I blanch.
“I tried to get one in the gift shop but they were all sold out.” She bats her lashes.
Fuck me.
Bridget holds back a laugh as I strip off my jersey. I toss both it and the puck over to her. She clutches them to her chest with a satisfied smile.
“I’m gonna get you back for this,” I promise her.
Screams around the arena pull us out of our bubble.
“I didn’t think this through,” she says, glancing around at the fans cheering at my half-naked performance.
“Don’t worry, babe. I’m all yours.” I tap my hand onto the glass and then skate over to the bench.
