Page 103 of Center Ice
“He’d moved to Vancouver before I found out, and there were some missed phone calls and miscommunication.” If she wants to know more than that, she can ask Drew herself.
“And then…?”
“I ran into him at my brother’s house when he first moved back to Boston. He met Graham, and it was pretty obvious whose kid he was.”
“I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of Drew being a dad,” she says, her eyes flicking from me to the treehouse where laughter has just erupted again.
“Well, he’s a pretty great one, if I do say so myself.”
She opens her mouth to respond, but that’s when the side gate opens and two boisterous boys run toward us, both of them carrying several plastic action figures in their hands. When they approach us, Caitlyn introduces me to Missy’s husband, Rusty, and their boys, Ryan and Finn.
Then Drew’s walking across the lawn with his hand on Graham’s back, and tears fill my eyes as I watch my son meet hiscousins for the first time. And when my eyes meet Drew’s, and I see the tears in his eyes too, mine start to fall down my face. I wipe them away through my smiles, and when Drew comes over and wraps his arm around my shoulders, I snuggle into his side, wondering how I could possibly be any happier.
Chapter Forty-One
DREW
We’re crowded together in the hallway outside the locker room, waiting to take the walk to the ice. I’m absorbing the sound of the music and the cheering crowd when Zach nudges my shoulder. “I forgot to ask you after our home opener how it feels to play in your hometown.”
“It’s pretty fucking amazing, actually,” I say, thinking about how tonight my whole family is here, and so is Audrey’s. It feels a million times better than playing for a faceless crowd in another city.
“Is she here?”
I assume he means Audrey. “Yeah. Every game.”
“And your kid?”
“He’s here too. She usually takes him home after the second period so she can get him in bed.”
“Is that where you rush off to after every home game?” he asks.
I nod, thinking about how I already can’t wait to see her later tonight. I want to add her to the Wives List, and I want her and Graham waiting for me in the Family Room at the end of the game—provided he can stay up that late—but I have to talk to her and see if she’s ready for that.
“Sweet.”
If I didn’t know Zach as well as I do, I’d think the guy must be a stoner or something. He’s so Zen about everything, on and off the ice. I take a deep breath, trying to channel some of his calm, because for some reason, I’m really keyed up today. We’re 6-1-1 so far this season, so we’re off to a good start. I’m playing well. My coach is happy with me, and I haven’t been in the sin bin once since that talk with AJ, so I assume she’s happy too. But there’s something there, some current of electricity right under my skin, making me feel almost jumpy.
“You good?” Zach asks, watching me carefully.
“Yeah. Just taking it all in.”
“You sure?”
“I’m fine.” The words come out with more of an edge than I’d intended. What the fuck is wrong with me? I take a breath, and say more convincingly, “Really.”
We make the walk down the hallway, each of us reaching out and touching the Rebels logo painted on the wall. The music and the sound of the crowd are practically deafening as we approach the rink, and I let the energy settle into my bones. At least one goal, and no penalties. That’s my job tonight.
I take to the ice, letting my skates glide across the smooth surface while the lights and music flash around me. And as we line up for the national anthem, I glance over to where I know Audrey’s standing, and my breath is absolutely stolen from my lungs.
She’s wearing my jersey.
She’s got my last name on her back.
And as she looks down at me, an enormous smile plastered across her beautiful face, I know she’s mine. I have to make it work in Boston. I need to be able to stay and play here. There’s no way I’m uprooting her and Graham, taking her away from the company she started with her sister, or taking Graham awayfrom the small, private elementary school he’s so happy at. It has to be Boston or nowhere.
A small knot of anxiety winds itself around my stomach as I stand there with my helmet in one hand and the other over my heart, listening to the national anthem with my eyes locked on Audrey.
“You sure you’re okay, man?” Zach asks when the music stops and the lights come up.