I shoved at his shoulder playfully. “Ugh, that’s such a great idea. Why are you so freaking perfect?”
He flashed me a cheeky grin. My bestie had found herself a man who rivaled the book boyfriends she wrote that other women swooned over. And he didn’t have to try; it came to him naturally.
“She loves it when Nat and the kids come to visit, but it’s bittersweet. Just when she found a family to love her unconditionally, we moved halfway across the country.”
Braxton’s brother and his wife had five kids between the ages of fifteen and two. That might seem like a unusually large age range, but only the youngest two were biologically Jaxon’s. The older three came from Natalie’s first marriage—to a European prince, no less—but Jaxon had legally adopted them a few years back. Dakota was an only child, like me, so being brought into a big family was like a dream come true for her. There was so much love surrounding her that, at first,it had been overwhelming.
“So, you’ll come?” he asked hopefully. “Gonna have the whole crew. Doesn’t seem right to do it without you there too. You’re Dakota’s best friend. She’d want you there to share in that moment.”
“Of course, I’ll come. It’s been a long time coming.”
“That, it has,” Braxton agreed.
While they’d only met two years ago, their relationship had gotten off to a hot start.
Braxton had been all-in from day one. He knew what he wanted, and Dakota was it. But they’d pumped the brakes after Braxton demanded the trade that brought him to Indy. Sure, Dakota moved out here to be with him, and they’d bought a house together, but they decided it was best if they slowed things down. In their early twenties, there was no rush to settle down. But I knew Braxton wouldn’t want to wait forever. Dakota was his world.
As the bathroom door opened and Braxton jumped up, saying something about making us a fall-themed cocktail, I wondered if I would ever find a man who truly believed he couldn’t live without me.
Chapter 14
Maddox
Regardless of rivalries, whenan opposing team came to town, you offered them ice at your arena for practice. Usually, they only needed a morning skate the day of the game, but the Comets showed up a day early, having an open day on their schedule between their game in Chicago and their matchup with the Speed.
Unlike most teams, our practice ice was housed inside Speed Arena instead of a secondary rink in the suburbs. So, when the Comets borrowed our arena, we were in the building at the same time, on a sheet of ice a few levels below them.
There might be fierce competition on the ice, but there was a brotherhood when you reached the highest level of professional hockey. Guys had connections that went way back—from juniors, college, or time spent on another team in the pros—and were always excited to reconnect.
I was just off the ice from our practice, still in my skates, when a freshly showered Jaxon Slate approached me in the hallway.
He chuckled, taking in my attire of an all-black tracksuit with the Speed emblem over my right pec. “Looking the part, Sterling. How’s coaching treating you?”
Shrugging, I replied, “Can’t complain. Keeps me close to the game and the guys I care about.” I gave him a playful nudge. “Not all of us are built to play the game into our forties.”
“Hey!” Jaxon protested. “I’m only thirty-three.”
He might only be two years younger than me, but you couldn’t tell he was one of the older players on the ice. Jaxon’s talent was special, and he was still producing at a high level—some might say he was playing the best hockey of his career.
“You know, any normal human would start to slow down at your age,” I teased. “I really thought having a house full of kids—and teenagers, no less—would have stolen some of your focus.”
“Yeah, you wish.” He shot back with a smile. “They only give me more inspiration.”
I gave him a polite nod. I wouldn’t know what that was like.
“Your little guy still carving it up in the Hartford youth circuit with Mason’s kid?” Benji Mason was another of the Comets’ star players.
Jaxon barked out a laugh. “You know it. I can’t keep Beau off the ice. But I have to tell you, it’s incredible to rediscover the game through his eyes and watch the development happen. And boy, do I have a whole new level of respect for my parents and all the time and money they put into my youth hockey days. I was totally oblivious as a kid.”
“How old is Beau now?”
“Turned nine this past summer.”
I whistled. “Man, time flies.”
“Tell me about it. Amelia will be sixteen this spring, Jameson fifteen this winter.”
Jaxon was a great guy both on and off the ice. He played a clean game, and his sportsmanship knew no bounds. He’d made a significant impact in the Hartford community with his charitable pursuits. And then there was his personal life. He’d fallen in love with a single mom and claimed her three kids as his own.
