Alec rushes down the tunnel toward me, heat rolling off of him in waves. He smiles at me, intensity in his stare as he heads toward the locker room, one of the trainers on his heels to make sure his hand is okay.
Glancing back at the ice, I see Cole get helped to his feet. He slowly skates toward his bench, assisted by one of his teammates. His ego is going to have a tough time living that one down.
After the ref assesses and announces penalties, Alec and Cole both receive two minutes for roughing and ten minutes for misconducts, which means they won’t be returning until the beginning of the next period with how much time is left in the first.
Two other two-minute roughing penalties are given to Brett and a Venom player. And Cam is given a two-minute penalty for instigating, putting the Venom on an unfair power play. I thinkthe refs should have just called it evenly because now it seems unbalanced when the chaos was caused by both sides.
But I have a hard time focusing on that when the image of Cole flopping to the ground keeps replaying in my mind. Like a gift that just keeps on giving.
It’s been too long since I had a heart-to-heart with Luca—something we’re usually better at doing, minus the last couple of years after I moved in with Cole.
“Hello?” I answer his call as I lock the doors in Jensen’s car, sitting in the parking lot at the arena.
“Laineyyyy,” he sings cheerfully. “I miss you, kid. What’re you doing?”
“About to leave the arena.”
“Heading back to Jensen’s?” His question takes me by surprise because I didn’t tell him that, which means Jensen did.
Was that all that he mentioned?
“Umm, yeah. It’s nice that he’s letting me stay there.” I bite my cuticles—a habit I thought I had broken.
Luca chuckles.
“What?” I murmur, taken aback by his laughter.
“I’m pretty sure he’d give you his house if you asked for it.”
My heart skips a beat. “W-why do you say that?”
He chuckles again. “Oh, come on, Lain. It’s just me here, and I’m well aware of how Jensen feels about you.”
Have I entered an alternate universe? Because Luca used to scold Jensen and constantly remind him that I was off-limits, but now he seems … encouraging?
“How do you feel about that?” I stammer, shooting myself for how incredibly awkward I’m making this.
I can hear Luca’s smile in his voice. “I don’t know a better guy out there than Jensen. I would have no problem with you guys dating.”
“Really?” I scoff, my voice a tad too high-pitched.
“We’re not kids anymore, Lainey. I don’t care if he pursues you. Honestly, it would be nice to not hear him bitch about how shitty your ex was every time I talked to him if you two were finally together.” He giggles, and my heart swoons as I imagine a jealous Jensen. “The amount of times I have told him to reach out to you or tell you how he feels would blow your mind. So, no, I have no issue with you dating Jensen. As long as he doesn’t fuck it up.”
For some reason, my eyes are welling up again, and I’m starting to wonder if my intense emotions are being caused by my pregnancy or by how vulnerable I’ve felt lately with Jensen. It’s like I’m opening back up to the world and stepping out of a hazy cloud I’ve been trapped in, every single thing bringing me to tears.
“Okay,” I murmur, not really sure what else to say.
I want to tell him I’m pregnant, but I don’t know if this is the right time. They play us soon; maybe I’ll do it then so I can tell him in person.
“How are you?” I ask, starting Jensen’s car so I can warm up a little. “How’s the dating life?”
Luca scoffs. “I’m doing fine. Just practice and games every day. We’ve been traveling so much during the start of this season. I’m excited to have a break back home for a little while after this leg.”
“Yeah, I bet.” I pause, chuckling at the fact that he only answered one of those questions. “And your dating life?”
“Not just going to let that go, huh?” He sighs.
“Not after we talked about mine.”
