“That you’ve already got your heart involved.”
“I don’t,” I say unconvincingly.
“I’m afraid you do,” she says. “And I don’t want to see you get hurt at the end.”
At the end. Because therewillbe an end. And I need to remind myself of that every day.
“I won’t,” I promise. “I’ll figure out a way to keep him at a distance.”
“You’d better,” she says. “Or else your divorce will feel all too real.”
* * *
Declan
“I like her.” Cam’s statement about Mia means more than it should.
I try to keep my expression neutral. “I didn’t bring her here to get your approval.”
“Oh, yeah?” His eyes brighten in that irritating way he has of pushing everyone’s buttons. “Whydidyou bring her here?”
“You said you wanted to meet her before the wedding. And I know you would have stopped at nothing to make sure you did. This way, she could be prepared rather than have you asses surprise her.”
We’re standing in the middle of the living room, and Luke is listening in intently. I speak before he can.
“Fuck off, Luke,” I tell him. “I’m done hearing everyone’s opinions on my personal life tonight. Mia and I are getting married. Eventually, we’ll get a divorce. End of story.”
I shove down the feeling of disappointment in my gut at the word “divorce.”
Luke steps closer to us. “You want to own a piece of the team that badly that you’re willing to do this?” he asks me. “How come?”
“Because I need to stay involved with hockey somehow,” I say. “It’s my life. And Coach told me that if I become a minority owner, he’ll be able to put me in charge of other facets of the team right away. Like scouting. Things that would take years to get.”
“You’d be a kick-ass scout,” Cam says. “If you need any advice, you know I’m here.”
I nod appreciatively. “Thanks.”
He and I wander outside and stand quietly in front of the bonfire.
“Fatherhood looks good on Brayden,” I say, feeling Cam out.
“It does.” He goes silent like I thought he might.
“You’ll be a great dad, Cam.”
His head jerks up, and he meets my gaze. “We had a shitty example.”
“We did. But you’re not him. You never were.”
He punches my arm. “Neither were you.”
“Plus, you’ll have Brayden living five minutes away from you if you run into any problems.”
He chuckles. “I see Bray enough as it is. Don’t want to get sick of the guy.”
“Right.” I pull out my phone and flick to the photo of Cam and Brayden with their wives. All four are smiling. “Y’all look real sick of each other here.”
He smirks at me. “You a little jealous?”
