Without looking back at what I’m referring to, he says, “Country fairgrounds ten minutes away.”
“You think you’ll ever get back into it? Logan seems to think you should,” I say.
“Logan should have kept his mouth shut,” Luke says, but there’s no malice behind his statement. Just to take even more sting out of it, he grins suddenly. “He’s probably paying me back for all those weeks I had to stay at his house recovering.”
After the accident, Luke was too hurt to travel right away, so he lived with Logan’s family in Texas.
I smile. “Maybe so.”
Luke points straight at me and says in a serious tone, “Tell Mia how you feel, cousin. Don’t blow your shot.”
“Planning on it.”
Right after tomorrow night’s game.
Game seven means there’s no tomorrow. I have to give everything I have so that no matter what happens, I’ll have no regrets.
That’s what I need to do with Mia, too.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
I’m in my own personal zone before game seven. Headphones on, I’m in a private corner of the arena outside of the locker rooms.
With the music beating in my ears, I jog up and down the hallway before stopping to stretch. Eventually, I head into the locker room to get ready for the game.
I make small talk with teammates, go over the game plan with the coaching staff, and joke around with Arch and Tex about stupid stuff.
But inside, I’m worried. I’m not feeling that fire I know I need for tonight.
Time to hit the ice for warm-ups. However, I don’t make a move to leave the locker room. Instead, I put on my headphones again and take a seat on the bench in front of my locker, willing myself to get my head in the game.
“Hey.” Jared puts a hand on my shoulder.
“What is it?” I ask him as I pull my headphones to my neck.
The coaching staff and other players file out around us until Jared and I are the last ones left in the locker room. He takes a seat on the bench next to me.
“Everything okay?” I ask him.
“That’s what I wanted to ask you.” His dark eyes that have seen too much narrow. “You haven’t been on your game the last two times we’ve taken the ice. None of us have been, but you’re our king, man. We need you.”
I suck in a breath. “I’m not your damn king. That joke is getting old.”
“You think I’m joking?” Jared huffs out a laugh. “Wild, like it or not, you’re the king of our league. You’ve owned the hockey world for years. You and I played together my rookie year. Did you forget?”
“Of course not. You were insanely talented even then. What’s your point, though?”
“My point is that I know you. I’ve known you for years. And I’ve never seen you like this. So…” He jabs a finger toward my chest. “What the fuck’s been distracting you the last two games?”
“No one,” I say before I realize my misstep.
Jared’s mouth twists into a smirk. “Exactly my point.Sheis distracting you. Your damn wife.” He points at me again. “So go talk to her before the game starts and fix your shit.”
“I decided it should wait until after,” I say.
Jared shakes his head. “This will be the last game you ever play,” he growls. “Do you seriously want to go out like this? Off your game because you couldn’t tell your wife how you feel about her?”
I swallow. “How did you know this will be my last game?”
