Skates like me.
Harper, the woman who once loved me.
The woman who still affects me way too damn much.
I bend to set down the last puck and then I feel it.
Movement.
I turn to the left and see a small figure pressing his hands to the glass, eyes wide.
Connor.
And behind him…Harper.
My chest tightens a lot more than I anticipated. Connor waves enthusiastically and then smacks the glass. “Coach Harrison!”
From behind him, Harper gives a small, almost shy smile. The kind that takes the wind out of me in one clean blow. I lift my hand in return. Connor beams and Harper’s eyes soften and hell if something in me doesn’t shift, painfully…hopefully.
The teasing is gone.
The doubt quiets.
The ache steadies.
Because this—seeing them here, walking toward my world—feels like the beginning of something I’ve been wanting my whole life but never thought I would have. Something I’m finally brave enough to want again.
“Hey, buddy!” I call out, the words spilling from my lips before I realize how natural it feels.
He leans closer, eyes sparkling with that childlike joy that makes the world seem brighter. “Coach Harrison! Look at me!”
He waddles his way from the glass over to the open gate and I huff a soft laugh realizing he’s already in his skates. What takes my breath away is the jersey he’s wearing. It’s not the same one he wore for Pucks & Blades, the neutral blue color that every kid wore. Today he’s sporting an official Harrison Meers jersey with my number, fifty-one plastered on the back.
My kid is wearing my number.
I lift my eyes to Harper who passes me a knowing look and a helpless shrug, like she can’t take any responsibility for his clothing choices today.
My heart lifts into my throat and I nearly choke on a sob.
Fuck, I’m finding it hard to breathe.
God, why am I like this all of a sudden?
“Look at you, indeed!” I grin instead, feeling a prideful warmth spread through my chest. This feels…right. My son is here, and for the first time, I think it’s hitting me just how real this all is. “You ready for some ice time?”
“Yeah!” he shouts, bouncing on his toes. Then, without skipping a beat, he adds, “Mom said you’re gonna teach me some cool moves today.”
I glance up at Harper, who looks like she just walked out of a daydream I’ve had two hundred times over the last decade.
God she’s beautiful.
I’ve forgotten how much I’ve missed her presence in my life. How she calms me even when everything between us is a brewing storm. She’s always been that way for me and today is no different. It’s like seeing her reminds me of who I am.
What I’m good at.
What I’m meant to be.
A goddamn star.
