“There you are! My superstar! You were wonderful tonight, honey! I gave the refs a piece of my mind like I said I would, so hopefully they get their heads out of their asses before the next round!” My grandma wraps herself around my waist in a bear hug, and I bask in her warmth for a moment.
“Thanks, Grandma. And thank you for coming,” I say, already looking for Ellie to see if I can introduce her. Surely, that wouldn’t be so weird, just a guy introducing his teammates’ sister to his grandma. We’re all one big happy hockey family, after all.
“I know you’re looking for me, but I’m right here, man. Great game!” Thatcher fills my view instead of Ellie, and even though he’s not who I wanted to see, I’m thrilled he came down to stay for a bit. I’ve been trying to wear down Misha so he lets me tell Thatch about the Bratva. At least some of it. I need a sounding board, someone on earth who can help me navigate my forbidden relationship, hockey playoffs, and unwanted criminal inheritance. So far, I can only vent to Thatch about two out of three.
“Damn good to see you, man. Thanks for coming down to stay for a while. You being here might be the only thing that keeps me sane. Everything else feels like it’s going to shit.”
“Nah, we’ll get you rested up for round three, and we can watch some film together. I’ve already been scouting both teams, and I think…”
He continues, but his voice fades away as I finally see her.Her.God, she looks like an angel at the other end of the room, standing in front of a sconce that’s creating a halo of light around her curly hair. She’s wearing a jersey that’s too big for her, probably one of her brothers’ from previous seasons. I’m sure she has shorts underneath, but they’re hidden. Thigh-high boots complete her outfit, and my mouth waters. She looks good enough to eat, and I know exactly how sweet she is.
Her joy as she embraces Nikki and Gabri is exuberant, and the seven-strong family unit of the Santori crew is a picture of domestic bliss. It’s exactly the picture Ellie painted for me of what our family could be one day, with a couple more kids, and I ache to make that our reality.This is so fucking stupid.
I’min lovewith this woman, this goddess who entered my life like a whirlwind of kindness and has captivated me ever since. The love of my life, and I’m standing here watching her instead of holding her,claimingher in front of the world the way I want to. All because her brothers, two grown men, can’t get over their feelings about her dating a damn hockey player. It’s torture, watching Nonna and Giulia laugh as Nikki and Leo re-enact one of the penalties from the game, and not be there to laugh along with them. I should be there, arm proudly around Ellie’s hip as…
The calm silence that had cocooned me with my thoughts about Ellie snaps into grating white noise as I watch a man I’ve never seen before kiss both of her cheeks and then stand far too close. Gabri and Dante are standing close as well, and the conversation seems serious, although Ellie seems to be in no distress. I don’t like the way this guy is looking at her, though. Like he thinks she’s available. He’s slim and muscled, but I could definitely take him.
Before I can sidle my way around the room to eavesdrop, she catches sight of Bugsy and Pretzel leaving the locker room and makes a beeline to them, wrapping each in a tight hug as she congratulates them. Every one of my teammates gets acknowledged as she walks back across to her family. Even Wednesday is fortunate enough to receive a fist bump. But when she passes me, her eyes skip straight to Bud and his family, standing in front of us, and she says hi to all his kids before going back to her dad and brothers. The strange man has left, but…
What the hell?
She knows Thatch, and if she’s going to congratulate every single one of my damn teammates…why not me? It’s more suspicious that shedidn’tsay hello, at least, than if she had, considering I’m the only one she ignored. I know I’ve been distant, but it’s not like I was trying. Between travel and time zones, we’ve just been like ships passing in the night. Her texts haven’t insinuated that she was anything but understanding, but maybe…Maybe she was just anxious to get back across to whoever her family was introducing her to?
Everyone’s mostly cleared out now, and I vaguely remember Thatcher saying something in the middle of my fugue state about taking Grandma back to her hotel and meeting me at the condo. That’s fine, he has a key. But I can’t believe I’m about to watch my girlfriend walk away after having blessed everyone in the room with her attention except me.
Maybe I’m too tired, and I’m reading too much into this. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see me tonight or maybe tomorrow. Feeling none of the relief of this win and every bit of my body’s protests about how hard I’ve been pushing it, I grab my bag and make my way to the players’ parking lot. It’s not until I open the door to my truck that I realize I’m being followed, and Ellie opens the back door and hops in, motioning for me to join her.
I’m so happy to see her that I comply immediately, my lips finding hers as if magnetized. She tastes so good, so damn likehome,that I feel my soul sing for just a secondbefore my brain catches up and reminds me that she only wants me like this for now. She won’t even say hello to me in public.
Forcing us apart, I can barely breathe before she crushes me in a hug.
“Babe, I’m so proud of you! You were a damn wall in the net tonight. Nothing was going to get past you in that third period, even with all those funky plays they tried to throw at you…” She must realize I’m not matching her energy because her smile fades into a concerned frown. “What’s wrong?”
It’s childish, but I’m fucking tired, and I can’t stop the scoff that escapes. “What’s wrong? You wouldn’t even say hello to me tonight, but you want to make out in the back of my truck? There’s another car over at the far end of the parking lot, you know. Could be someone to see us and report us to your brothers. Sorry I don’t have any blinds we can draw for privacy.”
The hurt splashed across her face tries to penetrate my anger, but I’m too tired to change emotions or put any energy toward being more rational.
“What iswrongwith you? You know I can’t be seen cuddling up to you in public!”
“I never said anything about cuddling, but you said hello or congratulations to every single one of my teammates before you walked past me like I was invisible! My grandma was excited to meet you, and I know you saw her standing there. Were you too excited to get back to that man your father brought with him tonight?”
Her hurt has transformed into anger, and I feel vindicated. If she only felt hurt, I’d feel like an asshole. But since she’s angry too…we can fight. She looked a little contrite when I mentioned Grandma, but as soon as I mentioned the man, I saw her flip fully into rage.
“It’s not my fault that my dad sees fit to try to broker me into a marriage of convenience for peace with the de la Rosa family. I’ll tell him and Gabri exactly what I think of their stupid fucking plan tonight as soon as I get home, but I’m not going to cause a scene in public just to conform toyouragenda!”
“Myagenda…wait.Marriage?Did you say marriage? To someone other than me?”
“And I’m sorry about your grandma, but I had no way of knowing exactly what you’d told her up until tonight! You haven’t told me that you told her, but we haven’t been talking as much, and in the moment, I just decided it wasn’t worth the risk!”
“Not worth the risk? The truth of us being together is that awful for you?”
The tears in her eyes make me feel like a monster. I can’t even feel the anger that started this fight, but I can’t back down now.
“We’ve talked about this! It was a mutual fucking decision to be secret until after the playoffs, for a lot of really good reasons that I’m sure you remember since youagreedto them! I was so happy to see you, and tell you…fuck.” She laughs a sad, watery breath that extinguishes whatever fire I still felt burning inside. “I cannot believe I was excited to…”
With one more deep breath, she’s out the other side of the truck door and walking quickly to her car. I wait for her to stop, turn, scream, cry, or any indication she still had energy to expend on me tonight. But she’s gone before I know it, and I’m left alone with the reflection of her taillights as she drives away.
Chapter 25
