“Better not.” I tilted her chin up. “I love you, Harper.”
“I love you too.”
We fell asleep holding each other tight.
It was the best night’s sleep I’d had in weeks.
FIFTY-THREE
A few months later…
The October air bit through my jacket as I walked toward the doors to the rink where CFU played, with Rory strapped to the carrier on my chest. At nine months old, she’d gotten heavier, but she also traveled better now—especially when there was enough noise and action to keep her entertained. Tonight’s game against Montana Tech promised to deliver both.
“Over here,” Ava called when we walked inside, waving from seats right behind the glass. She’d saved us spots in the front row, something we’d been doing regularly because Rory loved watching her dad play, and Drew loved being able to skate up to the glass and make silly faces at her, which she always found hysterical.
He’d come a long way from the cocky playboy who used to drive me crazy. I mean, he still drove me nuts on occasion, but he was also the most devoted partner and father in the world.
He’d started talking about us getting married after wegraduate, and while I’d never imagined getting married young, I couldn’t deny that I loved the idea.
Turned out the line between love and hate was a lot thinner than I’d thought because the boy I’d hated almost my entire life had now become without a doubt the absolute love of my life.
I settled onto the blanket that Ava always brought so our butts wouldn’t go numb on the hard bleachers. Rory’s eyes were already tracking the movement of players warming up on the ice.
One thing was for sure, she was her father’s daughter andlovedhockey.
“God, I swear every time I see her she’s gotten bigger,” Ava said, tickling Rory’s chin and earning one of those toothy grins that never failed to make my heart squeeze. “Look at those cheeks.”
“Drew’s been feeding her everything in sight.” I adjusted Rory’s tiny CFU Hockey beanie—a gift from Coach Maxwell’s wife, Maggie, that had become her signature look at games. Ava and I wore matching ones. “Yesterday I caught him trying to give her a taste of his protein shake. I had to explain that babies can’t have protein powder.”
Ava laughed. “Sounds like him. He probably figured if it’s good enough for him to build muscle, it’s good enough for her.”
The players skated onto the ice for warm-ups and I spotted Drew immediately. Even with his helmet on and from this distance, I knew the way he moved—smooth and confident, like he owned every inch of ice he touched. But as I watched him run warm-up drills with Liam, something felt off. His passes were sharp but too aggressive. He’d been in a good mood when I’d picked up Rory from the house, soI wasn’t sure what had pissed him off. The controlled intensity that made him such a formidable defenseman looked more like barely leashed anger right now.
“I wonder what’s up with Drew.”
I glanced over at Ava and caught her watching him closely, her brows furrowed. “I don’t know. He seemed fine when I saw him earlier today. Maybe one of the other players trash-talked him? I know he still gets easily annoyed with Beau and Kyle after all that bet stuff. Poor guys have been working hard to get back on his good side.”
“Maybe,” I said, although I doubted that was it. I’d heard plenty of Drew’s annoyance with Beau and Kyle, but he’d never been angry.
The arena filled quickly as game time approached. Clark Fork’s hockey program might have only been a few years old, but the town of Dunridge took their team seriously. By the time the players returned for introductions, the stands were packed with students, families, and townspeople bundled in the team colors of maroon and black.
When Drew skated out with the starting lineup, his jaw was still tight and his shoulders rigid. He looked like he was gearing up for a fight, not a hockey game.
He looked at me and I mouthed, “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head, but that didn’t ease my worry. Something had definitely pissed him off.
The first period passed without incident, both teams feeling each other out. Drew played his usual solid defense, but there was an edge to every check and every battle for the puck. Like he was working through something violent and the opposing team was just collateral damage.
He also wasn’t working with Liam like he normally did.
They’d been best friends since they were kids and playing hockey together for as long as I could remember.Sometimes I felt like a third wheel when we were all hanging out together. And their teamwork on the ice was practically legendary at this point. But tonight it was like they were playing two separate games. When Liam tried to set up their usual plays, Drew went rogue. It was subtle, but I knew Drew’s game well enough to spot the difference.
This wasn’t like him at all.
Drew slammed into the boards after a particularly aggressive check, and when he got up, his helmet was askew and his face was flushed with more than just exertion. Now that I could see him up close, I realized Drew was absolutely enraged, and I got the distinct impression it had nothing to do with hockey.
Liam skated over to check on him, the way he’d done thousands of times before, but instead of accepting his hand, Drew shoved him away.
