“Please don’t think that I’m being a bitch, and I’dloveto travel home with you, but are you out of your freakin’ mind?!”
Yes, I’m shrieking.
He jerks back in surprise. “Wha?—”
“This is the most beautiful gesture imaginable, but you’re in the MIDDLE of the Frozen Four. You can’t stay here. You can’t. You need to win! You need to play hockey, not keep me company. I’ll be fine. Mom and Dad are here and they’re playing nice and I convinced him that I need to change majors?—”
“You did? Whoa!”
“Yeah! So, please, reserve a flight right this second so I can stop panicking?”
Zach frowns. “I should be with you. You’re the only thing that matters to me, D.”
“I know, baby.” I kiss his knuckles. “But we’re working on that, aren’t we? And you need to play. You love the game. This is what you were born to do. So, go do it. For me. Please.”
“Are you su?—”
“I’m so damn sure that if you give me your damn phone, I’ll reserve the flights my-damn-self!”
His grin peeps out. “You’re crazy. How did I forget that, huh?”
“A few weeks away from me and you forget my most intrinsic character trait?” I cluck my tongue. “I should never leave you again.”
“If you make that a promise, I’ll reserve the flights.”
“Done.”
“Say it.”
I roll my eyes. “I’ll never leave you again.”
“Even if I’m playing for the Stars and we’re on the road.”
My nose scrunches. “That’s so impractical?—”
“Ah, ah, ahhh.” He wiggles his phone at me.
Seething, I squint at him. “I’ll travel with you when I can. How about that?”
“I’ll take it.” With a beaming smile that tells me I’m not the only crazy one in this relationship, I watch him buy a flight out tomorrow evening.
And I’m okay with that because he won’t fly until after I wake up post-op. Sure, he’ll be jet-lagged, but I’ve seen him score a hat trick still hungover after a twenty-four-hour binge.
Once that’s done, I can finally relax. Honestly, if he was born for the ice, maybe I was born to fix because the weight off my shoulders is immense. It’s so good to have him here, too. Ugh. This fixing shitdoessuck sometimes.
“I’m nervous,” I admit, only because I’ve watched him check in.
“About the surgery? You’ll be fine.”
“I’ve never… you know.”
He kisses my knuckles. “I’ll be here waiting for you. Just focus on that.”
Feeling so much better now that Zach and Mom and Dad are here, I sag into the pillows. “It hurts.”
“I know, baby.” He holds out my hand and flattens it to his cheek. “I know. Sounded like a doozy of an argument with your dad. I heard the back half of it.”
“I’m not sure we’ll ever get along, but at least he showed up for me. I didn’t expect that.”
