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“Hey, that’s my husband you’re talking about.”

He chuckles and nods toward where I know the offices are located after my tour here. “Come with me,” he says.

He leads me through the crowd and stops in front of an open door.

“Mel, I’ve got a new one for you.”

The woman behind the desk glances up with raised brows. “Hey, West,” she says. “Aren’t you supposed to be out on the ice with your teammates?”

He shrugs. “I was just looking at how long the line is for fan skate, trying to estimate how long until I can get the fuck out of here.”

She laughs, and she smiles at me. “Hi, I’m Melanie, director of player operations here.”

I smile. “Ivy,” I say.

“Tell her your last name,” West teases.

I give him a little bit of a pointed look before I look back at Melanie. “Ivy Maddox. I’m Cash’s wife.”

“Oh, I heard he got married and was wondering when I was going to get to meet the lucky girl.”

I smile and wave. “That’s me,” I say.

“Okay, have a seat, and I will get you sorted. If you want to skate with your husband, I can get you in,” she says.

“I’ll leave you to it,” West says, and he heads back out.

“Cash mentioned he had gotten married in the offseason, and I figured that you’d want maybe some tickets this season or some of the other things we offer to our players’ wives,” she begins.

She takes me through the types of services her department offers to players’ spouses and families, and I can actually see why this feels like such a family to Cash.

She wraps up her info session and asks, “You ready to get out on the ice?”

I nod, and she escorts me to get my skates. Then she stays with me as I put them on before walking me to the front of the line, where I get my first view of the ice.

Cash is currently skating with a little boy who’s maybe six or seven and who looks like he is having the absolute time of his life.

Kellan skates up to where I stand to pick up the next fan to skate with.

“Ooh, do I get to skate with you?” he asks.

Melanie laughs. “Hands off, Casanova. She’s waiting for her husband.”

“Who’s her husband?” the woman behind me asks impatiently. She was probably waiting for Cash like everyone else here in this line considering she’s wearing a Maddox jersey.

“This one tied down Cash Maddox,” Kellan announces, and my cheeks redden at the rumble of disbelief and awe that someone tied down their favorite player, the guy who seemed so untouchable.

I still can’t believe he’s mine.

And as I look through the line of people here to worship him and his teammates, I can’t help but think how freaking lucky I am.

Kellan takes the person behind me onto the ice, and I see Cash wrapping up with the kid in front of him just as Kellan skates by him.

He glances up and sees me.

And he looks surprised for a beat before his face smooths into a smile.

He winks at me before he finishes skating the kid over to the other side where his parents are waiting for him, and then he makes his way across the ice toward me.