Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
MARCUS
“ B oys. The usual?” Chad, the owner of The Sin Bin, asks as we take our seats in the back of the bar. He drops coasters onto the hardwood table, even though old water rings are etched into the table.
Without any live music at this early hour, the bar is quieter than usual. The voices of happy patrons fill the silence. Neon signs flicker from the wall advertising different beers on tap.
“Please.” Noah slides into the booth across from me as Graham takes the empty space next to him. Instinctively, Noah puts an arm around Graham. I don’t even know if he knows he is doing it.
My heart pangs and I look away, collecting myself. I remember that comfort. Having someone to be with like that.
Which brings us to the entire reason we’re here.
“Ready for the season to start?” Chad asks, setting the drinks down in front of us.
I grab my sparkling water and take a long, refreshing gulp. “Vegas is a good team, but we’ve got a solid group of guys.”
Chad nods at me. “That’s what I like to hear. It’s going to be a great season for us.”
“Damn straight,” Noah agrees.
Chad tips his head in our direction before heading back to the bar.
The wooden, high-backed booths give us privacy, so people coming in and out of the bar don’t see us. I like it, considering I don’t need any prying ears listening.
“Alright, spill. Who was that?” Noah asks. “And why did she look like she wants to castrate you?”
“She didn’t look like she was going to castrate me,” I scoff.
Graham eyes me. “Really? That’s how I first looked at Noah. And believe you me, I wanted to castrate him some days. Still do, if I’m being honest.”
“Hey!” Noah interjects, elbowing Graham in the side. “You love me.”
“Not when you beat me at video games.”
Noah smirks back at him. “Can’t help it if I’m better.”
Graham points at the man next to him and eyes me. “See what I have to put up with?”
“See if I let you into the house tonight.”
Graham leans back in the booth and takes a long pull of his pale beer and shoots a wink in Noah’s direction. “You will.”
“As much as I like that idea,” Noah starts, “it’s not why we’re out.”
I laugh at the two of them. “Keep going. Don’t stop on my account.”
Noah turns his attention back to me. “Sorry, Graham likes to be distracting.”
“No, I?— ”
His boyfriend cuts him off with a glare before turning his focus back on me.
“Who was that?”
“Harper. She’s my ex.”
“Why is your ex-girlfriend coming around the rink?”
It’s times like these that I wish I drank. Not that I can’t, but I don’t like to. I like a clear head for the girls. They deserve the best of me, and alcohol can cloud anyone’s judgment. One bad night a few years back taught me that.
“Ex-wife.”
The two of them stare at me like I just cracked the code to winning the Stanley Cup. Their faces are exact mirrors of one another—mouths hanging open at the bomb I just dropped.
I’ve told exactly four people in the world that Harper and I were married. Three of them are no longer here. And the other?
Well, my mom hates Harper, so that is a topic that won’t be coming up any time soon.
“Either of you going to say anything?”
“You were married? How did we not know this?” Graham asks, still shocked.
I shake my head and take another sip of my drink. “I don’t like talking about it. We did it in Vegas after my first NHL game.”
“What happened?” Graham asks.
Noah smacks him on the back of the head. “It’s a good thing you’re cute because you need to stop interrupting and let Marcus tell us.”
“I mean, you’re both interrupting me, so really, Graham should smack you on the head too.”
Noah throws his hands up in defense immediately. “Hey, I’ve had concussions. Don’t hurt me. ”
“So that woman?” Graham ignores Noah, turning his attention back to me. “She’s your ex-wife?”
I nod. “She was.”
“What did she want with you then? Can’t say I’d be hanging around my ex,” Noah says.
“Apparently we are still married.”
“Wait. She is actually your wife? Not your ex -wife?” Graham clarifies. “Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“Why’d you two get divorced?” Noah asks. “Or not divorced, in your case.”
I blow out a breath and stare into my drink. This is the part I really don’t like talking about.
“I left because my sister and brother-in-law died in a car accident, and a few days later my dad died of a heart attack.”
More silence.
Shit. I really do need something stronger than sparkling water as I swallow down the rest of the liquid.
Both of them are staring at me with a mix of pity and sympathy.
“And Sam and Sadie?” Graham asks. “They were your sister’s kids? I always assumed they were yours.”
“Not many guys are around from back then. Jasper and Bode know, but that’s it. And I swore them to secrecy because I don’t like the pity. My sister and I always said if anything happened to either one of us, the other would take our kids. I never thought it would happen.”
Noah takes a sip of his drink before wiping his mouth and leaning close. “Why did you leave your wife then? Couldn’t she have helped?”
“We were twenty-two. She didn’t deserve that. Besides, I didn’t think we were legally married. But now that turned out to be untrue. ”
It’s a decision that I question on the hard days. When the girls are sick or they are fighting to the point of pulling each other’s hair out.
Would this have been easier with Harper?
Did I cut my losses before she inevitably left me?
I don’t like thinking about it, but now that she’s back, it has me wondering.
“You know you can tell the guys about this, right?” Graham interrupts my wayward thoughts. “They’d want to know.”
I shake my head. “The more people that know, the likelier it is to get out. I don’t want the girls in the spotlight. I want them to have as normal of a childhood as possible.”
“Lots of the guys have kids. Don’t you want the help?” Noah asks.
“My mom helps. And I have a nanny that stays with them when I’m traveling. I’ve basically got it worked out.”
Noah slaps Graham on the arm. “How did you not know about this?”
“Ow.” He rubs the spot on his arm. “Why are you hitting me? It’s not my fault Marcus is a vault.”
I smirk at the two of them. They are so obnoxiously in love, it’s hard to stomach some days.
“Don’t blame him. I doubt I would have told him, even if he would have known to ask.”
Noah looks deep in thought as Graham sips his drink.
“Your rookie season,” Noah tells me. “You were off for ‘personal reasons.’ I don’t think anyone knew why, but I remember that. Because who takes off two weeks after they start?”
I nod. “The people on the team who needed to know knew. They gave me the time I needed and let me get home to be with the girls after daycare.”
It’s why when I signed my latest contract I opted for a no-trade clause. With so much change in their young lives, the last thing I needed was to be uprooted to a new city. Not like I’m going to be traded anytime soon since I’m the captain, but in this game, you never know.
“Damn.” Graham whistles. “You know we’re here for you, right? I mean, Noah is like an overgrown child most days, but if you need help, we’re here.”
“I am not.” Noah flips him the bird. “I don’t know why I love you so much.”
I laugh at their antics. “I appreciate it. But don’t go telling the others. I don’t want anyone to go blabbing about this to the press.”
Graham mimes zipping his lips. “Your secret is safe with us. Just know we’re here for you.”
“Thanks, Flounder.”
“Wait. But you said you’re not actually divorced. What is actually going on?” Noah asks. “Are you married?”
I waggle my head back and forth. “I have no clue to be honest. According to Harper, we’re married. Something her realtor mentioned caused her to do some digging and she figured it out. But now we have to deal with that.”
“So you might be married or you might be divorced?” Graham is fighting a smile. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but man, when you drop a bomb, it explodes.”
“And you wonder why I kept it to myself.”
“Does Harper know about why you left?” Graham asks.
“She doesn’t.”
“Damn, Cap. Have you ever thought about telling her?” Noah asks.
“I’ve never really had the chance before now.”
“Do you think you’d feel better if you told her?” Graham asks, flagging Chad down to order another beer.
The sun is sitting lower in the sky and voices chatter on around us, making it feel claustrophobic. Like airing my personal grief will escape through the relative privacy of the booth into the wrong ears.
Would I feel better? Is that selfish?
“Maybe this is your chance,” Noah tells me, pulling me from the fog closing in around me. “Clear the air between the two of you?”
I shrug. I’ve never thought about it. It seems so far in the past that what good will it do now?
“How’d you meet Harper anyway?” Noah asks when he senses he’s not going to get much more from me on that subject.
“College.”
I remember it like it was yesterday. She and her best friend, Angie, were at the season kick-off rally and she bounced her way up to me. She looked like an angel with the way her blonde hair shone in the sun.
The minute I met her, I was addicted to her. I wanted Harper and nobody else. Getting married on a whim in Vegas? It made sense for the two of us. I loved her and wanted the entire world to know it.
Except a technicality with the paperwork made it so we supposedly weren’t legally married. A technicality that might not be so technical anymore.
I don’t know what the hell is going on, but if it means I get to spend time with Harper, then so be it.
Because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since I ran into the girls’ school last week.
Harper. I never imagined seeing her again. She was out of my life for good. I locked her up tight in a box never to think about her because it was too hard. Sure, some days I couldn’t help it, but for the most part, my life was good.
I love Sam and Sadie more than anything. They became my world the minute I adopted them, and I have never regretted it. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had to. I put myself second for them. I’ve tried dating a few times, but it never stuck.
Maybe it was the universe trying to send me a message. That no one would ever compare to Harper because apparently we’ve been married this whole time. But based on the way Harper reacted today, the last thing she wants is to stay together.
But what if…
What if this is my second chance with Harper? That nothing has ever happened because I had to figure out my shit before we could be together?
The girls are older now. I’m older. Life has gotten in the way of one of the best things to ever happen to me.
If this really is my second chance with Harper, there is no way in hell I am going to fuck it up.
Vegas was good to us once before. Maybe it’ll be good to us again. The start of something new. Something fresh.
Maybe…just, maybe.