Chapter 40
There’s a little pep in my step as I walk into the arena for practice today.
For the past three days I’ve been immersed in all things Avery.
If we’re not at the rink, we’re together.
It’s been fun going on dates with her, and I can’t wait to see her face when she sees what I have planned for tonight.
Not only that, but we play against St. Louis tomorrow night, and I can’t wait to throw her ex-husband around on the ice. Life is good.
Opening the doors to the locker room, I see about half the team hanging out, including Niko, Jefferson, and Mack. All of whom are huddled around my stall. The hairs on the back of my neck stand as I slowly approach, wondering why they all look so doom and gloom. I refuse to let them sour my mood.
“Is there a reason the three of you are taking up all my space?”
I shove my way through the middle of them and take my coat off. After hanging it up, I turn and see that Mack and Jefferson have their face buried in their phone but Niko is looking at me now. Niko elbows Jefferson, who fumbles with his phone and then shoves it in his pocket.
“Why the fuck are you all acting so weird?” I move my gaze between the three of them, waiting for one of them to open their damn mouth.
Mack wrestles with Jefferson and eventually wins, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. He raises it in front of Jefferson’s face, unlocking the home screen, and then shows me what they were staring at.
There’s an article from some website I’ve never heard of, and I scan the screen wondering why the fuck he’s showing it to me. Jefferson grabs it and scrolls with his finger before flashing it my way again. And there, in big, bold letters it says:
GREEN BAY BOBCATS STAR DEFENSEMAN SEEN LEAVING HOSPITAL WITH TEAM COMMENTATOR—COULD WE BE EXPECTING A BABY BOBCAT SOON?
What the fuck?
I rip the phone out of his hands. Underneath the article is a picture of me and Avery holding hands as we exit the hospital.
It’s either zoomed in or someone was close enough that I can see my championship ring on her finger.
Damn it. She wears it to all of her appointments because she’s afraid someone will figure out we aren’t married for the right reasons.
I never said anything because I didn’t expect some asshole to snap a photo of her leaving the hospital.
I skim the article. I don’t care what the fuck it says because it’s not true. I’m just looking for a name to see who I have to kill. This is the last thing Avery needs to worry about, and I swear to god I will make them pay for causing her any additional stress.
Finally, at the bottom of the article, I see who wrote it. Roger Park. The same fucking asshole who wrote that horrible story about Ellie and got escorted out of the building after one of our games last season for being a prick during a press conference.
“How the hell did this guy find another job?”
Seeing his name only infuriates me more. My eyes catch on the last line of his article and I swear to god, I have never felt rage like this before in my life.
Remember when you used to be able to watch sports to get away from the annoying, nagging voice of your wife?
With Avery Chamberlin doing the play-by-play in Green Bay, it seems no space is safe anymore, fellas.
Hopefully this rumor is true and once she has the baby, she stays at home like a good little housewife.
“He’s fucking dead.”
I throw the phone behind me and hear it crash into my stall, but don’t wait around to see if I broke it. I haul ass out of the locker room and run smack dab into Coach Ellie when I turn the corner toward the parking lot.
“Whoa, slow down. Where are you going? Practice is that way.” She points toward the ice and narrows her eyes at me.
“I have to go do something.” I take a step to the side, ready to make my exit, but her hand flies out in front of my chest. She doesn’t make contact, but I still look down at it and back up at her face. In a silent question, I ask her what she thinks she’s doing.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with that ridiculous article I read this morning, would it?” She pops an eyebrow at me and I exhale a frustrated breath. Of course she saw it.
“It’s bullshit.”
She crosses her arms and nods. “I figured, considering the source.”
Too angry to speak, I don’t say anything. Sadie rounds the corner at record speed. As soon as she sees Ellie and me together, she slowly starts walking backward. Ellie notices me looking behind her and turns to see Sadie’s braid disappear down the hallway.
Ellie brings her attention back to me and exhales.
“Look, I know what it’s like to have hate thrown at you from left and right.
Being a woman in men’s hockey is like a mating call for all idiots to find their keyboards.
Avery is strong. I don’t know exactly what she’s going through and I don’t know who she is to you, but Roger Park is not worth it.
Avery doesn’t need you hunting down some clown.
She needs your support, however that may look.
You have a tendency to lose your cool on the ice when someone cheap shots your teammate, which I totally get.
But you can’t be losing your cool off the ice like this. Don’t be stupid.”
She’s right. What did I think I was going to do?
I have no idea where this asshole lives or if he lives in Wisconsin anymore.
Even if I did, was I really going to show up there and kick his ass?
I mean, maybe. It still doesn’t sound like a horrible idea.
But my mind shouldn’t be on Roger, it should be on Avery.
Like someone just turned on the light in my brain, I turn and sprint toward the locker room to get my phone.
Niko stands outside the door, whispering with Sadie.
I shove past them and ignore him when he says my name.
Mack and Jefferson attempt to say something to me too, but I can’t be bothered. I need to check on Avery.
I reach into my jacket and pull out my phone. I don’t have any messages or missed calls, so maybe she hasn’t seen it yet. I click on the app that connects to Avery’s smartwatch to monitor her heart rate. Her numbers are within normal range. I exhale in relief, unsure of how to handle this.
This isn’t the type of thing I want to bring up to her over text, though. She mentioned maybe coming to the rink today to prepare for tomorrow night’s game, so I type out a text, hoping to god she’s here.
Connor
Hi, beautiful. Are you coming to the arena today?
I wait for the three dots to appear to let me know that she’s typing, but they never come.
I need to start getting ready for practice, but what I need more is to know that she’s okay.
Glancing at the time, I see that there’s forty-five minutes until we’re on the ice.
Usually, I’m warming up by now, but that’s going to have to wait.
I’ll head up to her office and the booth to see if she’s here.
Maybe she’s too busy working to notice her phone.
I’m about to leave the locker room again when Niko walks in.
“Hey, man. I just talked to Sadie. She told me Avery saw the article.”
“Motherfucker.” I go to push past him but he stops me.
“She’s okay. Sadie is heading to your place now with lunch.
They’re going to watch some medical show together or something.
Sadie wanted me to tell you she’s got it covered.
You can stop freaking out now.” He smiles at me and claps my shoulder.
“Come on. Let’s go get ready and you can tell me all about the ring Avery was wearing in that photo. ”
Fuck.
I tell Niko I don’t want to talk about it in front of the team, so we wait until we’re on the stationery bikes warming up before talking.
Avery mentioned she told Sadie about our arrangement, so I’m surprised to see the genuine shock on Niko’s face when I fill him in.
I could’ve sworn Sadie would have told him by now.
“No fucking shit. And now she’s staying with you?”
I nod and hum, knowing where he’s going with this.
“Did you two consummate the marriage yet?”
I turn and shove him, causing him to nearly fall off his bike. “Fuck off.”
Laughing, he rights himself on his seat. It’s typical locker room talk, but I know Niko well enough to know that he really doesn’t want to know the answer to that question.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” We continue pedaling our bikes, lost in the repetitive movement when he surprises me with a question. “So, are you going to tell her you still love her or are you going to keep pretending it’s not that serious?”
This time when I shove him, he does fall off his bike.