Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jacob
“Oh. My. God,” I mumble under my breath, gazing around the arena. “This place is insane!”
Alex rocks on his heels, a broad grin on his face. “I know, right? It’s amazing.”
I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it.
I didn’t know it was this huge. I’ve watched Ethan’s games on TV, but you can’t fully appreciate the sheer size through a screen.
It’s kinda crazy to think this is Ethan’s workplace.
This is his job , and as I look around, watching people find their seats, a small smile crosses my face at the thought they might be here for the same reason as me.
Because it might be my first hockey game, but this game marks an incredible milestone in Ethan’s career .
This will be his 1600th game played in the NHL, including playoff games.
When I asked him how he was feeling about hitting such a monumental record, he downplayed it. He just shrugged and asked what I wanted to eat for dinner, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
He doesn’t know we’ve booked dinner for tomorrow night with all his teammates and their partners, or that his mom, Jennifer, has flown out to watch it.
She’s sitting up in a box with Kendrick’s wife, Maria, who is currently five months pregnant, and a few of the other players’ families.
But I’ve decided to sit with Alex a few rows behind the home bench.
We take our seats, and I glance up at the rafters. There’s all the championship banners, along with retired players’ names and numbers. I can’t help but wonder if Ethan’s will be up there one day after he retires.
It will, right? Twenty seasons with the same team is rare, according to Alex, and he’s been so influential for this team. He deserves a place up there with the legends.
“How are you feeling?” Alex asks.
“Nervous,” I admit. “I’m excited to see him play but also really nervous. What if he gets hurt?”
Alex laughs softly. “I get that. I knew it was a dangerous sport before I met Blaine. When they step on that ice, they’re not thinking they might get hurt, but it is a possibility.
It’s fast-paced, sometimes it can be quite brutal.
But since I started dating Blaine, there’s an added sense of…
fear, I guess, every time I watch a game.
Because to others in this arena, he’s just a player, but to me, he is my fiancé.
He’s my lover, he’s my everything, and if he got hurt, they wouldn’t fe el it like I would.
So I get you’re feeling nervous, but you’ve got to remember that if anything does happen, Ethan is in great hands. ”
I rub my hand over my face. I know he’s right, but it doesn’t stop the wave of nerves pooling at the bottom of my stomach.
Since the season started, it’s been a learning curve for me.
I was aware of the hectic schedule because of Blaine, but living it with Ethan is different.
There’s days where we hardly see each other.
Sometimes I leave for work before he wakes up for practice, or he’s left for an away game before I get home.
I was a little worried that when the season started, things would change, but they didn’t.
If anything, they got better. Our relationship became stronger.
The time we spend apart has allowed our hearts to grow fonder.
Whenever he’s on the road, we FaceTime every night, and he makes sure to set his alarm to wake up to talk to me on the phone while I’m preparing the day’s bakes, then sends heartfelt texts throughout the day.
Then, on the nights when he returns home late, he whispers, “I love you,” before wrapping me up in his arms.
Any worries that I had about him succumbing to the negative thoughts in his brain disappeared, because I know without a doubt he loves me with every fiber in his body.
He moved into my house a week after the twins’ birthday and sold his downtown apartment.
We redecorated and made it ours, but Ethan made sure to showcase certain memories so they wouldn’t be forgotten.
I had mentioned my grandma’s garden in passing and how all her flowers died because I didn’t know how to take care of them, and then one day I came home to him deep in concentration on his iPad, his notebook beside him.
He was researching what soil to buy to grow peonies, roses, and hydrangeas, as well as movable planters so we could bring them inside when winter hit.
I cried happy tears; I couldn’t believe he remembered, but I was so touched that he did.
He also built a bookcase to store all my grandpa’s records and sat with me for hours while we organized photo albums.
He may not be good at telling me, but he’s incredible at showing me, and actions speak louder than words.
The lights go up, illuminating the ice, and the players step out.
Alex hoots and claps his hands when Blaine steps onto the ice.
I search for Ethan as they appear one by one, but he steps out last. He’s so graceful, skating like it’s as natural as breathing.
I suppose it would be, as he’s been doing it for so long.
I tried during family skate day at the start of the season, but I wasn’t any good. My legs wobbled like a newborn calf, and I held onto his arms for dear life. Thankfully, he didn’t drop me, but that was my first and probably last time.
Blaine skates over, throwing himself into the boards before squishing his face against the glass.
Alex tips his head back and laughs.
“He’s such an idiot,” he sighs happily. “But he’s my idiot, and I love him.”
Elliot is doing a little dance, and when he spots me, he waves his glove comically before hitting Ethan on the butt with his stick. My man turns around, his eyes scanning the rows, and when they land on me, he knocks the breath out of my lungs .
I will never get over how beautiful he is when he smiles. Those dimples. How the fine lines around his gorgeous eyes crease. He’s so damn handsome, and he’s all mine.
When warmup finishes, he gives me a wink before stepping into the tunnel. When he comes back out, my stomach churns with nerves.
The lights dim, and the announcer's voice booms through the speakers.
“The Chicago Thunder are proud to announce that tonight, your captain, Ethan Parkes, will play his sixteen-hundredth professional hockey game. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Ethan was drafted to the Thunder at eighteen, when he was the number one draft pick twenty years ago. He has delivered the Stanley Cup to Chicago five times, and we are honored to call him our captain. Please direct your attention to the video board as we look back on Ethan’s career so far. ”
Images and videos of a fresh-faced, eighteen-year-old Ethan appear on the jumbotron from the night he was drafted to his first NHL game.
The footage spans across his career with the Thunder and each time he lifted the Stanley Cup.
It even included some of his rare fights, which I’ll be having words with him about later.
Tears fill my eyes as I watch, my heart swelling with so much pride I could burst.
Alex wraps his arm around my shoulders, bringing me in close as I suck in a shaky breath.
Once it’s over, the camera shifts to Ethan, and the twitch in his jaw tells me he’s trying to rein in his emotions. His beautiful dark eyes are glassy, but he’s saved by Elliot throwing himself onto him, followed by the rest of the team surrounding him as the fans erupt in cheers .
When he found out this would be happening tonight, he informed his head coach that he didn’t want them to make a fuss.
“I don’t like being the center of attention,” he’d grumbled.
So the team held a private presentation in the locker room before warmups, giving him an engraved silver hockey stick and framed photo of his most memorable moments.
I clap until my hands burn. I’m so freaking proud of him, of everything he’s achieved.
I knew he was afraid of retiring, but I didn’t truly understand it until now.
Seeing that footage, seeing his legacy on the screen spanning across two decades, I can fully appreciate his reasons.
His professional career was such a prominent part of his life for so long, and I’m sure he’ll mourn it in a way when he hangs his skates up.
I’ll be there for him. Whatever he needs.
The game gets underway, and I’m a bundle of nerves.
Alex chuckles every time I suck in a breath when someone gets close to Ethan.
I don’t know how he does this every time Blaine has a game because I don’t think my heart can cope.
When the game ends with the Thunder winning 4-2, we make a quick stop at the team’s store where I pick up Ethan’s jersey, before Alex leads us toward the area where we wait for them to shower and change.
I quickly slip it on, smoothing it down my stomach.
“It looks so good! He’s going to love it,” Alex grins.
I chew on the inside of my cheek. I know how much Blaine loves to see Alex in his jersey, so hopefully Ethan likes seeing me in his too.
When Ethan appears, my heart flips in my chest, because one thing I didn’t know I’d enjoy this much about hockey is game-day suits.
Ethan fills out a suit like a dream. His navy blue tailored pants fit his strong legs, hugging each muscle perfectly.
A few buttons of his white dress shirt are left open at the neck, giving a peekaboo to his chest hair underneath, and when he spots me, his chocolate eyes sparkle from behind his black-framed glasses.
I meet him halfway, and he scoops me up in his arms, wrapping them around me as he captures my lips in a toe-curling kiss.
Wolf whistles echo down the corridor, but nothing could tear me away from the most magnificent man I’ve ever known.
“I’m so proud of you,” I murmur against his mouth.
“Yeah?”
I nod, peering up into his eyes. “I’m so freaking proud; seeing you out there was…” I shake my head, tears welling in my eyes. “I love you.”
He cups my cheek with his hand, wiping a stray tear away with his thumb. Pressing a gentle kiss to my lips, he whispers, “I love you, too, baby.”
Taking a step back, he tries to suppress his smile by rolling his lips as his eyes trail my body, but it only causes his dimples to pop.
“Turn around,” he mumbles.
I turn so my back is to him, and when I cast a glance over my shoulder, he’s biting down on his bottom lip.
“I like this a lot,” he confesses, grabbing hold of my hip, spinning me around, and pulling me toward him. His hands slip under the jersey, and he grabs my ass .
“I’ve never fucked someone while they’re wearing my name before. Think you might wanna wear that later?”
I reach up to wrap my arms around his neck, nipping his lip with my teeth.
“Do you even have to ask?” I whisper, before sliding my tongue into his mouth.
“Yo! Parkes! Quit the PDA and come for drinks at Gino’s,” Jonathan Peyton calls out.
Ethan shakes his head but doesn’t take his eyes off me. “No, you guys go. I’m going home with my man.”
Home. I love every time he says that.
“Ready to go?” Ethan asks, slipping his hand in mine.
“With you?” I lean in to kiss his lips. “Always.”