Chapter 13 – Knox
thirteen
Knox
I slip on my suit jacket and pull the sleeves out, then walk to the chest and take out the cuff links that have my initials on them, slipping one in and then the other.
I then put my silver Rolex on before running my hand through my hair.
The nerves in my stomach are hitting at full force.
It’s the season opener tonight and even though I’ve been doing this for twelve years, it always hits… that first game.
I grab my phone and head out of my bedroom, the sound from the television coming out of the family room. “Okay, I’m out,” I say to the three of them as they watch some movie.
“Okay,” Vincent replies, looking over at me, “try and score a goal tonight for me.”
I smirk at him. “Okay, I’ll try my best.”
“And for me too, Daddy, for me too.” Nora bounces up on her knees over and over. She comes to the back of the couch and looks up at me, and I bend to kiss her forehead.
“For you too,” I agree, and then look at Westley, “and for you.”
“Dad, I don’t think you can score a hat trick,” he deadpans, and I laugh at his bluntness, “but if you do, I’ll throw my hat on the ice.”
“Thanks, buddy,” I respond, turning and seeing the babysitter we’ve used since she was fifteen and is now twenty-one. “The passes for parking and the game are all in there.” I point over to the white envelope. “You can wait for me after the game if the kids are up for it. Just send me a text.”
“Will do, Knox,” she says. “Have a good game.”
I nod my head at her, turning and heading to the garage, taking off my suit jacket before getting in and tossing it to the side.
I pull out of the garage, closing the door after, and head over to the coffee shop I always go to before a game.
I don’t want to say I’m superstitious about certain things, but I always have the same routine.
I pull up and order an iced-shaken espresso before heading to the rink.
As I drive into the garage, I pull behind a car and see Lane get out, honking my horn at him and telling him to hurry up.
One of the valet kids jumps in his car to move it, and I laugh when he flips me the bird.
I put my SUV in park and then open the door, stepping out.
I grab my jacket, putting it on and then pulling my sleeves out before grabbing my phone, sliding it in my inside pocket and then picking up my coffee.
I slam the door shut and look over at Clive, the head valet guy.
“Hey,” I call, giving him a chin up, “keys are in the cupholder.”
“Have fun tonight,” he says to me, and I smirk.
I start to walk to the door and spot the media right away.
“Game day,” I tell one of the cameramen, who holds up his hand to wave hello to me.
I pull open the door and step in, seeing people bustling everywhere, walking in and out of different offices with papers in their hands.
Last-minute things probably happening behind the scenes.
I step into the locker room and see a couple of the guys have beat me here.
It’s a seven o’clock game, so usually people start to trickle in around four.
I look at my watch, seeing it’s four ten.
Putting my coffee on the ledge with my name on it, I slide my jacket off and hang it on the hook behind my jersey.
My locker area is set up the way I like it.
Gloves and helmet on the first shelf, jersey in the middle on a hanger showing my number, six, and my skates tucked under the bench.
I sit down and look over when Kirby walks in followed by Jaxon, both of them holding their own coffee cups in their hands and I give them a chin up before I take a sip of mine.
“How is everyone doing?” Jaxon asks after five minutes, when the majority of the players have arrived.
“Is everyone having a good day?” I finish the coffee and try not to laugh at him before he says.
“Opening game.” He claps his hands. “Not going to tell you guys how much it would suck to lose the first home game of a brand-new season.”
“You don’t have to tell us,” Kirby mumbles, “but you’re going to.”
“Nope,” he denies, “we know we can play a good game. Let’s just do it.”
“That’s a great pep talk.” I get up and toss away the plastic cup.
“I’m going to get something to eat,” I state, walking out of the room and seeing the other team arriving.
I smile at a few of them as some of them come up and we shake hands.
Jaxon joins me, as does Kirby. We shoot the shit for a couple of minutes as we walk to the kitchen and grab some food, none of us saying much to each other, as we all get into the zone for the game.
Because it's opening night, it’s always a big show, with the introductions of each player.
I slide my jersey on as I head to the rink to do the pregame skate.
The lights in the rink are on low as we line up and some of the guys skate onto the ice.
I can hear the roar of the crowd, and I smile.
I grab my stick before walking down the tunnel and out to the ice.
Sliding onto the ice, I do a lap around the boards in our zone and look through the crowd to spot my kids.
My breathing stops when I see Kylie standing there behind them.
She leans into Lexi, who’s beside her, as she says something and laughs.
Ariella is standing right next to my kids with Jagger in front of her.
My kids bang on the glass as I skate to them and then Kylie’s eyes finally meet mine.
My cock immediately starts to get hard, making my jock strap extremely uncomfortable.
I quickly look away from her and knock on the glass with the tip of my stick at each kid.
It’s been a month since I saw her, a month since I stormed out of her house.
A month that I’ve done everything in my power to not think about her and it’s been working, until now.
She is, hands down, the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. She is also, hands down, the best sex I ever had. And the biggest pain in my ass seeing as she’s the only one who can get me hot and bothered in one minute, then scathing mad in the next one.
“Daddy!” Nora shouts, jumping up and down, wearing a jersey with my number on it and the word Daddy across the back.
The boys have aged out of that phase and now just wear a normal jersey with my name and my number.
I smile at her, going over and grabbing a puck off the ice and tossing it up over the glass.
Shooting it a bit to the back, Kylie leans forward and catches it, right before it falls on the middle of Nora’s head.
Nora looks up and laughs at Kylie as she smiles at her and hands her the puck.
I take one more look at Kylie before I turn my head.
She’s wearing acid-washed jeans with holes in the knees, a black tank top, and a short black leather jacket.
Her hair is wavy and loose, and she has her purse across her chest. I skate away with Nora and her talking, and I get a tightness in my chest and then it’s replaced with anger.
I push it aside for the rest of warmups and we line up to take the ice before the game officially starts.
Each of the numbers go up, with Jaxon being last, since he’s the captain.
Kirby and I go before him since we are the assistant captains.
I bounce on my skates, the adrenaline hitting me.
“Let’s fucking go,” I say when they call my name, and I walk to the end of the carpet and then skate out.
The spotlight follows me to the middle of the ice, where I hold up my hand and do a circle to the crowd before skating over to line up with the other guys.
I look up at the family suite that I know my kids are in and try to find them, but there are so many people standing, I can’t see them.
Kirby skates on next and then does the same thing as me and then comes over to me, and I hold up my glove to give him a high-five.
“Let’s do this, brother,” he says, and I just nod at him as Jaxon comes out and the crowd goes wild.
“Such a show-off,” Kirby states, making me laugh.
He skates to the middle, then to us, and then we finally get on with the game.
I line up in the middle, at center ice, with my stick in both of my hands, leaning forward with it on my knees as I skate in a circle like I always do before I take a face-off.
“Okay, boys,” the referee says, “make it a clean game.” I listen to him and then the booming of the crowd is almost deafening as they wait for the puck to be dropped.
The announcer gets them even more pumped by saying, “Are you ready?”
My eyes go to the referee and then to his hand as he holds the black puck in it. My heart slams into my chest and I block out the noise, focusing on what I need to do. He drops the puck, and I win the face-off.
We fight hard and end up winning two to one.
The end of the game has all of us skating to the middle of the ice and holding up our sticks.
I look up and see Lexi holding Nora in her arms, bouncing her up and down as she points to me as Vincent is talking to Kylie about something, and I see him snort.
I turn my head and skate off the ice, getting into the locker room.
“Good job, boys,” Jaxon encourages as the coach comes in and I slowly start to undress. My phone beeps with a message from Tessa, the babysitter.
Tessa:
Kids want to stay and wait for you.
Me:
Sounds good, I’ll be up as soon as I can.
Tessa:
Okay, Lexi said she can watch them if you want and I can take off.
Me:
Yeah, that sounds fine. Thanks for tonight.
I put my phone down and take a shower before getting dressed. I opt out of putting a tie on and, instead, just leave the top two buttons open. “I’m going to get my kids,” I tell Jaxon and Kirby, who just got out of the shower. “See you two later.”
I walk out and head to the elevator, stepping in and going up to the fourth floor where the suites are.
I walk out and I give the security guards a chin up as I walk and open the door to the suite.
Most of the wives are hanging around waiting for their husbands, and I see some of the kids sleeping on the couches.
I spot Kylie sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, right next to Nora, the two of them coloring.
“Hey,” I say, and Nora gets up and jumps on me.
“Daddy, you didn’t score,” she reminds me.
“I didn’t,” I try not to laugh, “but I tried.”
I kiss her head, and she squirms out of my arms. “I’m coloring with Kylie,” she tells me, and I raise my eyebrows at her as she goes to sit back down next to Kylie.
“I see that,” I reply and look over to see Vincent on his phone, sitting on one of the chairs, and Westley beside him on his iPad. Lexi is sitting with him as she watches what he’s doing on his iPad.
“She says I’m the best colorer she’s ever saw,” Nora announces and I just nod.
“Can I have a word?” I ask Kylie, who unfolds her legs and stands up. I see she’s wearing black-and-white checkered sneakers as I move over to the side, out of earshot of everyone.
“What are you doing?” I about hiss but keep my voice low so no one will hear us.
“What are you talking about?” She folds her arms over her chest and pushes her tits higher.
“I’m talking about you,” I point at her, “and my kids.”
“Again,” she sounds annoyed, “I have no idea what you are talking about, so you are going to have to tell me what you mean.”
I get angrier, and I know I should just grab my kids and go, but instead I look straight into her eyes and growl, “Stay away from my kids.” I see her swallow. “The last thing they need is someone who is being nice to them just because she wants their father’s cock.”