Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
“You know I’m not married,” I challenged.
She shrugged again. “Yeah, but everyone is not married until they are.” She rolled her eyes as if that was so obvious and I was a dumbass, and then bounded off without another word, running toward the hockey station she had set up — complete with a goal and everything.
Carter smirked at me and Ariana, who was covering her laugh with one hand. “I mean, she’s not wrong.” And with a wink, he jogged off after Ava.
“Welcome to the chaos,” I said to Ariana, who was blushing furiously and still covering her mouth.
“She’s adorable.”
“That she is. So… I take it Nathan is gone?”
Her smile faded. “He flew out yesterday.”
I nodded, searching her gaze for… what, I don’t know. My mind was a mess with her here in front of me now. I thought about the dinner at her house, the way Nathan had treated her, her wrist…
But I also heard her voice from the Skate for Change event, the confidence when she’d assured me everything was fine, that it had just been a weird night and she’d been stressed.
It was a lie.
I knew it. She did, too.
I also knew better than to push.
After that night at her house, after the way Nathan talked to her in front of me and every other staff member like she was an inconvenience instead of his wife, I’d wanted to light the whole damn place on fire.
But Ariana wasn’t a player in my locker room I could call into my office and demand the truth from.
She was a woman I cared about — still — and whatever was happening behind closed doors had her looking spooked and unsure, like she was trying to hold every piece of herself together with shaking hands.
So I played it the way I would with a guy who’d taken a hard hit and wasn’t ready to admit he was hurt: with patience, presence, and no pressure.
She’d talk when she was ready. The truth always comes out eventually.
But until then, all I could do was give her a day where she didn’t have to flinch or apologize for breathing. A day where she could just… be.
Thanksgiving felt like the one thing I could give her without crossing a line.
And thankfully, once she settled in, the day did exactly what I’d hoped it would.
Ariana eased into the mayhem like she’d been born in it.
At first, she hovered close to me, shoulders tight, smile a little too careful and practiced.
It made me think of the dinner at her house, how it had felt like a performance.
But the longer she was at Will and Chloe’s, the more the tension in her shoulders softened.
Grace brought her a glass of wine, claiming “doctor’s orders” before pointing to Livia as the doctor.
We watched football and chatted, Ariana slowly chiming in more and more as she relaxed.
She told the crew about her brother, about growing up in Connecticut, about her time working in various nonprofit sectors.
A little before dinner, Ava insisted Ariana help her name her imaginary team, a very serious task that involved a clipboard, stickers, and Ava’s best businesswoman voice.
That got Ariana laughing, a real laugh, one that made her shoulders drop and her eyes brighten.
I felt something in my chest loosen at the sight.
She moved with ease into the kitchen after, helping Chloe and Livia pull casseroles from the oven while Mia teased Aleks about sneaking a bite out of a turkey leg before Chef Patel swatted him away with a wooden spoon.
Maven handed Rowan off so she could teach Ariana how to fold the cloth napkins “restaurant fancy,” and Ariana showed her own method, which Maven loved so much she declared her the new napkin boss.
Through it all, I watched in real time as the ice defrosted, as her smiles turned more genuine, as her laughs came easier.
It was impossible not to see the contrast between this version of her and the Ariana from the executive dinner. A blink and I could see her that night, her shoulders tucked near her ears, eyes never moving without permission, voice held tight in her throat like she was afraid to speak out of turn.
Here, she didn’t have to hold back. She didn’t have to pretend.
By the time we all settled around the long outdoor table — the sun low, the pool lights glowing, babies babbling from their highchairs set up between their parents — Ariana looked like she belonged to this world more than any of us.
Will stood at the head of the table, wine glass lifted.
“I know we’ve got a big game tomorrow,” he said, sweeping his gaze around at the team, “but in the spirit of the holiday, I wanted to say… thank you. I’m not a man of many words, but I have infinite love for all of you here.
You’ve been the best team. You’ve loved my kid like your own.
You’ve welcomed my beautiful wife into our family with open arms.”
“Oh, if you ever get divorced — we call dibs on her in the separation,” Grace said, pointing her roll at Daddy P before popping a piece in her mouth.
“If you ever get divorced, I’ll actually kill you,” Livia threatened, picking up her knife. “Because we all know it’d be your fault.”
Chloe flushed as Will laughed, winking at her. “She’s stuck with me. Promise.” He turned his attention back to all of us. “It’s been an honor to be your goalie. And Coach,” he added, finding my gaze.
Oh fuck.
I saw it, the moment his eyes watered, and I felt mine do the same.
“You are one hell of a leader. I’ve watched you mold this team over the years into something unrecognizable from what you first walked into. It’s been my privilege to play for you, and I know you’ll do amazing things in my absence, too.”
I cleared my throat, holding up my glass of wine with a wordless nod.
“To the Ospreys,” Chloe said, tilting her water to the sky. “And to family.”
“Hear, hear!” Vince hollered, clinking his glass against Jaxson’s.
Jaxson rolled his eyes. “Stop pretending you’re sentimental.”
“I’m very sentimental,” Vince argued. “I put cinnamon in the sweet potato casserole and smothered it with marshmallows. That’s love.”
Grace flicked a green bean at him. “You also ate half the sweet potato casserole before we even put it on the table.”
“I had to test it!” he fired back.
Ariana laughed so hard she nearly spilled her wine. I didn’t think she realized she’d leaned into me until I felt the soft press of her shoulder against mine. And when she did notice, she straightened quickly, cheeks pink, brushing a strand of hair off her face.
God, I missed her.
I knew it was ridiculous, to miss someone right next to me, but I did. I missed her like I missed the leaves changing color in Boston, like I missed the way it felt to be hugged by my parents, like I missed having a hip and knee that didn’t ache every day.
I missed her like she was a part of me, one I’d learned to live without somehow. But now that she was here with me, I knew I couldn’t even pretend to try to live without her again.
“And speaking of family,” Chloe said over the noise, her eyes skirting to Will before she stood and held her glass up higher. “Ours is expanding.”
Three words and the whole table was silent — for all of a second, anyway. Then, it exploded with noise.
“You’re pregnant?!” Maven asked, her eyes already welling with tears.
Chloe nodded, her eyes flooding, too, and then the girls were surrounding her while all the guys ran to congratulate Will.
“Finally, I can talk about it!” Ava burst, lounging in her chair like she was exhausted from holding it in. “I’ve been dying!”
“You’re going to be the best big sister to ever live,” Grace said, giving Ava a big hug.
Carter waited until the clamor of noise died down and everyone was back in their seats before nudging my ribcage with his elbow.
“Hey, Coach,” he murmured, low enough not to draw attention.
When I hummed in acknowledgment, he grinned.
“Not to be dramatic or anything, but I haven’t seen you this happy since… ever.”
I rolled my eyes, but he wasn’t done. He tipped his chin toward Ariana, who was telling Ava she would love her help picking out stuffed animals for the Sweet Dreams toy drive.
Carter smirked. “I’m glad you came. And I’m guessing you’re glad she came.”
I did my best not to react, but I had a feeling it was pointless. The way Carter cocked a brow told me he’d seen right through me — which meant I’d been doing a shit job hiding my feelings for Ari.
Still, I didn’t entertain him with a response. I just sipped my wine and dug into my plate while he chuckled from beside me.
Dinner went on like that — loud and fun and messy in all the best ways.
Aleks was mostly silent, but he watched Mia dumbstruck as she regaled the table with her tales from her tour; Chloe kept disappearing inside to grab “just one more thing,” even though the table was already perfect, and apologizing for the cat hair that no one else seemed to notice; Livia kept swearing her daughter Lennon said her first real word (“no”) when Carter tried to wipe her face; Maven and Grace ganged up on Vince about how he was, in fact, the softest girl dad in the world as he attempted to wrangle Rowan’s hair into tiny pigtails; and Jaxson tried — unsuccessfully — to convince Ava to stop calling him “Uncle Four Eyes,” a nickname Vince had suggested when Jaxson had taken out his contacts and switched into his glasses.
Ariana watched it all with wide, dazzling eyes.
She helped pass dishes. She teased Vince right alongside the girls, throwing in how she was soft for her brother in the same way.
She let Ava braid a section of her hair with sparkly butterfly clip-ins.
She somehow got Aleks to talk to us about growing up in Switzerland, which was a feat.
She ended up with both babies in her lap when dessert was served, and she laughed and used her fork as a choo-choo train to shovel pie into each of their little mouths, not caring in the slightest when blobs fell onto her sweater in the process.
She was a part of them — effortlessly.