Chapter 43
Camden
“Connors! Dude! I’m married!”
I laugh as Blomdahl pulls me into a hug. “I know, man. I watched your wedding ceremony an hour ago.”
His brow lifts. “Oh, right.” He laughs.
I glance at the empty Scotch glass in his hand. “Had a lot of Scotch so far?”
He nods. “Maybe a little too much.”
I hand him my water glass. “Try some water.”
He chugs from the glass and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, leaning against the bar, which is set up on the far end of the meadow where Blomdahl and Bella’s reception is being held.
“Thanks, dude. I should probably stick to water from now on.”
I take in the slightly dazed look in his eyes. He’s a little drunk, not wasted though.
“That’s probably a good idea,” I say. “You don’t wanna be so wasted that you can’t remember your wedding day.”
He pats my shoulder. “You’re a brilliant dude, Connors.”
I laugh and ask the bartender for another glass of water. I hand it to Blomdahl.
“You and Bella sure know how to throw a wedding,” I say. “This place is beautiful.”
We’re just outside of Victoria on some property that Blomdahl and Bella bought earlier this year. It’s a wooded area with evergreen trees surrounding a meadow. A crystal blue river snakes through the mountains in the distance.
“It’s stunning, right?” Blomdahl gazes at the scenery. “We’re going to build a house here.”
He gestures to the meadow, where there’s the dance floor and a long table where we all ate dinner after the wedding.
“That’s awesome, man,” I say.
He gazes at Bella, who’s dancing with Ingrid and Maya in the middle of the dance floor to an upbeat song. He smiles, his heart in his eyes.
She looks up and winks at him and blows him a kiss. His smile grows.
I chuckle. My teammate is so damn in love. It’s pretty cool to see.
He nods at a massive tree on the edge of the meadow. “I think I’m gonna build a treehouse there so our kids can play in it someday.”
I grin. “Thinking about kids already?”
He glances down at his shoes, smiling. “Yeah. We’re both pretty excited to start a family.”
I instantly think of Ellie and how we spent countless hours in my treehouse together as kids.
I glance over at the table and see her sitting next to Sophie, chatting and laughing.
My mind drifts back to last night and every filthy thing we got up to in bed and in the shower.
How addictive it was to make her come over and over with her toys and my mouth and my hands. How much I loved it. How much I loved seeing her lose herself to pleasure so completely.
How good she felt in my arms as she fell asleep.
How, when I woke up the next morning, I wanted to tell her that I’m crazy about her…and that the thought of divorcing her in nine months and going back to being just friends makes me sick to my stomach.
But I didn’t. I held it all in because I’m not sure if she feels the same way, and I’m terrified that if I confess all this to her, I’ll lose her.
Blomdahl looks at me. “How about you? Do you and Ellie want kids?”
I blink, surprised at his question.
He winces. “Ah damn, sorry. I probably shouldn’t pry. That’s personal.”
“It’s okay, it’s just…I’ve never really thought about having kids before.”
“I get it. You’re pretty young still.” He shrugs. “I’m pushing thirty, so I guess I’m just thinking more about these sorts of things.”
I nod and quietly think about what it would be like to have kids someday. With Ellie.
I brace myself for a panicked feeling to rush through me. That’s what would happen when a couple of the women I dated in the past talked about getting serious, like being exclusive or getting married. I’d feel nervous as fuck and change the subject.
But that panicked feeling never comes. Instead, I feel happy. Warm. Comfortable.
I wasn’t expecting that. But I like it.
“Hey there, husband.” Bella walks up to Blomdahl.
He grins. “Hey, pretty girl.”
They kiss, then Bella moves to hug me.
“Having a good time?” she asks.
“The best. You look lovely, by the way,” I say.
She beams. “You’re sweet, Camden. Thank you.”
She’s wearing this big, strapless gown with a slit up the side. The white fabric is super shiny.
She rests her hand on her hip and aims a teasing smile at her husband. “In the mood to dance with your wife?”
“Absolutely.”
The two of them head to the dance floor. A second later, Coach Porter walks up and orders a drink from the bartender.
He nods at me before taking a sip. “How’s your evening going, Connors?”
“Hanging out with friends and enjoying good booze. Can’t complain.”
He cracks a smile before his expression turns serious. “I don’t like to talk about work in the off-season, but earlier in the summer, you expressed interest in becoming an alternate captain for the team. Is that something you’d still like to pursue?”
I straighten up and set aside my drink. I wasn’t expecting Coach to bring this up. “Yeah, absolutely. But I thought Ryker was in the running for it.”
“I talked to him about it, but he said he wasn’t interested in the extra responsibility. Said he was too old for that stuff and just wants to play.”
I chuckle softly. “That sounds like something he’d say.”
“I’ve noticed a lot of growth in you this summer. You’ve matured a lot since you got married.”
“Thanks, Coach. I’m glad to hear you say that.”
“I’ll admit, I didn’t think you had it in you to change.
I’ve worked with a lot of players in my career who claim they want to be taken seriously as captain or alternate captain, but they don’t put in the work.
They don’t understand that you need to be a model off the ice too,” he says.
“Initially, I wrote you off as one of them, but you really cleaned up your act. I, for one, was getting sick of seeing your face all over the tabloids, partying and hooking up.”
I let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I understand why you felt that way.” I clear my throat. “That stuff doesn’t interest me anymore though. Now that I’m married, I just want to spend all my time with my wife.”
He cracks a smile, his gaze drifting to his wife Abby, who’s talking with Sophie and Ellie.
“I know the feeling.” He looks at me. “I’ll make an official announcement at training camp, but just between you and me, you’ll be wearing the A on your jersey this season.”
Excitement shoots through me. “Thank you for giving me this shot, Coach. You won’t regret it.”
He pats my shoulder before walking off.
“What’s that smile for?”
I turn around at the sound of Ellie’s voice.
I grin at her. “I’m gonna be alternate captain this season. Coach Porter just told me.”
Her eyes go wide, and she squeals.
I chuckle as I pull her close to me and shush her gently.
“No one’s supposed to know other than me,” I say. “Coach will make the official announcement at training camp, but until then, it’s a secret.”
She kisses me. “Congratulations,” she murmurs against my mouth. “We should celebrate when we get back to the vacation rental.” There’s a naughty lilt to her voice.
“What’d you have in mind?”
She leans her mouth to my ear. “It involves me naked in bed, and you using my toys on me,” she whispers.
My dick twitches in my pants. I close my eyes and groan.
“Ellie baby. You can’t tease me like that. Not when we’re forty-five minutes from our rental and we’ve got another hour left in this reception.”
She giggles and quirks her eyebrow at me. “Come on. You love it when I tease you.” She glances past my shoulder. “How about some champagne to celebrate you getting alternate captain? The waitstaff just dropped off bottles of champagne at the table. I can grab one for us to share.”
“That sounds perfect.”
She walks off, and I ask the bartender for two champagne flutes.
“Camden? Is that you?”
I turn around and see a woman holding a camera, smiling at me.
In the dim lighting, I don’t recognize her. I start to apologize, but she walks up to me.
“Oh my gosh, that is you!”
When she smiles at me, my slow-moving gears in my brain finally recognize who this is. Kendra, a woman I’ve hooked up with a few times.
“Kendra. Hey.” I step away from her and shove my hands in my pockets, trying to create some distance between us. I don’t want her to think I’m available or interested in her.
I clear my throat. “What are you doing here?”
She holds up a big, professional-looking camera. “I’m the assistant photographer for this wedding.”
“Oh. Cool.” I flash a tight smile, hoping she gets the hint that I want to keep this interaction short.
“Crazy running into you here, considering how we first met. What was it, a year ago?”
I was the groomsman at the wedding of my old college teammate, and Kendra was the photographer. We flirted the whole night and ended up in my hotel room. We hooked up a couple more times after that.
She wags an eyebrow, and a knot forms in my stomach when I think about that night.
“Uh, yeah, I guess it’s been a while.” I cough, trying to think of a way to politely exit this conversation.
She rakes her gaze up and down my body, then steps closer to me. She sets her hand on my shoulder, and her smile turns teasing.
“So…am I going to end up in your hotel room again?”
The muscles in my body tense. I step out of her hold and hold up my left hand, my wedding band shining in the dim lighting.
“I’m married, Kendra.”
Her brow jumps, and her mouth is a perfect “O”.
“Oh. Sorry,” she says.
I offer a polite smile. “It’s alright.”
When I lower my hand, I don’t miss the way her gaze follows, focusing on my ring.
The corner of her mouth lifts in an amused smile. “I never thought of you as the marrying type.”
“I wasn’t. Until I met my wife.”
She nods. “Wow. You’ve changed. That’s kind of sweet.” A second later, she steps forward, closing the space between us. Her face is just inches from mine. “But if you ever feel like going back to the old Camden, you should hit me up.”
She walks off to photograph the guests on the dance floor.
I stand there, gritting my teeth, annoyed that she had the nerve to proposition me like that when I made it clear I wasn’t interested.
When I look up, there’s Ellie, standing a half-dozen feet away from me, champagne bottle in hand, a stricken look on her face.
Shit.