Chapter 41
EMMETT
Game three was … not my finest hour.
Still, it was enough to maintain a shutout and keep Jessie Callaghan at bay.
“Nice game, Richards.”
It’s rare for opposing players to shake hands and even less so for them to acknowledge their rivals after a loss, but I take the hand Callaghan has offered as we glide out of the rink.
“Thanks, man,” I reply, eager to get a shower, finish up press duties, and head home, where I’ll wallow a little longer over not having contact with Billie in days.
Reaching the tunnel, I set my stick back in its holder, finding Callaghan again when I turn on my skates and make for the locker room.
“The Blades have come a long way since Coach Morgan took over,” he comments, still showing no signs of moving.
Other than when he reamed out Freeman earlier this season, I’ve only interacted with Jessie a few times over the years.
One of my clearest memories was when he was going through a deep battle with alcohol addiction, successfully hiding its effects beneath incredible talent.
This guy is one of those players that comes along every few generations, and his legacy is bound to hang around long after photographs of action shots have faded.
“He’s worked wonders with the team,” I agree, memories of when we lifted the Cup last season lining the tunnel walls around us.
Pulling off his helmet, Jessie runs a hand through his dirty-blond hair as teammates waltz past us. Jack gives me a big smile on his way to the locker room.
“This is obviously none of my business, but I have to ask …” He motions to his face. “I haven’t seen you get into it on the ice with anyone over the past few days, so what’s the score with the bruising and cuts?”
At first, everyone thought that Jessie’s past was a bunch of rumors, fueled by press reports looking for headlines to sell news stories.
I don’t think anyone involved with the league or in the wider general public could comprehend or even want to acknowledge the level of abuse the news outlets were purporting about his father.
That was, until Callaghan came forward and set up a charity, specifically centered around supporting victims of domestic abuse.
He and his wife, Mia, work tirelessly throughout the year, organizing fundraisers across the US.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that when this guy sets his sights on unexplained bruising, he wants to know the answers. Even when his team has just suffered a humiliating three to zero loss.
Pulling off my gloves, I rest a bare palm on his shoulder, appreciating the kind of person he is. “I’m fine, buddy. It was a family feud that I’m trying to keep …”
My eyes travel down the tunnel as Coach’s ominous figure stands at the end. He motions for me to join him as soon as possible right before he steps inside his office.
I set my attention back on Jessie. “It’s just something I’d rather not talk about.”
He cocks his head to one side. “I’m sorry to hear about your marriage. I don’t know the circumstances surrounding your divorce, but it has got to suck.”
I puff out a breath.
If only he knew the truth.
“I think if my eldest daughter, Drew, found out that Mia and I were planning to split, she’d lock us in a room until we renewed our wedding vows,” he muses.
I just smile at him because, honestly, there isn’t anything else for me to say. I’m stoked that he’s happily married and has been for years.
Approaching Jessie from behind, Tommy reaches out and ruffles a hand through his hair. “Callaghan, my man.” Walking backward down the tunnel, he throws the Scorpions forward a wink. “Can we play you every week? Because that game was FUN.”
Not biting, Jessie shakes his head.
“He’ll never change.” I chuckle.
Shooting me a salute, Jessie spins around and walks away, leaving an unexpected warmth in his wake. It’s good to know that there are people—even the most unlikely ones—out there to check that you’re doing okay.
Ten minutes and a quick shower later, I’m sitting in front of an inquisitive coach as he finishes up typing something on his iPad.
From his demeanor and considering that we just rolled over one of the league’s best in the playoffs, you would have a hard time believing that this is the same guy who was coordinating porcelain swans and peacock feathers back in February.
“What did Callaghan have to say?” he questions, voice monotone, eyes still centered on his iPad.
I clear my throat, wondering where the hell this is going. The last thing I need is to be reamed out over a less than decent performance tonight. I know my head was all over the place, and that was plain to see when I found myself puck-watching deep in the third, handing the Scorpions a turnover.
I haven’t slept on the ice in years, but then I haven’t been head over heels in love with a girl like this in forever. Billie is all I can think about, and not seeing Blake’s smile—whether on video call or in person—is practically killing me.
“He was asking about the bruises on my face.” I decide to be candid with a guy who can smell lies from a mile away.
He glances up at me, confirming that’s the exact reason why I’m in here.
“I was going to let it slide since in all the seasons I’ve coached and played against you, I’ve never known you to fight outside of hockey.
” He folds his arms across his chest, leaning back in his black leather chair so he can take me in better.
“But the GM has been asking questions, and clearly, from your conversation with my former teammate, so is the opposition.”
I take in his office, which is more like a shrine to his family. Pictures of Jack and Kendra’s daughter, Esme, line one wall while Emily, Darcy and Archer’s daughter, fills the other.
“What do you want to know, Coach?”
Leaning forward, he locks the screen on his iPad and sets his focus straight on me. “Remember when I told you that you could always come to me if you needed anything?”
I nod once. “Yeah.”
Coach adjusts his Blades tie, loosening it around the collar. “Well, that time has come, Emmett. Tell me how you got those bruises and whether the PR team needs to be concerned over a personal issue bleeding into team matters.”
Scott might be fantasizing over burying me ten feet deep, but he’s not a vindictive character. Out in the open is where he does business, not by going to the press and dragging my reputation.
Maria, on the other hand, is different. But pulling my name through the dirt would mean risking a potential retaliation from me, where I could out the multiple affairs she had during our marriage.
“It won’t,” I confidently confirm.
Something shifts in Coach then as he shows me the guy I saw back at Tommy and Jenna’s wedding. The next phase of this conversation is off the record, I can tell.
“Does it have to do with the divorce?” he asks, chewing on his bottom lip.
“I’m being really careful here not to overstep, Emmett, but it was no secret that Maria didn’t always treat you …
” He blows out a long breath, taking a second to find the right words.
“She didn’t always treat you well. You never talked directly to me, but I know a couple of the guys were aware of the troubles you both faced. ”
It’s hard for me to maintain eye contact as he continues ruminating.
“If those wounds and bruises are from a domestic altercation involving your ex-wife, then you should know that the Blades will be there if you decide to take this further and press charges. Domestic abuse of any kind is unacceptable, no matter who inflicts the—”
“I don’t need to press charges,” I quietly interject, being careful to ensure that I’m not downplaying the seriousness in this moment or the subject Coach has brought up.
Emotions I never anticipated to feel flood my senses, and I swallow thickly.
Fuck, life has been a goddamn roller coaster lately.
He raises a single brow at me. “Are you sure?”
I bite the inside of my cheek, twisting my hands together on the table in front of me.
Just like Billie does.
“Listen, I’m not saying that Maria didn’t do some questionable stuff in our marriage, but I’m out of that situation now and looking ahead to the future.” More emotions threaten to emerge, which I physically shake off. “And that’s where the bruises actually came from—my future, not my past.”
Coach looks on, waiting for me to elaborate. I knew that none of my teammates would breathe a word about Billie, and that same loyalty is why we’re one of the strongest teams in the league—both on and off the ice.
“This can go no further,” I warn. “The team doesn’t need to be concerned about it, so I’m talking to you as a friend rather than as your player.”
Coach gives me a tight nod.
“The bruises came from Scott Quinn.”
He takes a second before his eyes grow wide. “Wait. The guy who came to the game earlier this season?” His eyes dart about as he racks his memory. “Billie? This is over the pretty redhead, isn’t it?”
My stoicism gives him all the answers he needs.
“Oh jeez, Emmett. How old is she?”
“Twenty-one, and we’re dating. The bruises are from when Scott found out, courtesy of Maria, who happens to be best friends with Billie’s mom.”
Coach can only grimace.
“Scott caught up with me when we were leaving practice the other day. Jack, Archer, and Tommy were witnesses at the time, although no one laid a finger on Scott. I let him take his rage out and maintained my calm.”
More emotions stick in my throat when I mentally replay all the messages from the boys that night. Jack showed up at my penthouse at one point with arnica cream that Kendra had once used on his face after an ex-Blades player, Tyler Bennett, bruised up his jaw pretty badly.
“That was a wise move, Emmett. Getting into it with a member of the public never ends well.”
“I’m in love with her.” The declaration falls from me like it’s the most natural sentence I’ve ever said.
“Yes, I have my reputation as a pro athlete to consider, but more than that, Scott is the father of the woman I love.” I drop my head between my shoulders, picking it back up slowly to look at Coach.
“Understandably and after everything, Billie has asked me for some space. That’s why I played like trash tonight—I’m losing my mind over this girl and her beautiful baby daughter.
To be honest … I’ve been losing my mind ever since I laid eyes on her when she got back from college in Texas. ”
Coach smiles at me knowingly. “Felicity was out with Billie the other week; they met at my restaurant, and when she came home, she couldn’t stop talking about a stunning redhead that was going places in law.
She didn’t tell me that Billie had captured your heart too.
Wild horses couldn’t drag girl secrets from those women. ”
Pride overtakes my features. It makes me so damn happy that Billie is making friends with an amazing group that will have her back like their husbands do my own.
“Is there any chance of a reconciliation with Billie’s dad?” Coach tentatively inquires.
I shrug. “We’ve been close friends for years, and he’s helped me through a lot of shit—from injuries to a divorce. He feels betrayed in the worst way possible, not least because I was actually helping his family out financially.”
“Oh fuck.”
“Yep.”
There isn’t much more Coach can say or do, and that’s evident as he pushes back his chair and stands opposite me.
He holds out his hand for me to take, and at first, I think he’s just going to shake it. Although as we lock grips, he smooths his other hand over the top.
“I’ve said this to pretty much every one of your close teammates, and I’m going to say it to you now, Emmett.” He lifts his hand and points toward the door. “Go after the one because when you hang your skates for the final time, you’ll wish that you’d quit fucking around and made her yours.”
He presses his lips together, deep in thought.
“When Jack got the captaincy, I could see how difficult that was for you to take, even though you never really let it show. You are and have always been a true professional, a beacon for the Blades well before I stepped foot through the coach’s door.
I want to see you happy, man, and I know that the rest of the guys do too. ”
“I think it will take Scott as many years to forgive me as there is an age difference between me and Billie,” I quietly muse.
He lifts a single shoulder, releasing my hand as he moves toward his door. “You don’t seem like the kind of guy to let that deter you.”
As he twists the handle and I step over the threshold, I turn back to him, never more determined to make Billie and Blake my future.
“By this time next season, when we’re sitting inside this office and discussing the announcement of my imminent retirement, Billie Quinn will be my wife.”