Chapter 9 #2
Me: Gotta go. Goodbye. Send bleach.
Shaking my head, I set my phone aside and take a breath.
I love those weirdos. I hated being gone for so many months at a time.
Hockey is my life, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but being home has been good for me.
I should invite them all over for a barbecue before we lose the decent weather since, thanks to Brit, I’m craving ribs and corn on the cob.
The trees are already starting to turn, and there’s a chill in the air this morning as I walk out onto the patio and take a deep breath.
There’s a family of moose on the other side of the pond, and the baby looks up at me, but they don’t run away. Birds flit around, taking baths. It’s the fucking best out here. There’s nothing like it.
And, for some reason, I wish Ivy were here to see it with me.
That’s fucking weird.
I never wish a woman was around for longer than it takes for a mutually beneficial time, and then I send them on their way. I’m respectful and affectionate, but I don’t keep them around. Women are not permanent. I learned that early in life.
And yet, I wish Ivy was here to sit outside with me and have coffee. Sit in the silence and watch the world wake up.
I’m becoming corny as fuck.
But there’s just something so familiar about her, something that makes me feel at ease. Like I don’t have to be anything other than me when I’m with her.
And I don’t find that very often.
The door opens behind me, and I sense Cooper before he appears in my periphery. He takes a seat and sets his mug on the arm of his chair.
“I fucking love it out here,” he says, his voice still raspy with sleep.
“Me too.”
He sips his coffee. “I might buy a place in the area. Brit’s obsessed with it here, and she mentioned that she already has a friend in town, so she’s off and running on planting roots.”
I turn to him and lift an eyebrow. “Brit’s the friendliest person I’ve ever met. I love her to death.”
“Get your own wife,” he mutters, but there’s no heat there. He knows I’d never poach on his woman. I don’t need to. She cooks for me once a week, babies me when I’m injured, and I get sex elsewhere. It’s the best.
“Ava’s been decorating these new condos up at the ski resort,” I tell him. “They’re fancy as fuck. It’s nice up there. There’s also a little exclusive community on a lake not far from here. The whole lake is private. The main lodge always has condos come up for sale.”
“I’ll look into it,” he says, and I feel him glance at me. “Might be a good place to retire.”
That has all my attention turning to him. “You planning on doing that anytime soon? We’re the same age.”
“Not yet,” he says, shaking his head. “But I’m not as young as I used to be. I figure I have three to five years left. What about you?”
I blow out a breath and take a sip of my cooling coffee. “I don’t know. This injury was a wake-up call. I know it wasn’t my fault, and Matthews is a piece of shit, but I miss Montana. My family. The game has always been number one. Always. But now—”
“I get it. Priorities shift, and that’s okay, X. Brit and I want to have babies. And we could start now, but fuck, I’m hardly home, and I don’t want her to do it alone. We figure we’ll reevaluate when I’m thirty-five. Gives us a few years to decide.”
I nod slowly, watching as the moose walk into the trees.
“You have fucking moose in your yard, man.”
“Sometimes, yeah.” I chuckle. “I invited Ivy to come over early and have breakfast.”
“What’s up with that?”
“Nothing.” My response is too fast, and it has my best friend simply staring at me. “Yet.”
He nods. “She’s sweet. Crazy family.”
“Come on, we all have crazy families.”
Cooper nods again. “True. Did I tell you that Brit’s mom tried to sue us?”
I bark out a laugh, and some birds squawk and fly away.
“What the fuck? Why?”
“Pain and suffering.” He’s laughing, his hand over his face. “For lack of support.”
“Wait. You’re telling me that Brit’s crazy-as-fuck mom sued you because you refuse to give her money?”
“Pretty much. She lost, of course, and ended up owing her attorney about twenty grand.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“So Ivy has a shit mom. So what? I deal with Brit’s. It’s annoying, but I love my wife more than I hate her mother. That’s just how it is.”
“No one said anything about love.”
He’s quiet for a minute. “You deserve it, you know.”
“Cut the shit.”
“I’m being serious. I know, we joke around a lot, and we don’t talk about our feelings—”
“Prefer it that way, thanks.”
“—but I’m telling you, as someone who knows you pretty fucking well, you deserve happiness. If that’s Ivy, I say go for it. It might not work out long term.”
“It never does.”
“But maybe keep the option open. You never know.”
“She—I like her. But she works for me.”
He nods slowly and then shakes his head. “No, that’s bullshit. She works for the team. She works with you. That’s different. You wrapped her up in your sweatshirt in the bar last night like you were staking a claim.”
“She was cold.”
“We all saw how cold she was, man.”
I glare at him. “The fuck did you just say?”
“See? Territorial. I think it’s great. Britney has already claimed her, and you know how tenacious my wife is.”
“I can’t be with a woman simply because Brit likes her.”
He grins that grin that he gets on his stupid face when he’s thinking about his wife. Probably naked. “She’s pretty irresistible.”
“Brit or Ivy?”
“Yes.”
I snort and stand, grabbing my empty mug. “Come on, I’ve had enough sharing my feelings for one day. I need a shower.”
“You’re just going to get sweaty.”
“Fuck off, I need a shower.”