Chapter 28 ALI - GET UP
“Well, that’s a lot to take in,” Mer said with wide eyes after I filled her in about my doctor’s appointment.
“Yupp.” I popped the p as I doled out Oreo cookie crumbles onto my ice cream cone. We were indulging in the press box’s sundae bar while we waited for Piper to finish talking with Kappy. But looking around the small studio, I couldn’t see either of them.
“Doesn’t Kappy have to be on camera in, like, five minutes? Where are they?” I checked my watch to make sure. “Should we go find them?”
My face faltered.
“What? What did I say?” she asked quickly.
“Children. Multiple,” I whimpered.
She struggled to tamper down a grin. “Sorry for the reminder.” She patted my shoulder. “But you’ll be okay.”
“Will I?” I asked with wide eyes. “I was freaking out about one. How am I supposed to handle two?” I blew out a breath. “How did you handle the nerves?”
“Honestly?” Mer snorted. “By embracing delusion and telling myself that everything would work out perfectly okay.” She cocked her head to the side. “And nesting.”
“Nesting?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, like working on the nursery.” She gasped and grabbed my arm.
“We can start tomorrow. We’ll make the bedroom next to yours into a nursery.
It’ll be so fun! Wait, we could even get rid of the wall in the closet and connect the rooms so you don’t have to go into the hall.
What do you think?” Her face lit up at the idea and she nodded at me, trying to persuade me into saying yes.
“About that…” I trailed off. Her smile dropped into a look of concern, and I felt like the worst kind of person.
Mer and Colt had been so warm and welcoming, and they actually seemed excited to have me around.
They were family. Now that I was planning on leaving, I felt sad, and maybe even a little guilty about it.
“I really, really appreciate you and Colt giving me a place to stay and offering so much, but…”
“But…?” Her blue eyes widened.
“But I think I’ll stay with JP?” I asked more than said.
She let out a high-pitched screech and immediately wrapped me in the tightest hug. “I knew it!” She was practically jumping up and down with a huge smile on her face. “I just knew it would work out.”
I laughed into her shoulder. Knowing she wasn’t disappointed had the tension basically bleeding out of me.
Mer pulled back from the hug. “Oh my God, I’m seriously so happy for you guys.” She gave me a watery smile. “You’ll always be welcome with us, but I really feel like you and JP belong together. Everything’s going well?” She nodded as she asked, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I think so. I hope so,” I said, biting my lip to contain my smile. Her excitement had a way of rubbing off on me.
“I’m so happy,” she sing-songed. “I had a feeling. Lucy and Colt told me what he said on the stairs the other night—oh, finally!” she said as Piper and Kappy walked up.
Kappy was clearly adjusting his suit, and Piper was smoothing a finger across his lips, trying to clear her red lipstick. “Where have you two been?” Mer scolded.
“Wait, what did he say on the stairs?” I interrupted.
Mer froze. “Oh.” Her eyes darted between all of us. “Uh…” Her neck was turning blotchy by the second, telling me she was nervous. “Nothing bad, I promise! Just ask him, okay? We’ve been spilling too many secrets lately.”
“Not me.” Kappy grinned proudly. “I’m a vault.”
Piper’s eyes narrowed on her husband. “What secret have you been keeping?”
“You promise it’s nothing bad?” I directed at Mer, rubbing my stomach. I caught myself doing that all the time now. It was strangely soothing.
“No, something good,” Mer said with a giddy smile. “Something really good.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Promise.”
I knew if I pushed her on it, I’d for sure get the truth out of her, but I felt bad that she was having a stress reaction from nerves.
“Enjoying the ice cream bar?” Kappy asked, searching the toppings with a frown. “JP made sure Reeses were banned from the suite.”
“Aww, that’s so cute,” Mer gushed, grabbing my arm.
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t stop my blush. He was a bit of a food bully, but in a good way.
A loud beep went off in the room, signaling that they’d start rolling soon. Kappy smoothed back his dark hair. “Enjoy the game, ladies,” he said with a grin, then he leaned down to whisper something in Piper’s ear before grabbing her butt and kissing her.
Piper blushed deeply while swatting him away.
I weighed my head to the side, staring at the two of them. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the two of them not screaming at each other.”
“I know, right?” Mer said with a laugh. “It’s like we’re in an alternate universe.”
As soon as warm-ups started, the three of us wandered down to our seats.
The last time I was in the stadium, I couldn't fully focus during the game because I was too distracted by all the huge life changes going on. But this time, my eyes were glued to JP, the sweet boy that I loved who became the strong, respectful man that I was in love with. Watching him glide to his spot on the blue line for the first face-off of the game, my heart filled with an overwhelming pride that I’d never felt before.
And watching him score at the top of the second period and celebrate on the boards with his teammates in front of us made it feel like we finally reached the calm after a chaotic storm. He grinned right at me before skating back to the bench.
“Wow, JP’s on fire tonight,” Mer said, still clapping for the goal.
“Yeah, I think tonight’s one of his best games,” Piper agreed.
A content smile slid onto Mer’s face. She threw her arms around our shoulders. “That’s because all is right in the world.”
Smiling so hard my face hurt, I leaned my head against hers. I knew what she meant. For the first time in years, I felt like I was finally at peace.
“Wanna get some food after this period?” Mer asked. “I’ve been craving one of those pretzels with warm cheese.”
“Ooh, yes,” I agreed. “I haven’t had one of those in years.”
“The concession stand up by section 205 always gives the most cheese,” Piper said right as her phone went off. As soon as she pulled it out, her face went serious.
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked.
Her perfectly manicured brow furrowed as she typed back on her phone. “Kappy’s not feeling well.” Her eyes darted to the press box.
“Isn’t he still on air?” Mer asked, looking at Piper’s phone. “How’d he text you?”
Piper chewed nervously on her bottom lip. “I don’t know, but food is gonna have to wait. I’m going up there.”
As I moved to the aisle to let Piper pass, the crowd around us started yelling. I snapped my neck back to the ice to see JP flying down center ice on a breakaway.
“Go, go, go!” I cheered.
I practically held my breath as his #26 jersey billowed behind him. He was about to make a move when a defenseman from the other team slid forward, taking out JP’s legs.
JP lost his balance and hit the ice, and he was moving way too fast to stop himself. He slammed into the boards in front of us with a loud thud, making the boards actually shake.
The crowd let out a collective groan right as the buzzer went off to end the second period.
Within seconds, the players on the ice started brawling and the crowd started heckling, but I wasn’t paying attention to any of them.
Because JP was still down on the ice.
No, no, no.
One ref came over to check on him while the other refs were trying to break up the fights.
“Who was that?” someone in the crowd shouted. “Who went down?”
Mer grabbed my hand, but I couldn't feel it. I couldn't breathe. My entire body felt like it was encased in a vise-like grip. They weren’t even showing a replay on the jumbotron, so it must’ve been bad.
Get up, I mentally willed. Get up right now, JP.
Hockey players almost always skated off by themselves. It was hammered into them at a young age that they better be absolutely dying if they stopped game play to be helped off the ice. This was especially true of JP. Even when he broke his jaw, he skated off by himself, holding his bloody mouth.
As the seconds ticked by, he stayed down. My breathing went ragged. My vision went blurry. He wasn’t getting up. Why wasn’t he getting up? What if he hit his head? His neck? Was he even conscious?
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a stretcher being loaded onto the ice, and my heart splattered to the floor. My legs practically gave out, forcing me to sit back down. I immediately covered my face. I wouldn’t watch this. I couldn't watch this.
“Breathe,” Mer whispered in my ear. “Focus on your breathing. You need to breathe for your babies,” she said in a calm voice while rubbing my back.
I wanted to cry out that I was trying, but it wasn’t working. Anxiety was cutting off my air supply, choking the life out of me. What if he wasn’t okay? I needed him. I loved him.
I loved him so damn much.
And I never even told him.
After what felt like a full hour, Mer started shaking my shoulder. “He’s up! He’s up!”
My eyes flew open to see JP propped up on one knee, using his stick to bear most of his weight. A team medic was standing in tennis shoes on the ice next to him, holding his jersey.
The crowd started clapping for JP as he glided off the ice. He was bent at the waist and holding his right shoulder, but I was just grateful he was conscious and not being stretchered off.
As the players filed off the ice for the zam between periods, Mer and I sat in silence, trying to regain our composure.
“Jeez, first Kappy, now JP,” Mer said, scratching her blotchy neck.
“I just want this game to be over. Colt’s for sure going in the box for at least five minutes.
” Her blue eyes widened. “He really went after the guy who tripped JP.” She sucked in a deep breath and whispered, “I can only hope for a game misconduct.”