Chapter 8
ALLY
As I walked the concourse, my phone started pinging. We hadn’t made it in time for warm-ups, but at least I was in time for puck drop. I was still bummed that we missed all the stretching, but we’d gotten distracted talking about the nursery, and traffic had been a bitch.
“Oh shit,” Darcy said, grabbing my arm.
“What?” I asked.
“They know. They all knoooooowwwww,” she drew out.
“Know what?”
I was already nervous about tonight. Dom was actually here, and I was going to see him in person. We’d spent the last month, aside from that first week, getting to know each other through texts and phone calls. It’d been nice.
No. More than that, and I was loath to admit it.
Shit.
No, I absolutely refused to fall for my baby daddy. That would just create more headaches. But we were friends now, and that was good.
Weird, but good.
“That Dom is the father,” she said softly.
I halted in the middle of the concourse. Someone immediately bumped into me.
“Sorry, excuse us,” Darcy said to the crowds around us as she led me to the side and out of the flow of people.
“What?” I gasped. “How?”
Darcy grimaced. “During warm-ups. Guess it came out. Jake just texted me. They’re back in the locker room, and Ethan is fuming. Apparently, he had Dom pressed against the boards. Caused a bit of a whole scene.”
I dropped my head in my hands, leaning against the wall. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”
Then I pulled out my phone.
Dom: I’m so sorry. Harty knows.
Dom: Fucking Baz taunted me.
Dom: I’m sorry. I know this isn’t how you wanted to tell him.
Dom: Can we talk after the game?
Dom: Fuck. Are you okay?
My heart did a little flutter at the last text.
Do. Not. Fall. For. Him. Stupid hormones, or maybe just heartburn again.
Ally: Yeah, I am. Darcy said there was a scene. Is everyone okay?
At least he’d immediately texted me. That was something, right?
Ally: You’re probably not going to see this since it’s almost puck drop.
Ally: We’ll talk later.
Then, I clicked on my brother’s name.
Ethan: Dom got you pregnant?
Ethan: I’m going to kill him.
Ethan: Are you okay? He said you just told him.
Ethan: Then he ran his fucking mouth and told the entire damn team. I know you had your reasons for not telling me, but are you really okay with everything?
Ethan: Fuck. Coach is yelling at us to put away our phones. Come down during intermission or after the game to talk, okay?
Ethan: It’ll be fine. I can’t guarantee that I won’t punch him tonight.
Ethan: Nature of the game, of course.
My laugh was strangled.
Hell, my entire body was a twisted knot.
Then, the little diva chose that moment to start doing acrobatics in my stomach, and I put my hand over my bump. A wave of calm rolled through me.
“It’s going to be okay, right?” I accidentally said out loud.
Darcy put her hand over mine. “Of course, it is. I mean, everyone would’ve found out eventually. Especially since Dom’s fully in your life and wants to be an involved parent.”
“I know. I just finally had a plan. I was going to get through tonight and then tell my family tomorrow when Ethan couldn’t retaliate on the ice. Ethan warned me off Dom so many times over the years.” I’d had control of the situation—I mean, in that it had been up to me when I wanted to let everyone know about Dom. And now that was out the window.
“Which is partly why you flew to him like a moth to a flame,” Darcy said with a tiny grin. “You could say this is all Ethan’s fault.”
I returned the expression. “Maybe a little. And don’t tell my brother it’s his fault. He might lose it.”
“The good news is that no one was injured before the game started and hopefully, the refs won’t allow a full beatdown on the ice.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, great news.”
“It’ll be fine, promise. But are you okay?”
“I’m not sure. I had a plan, and now that’s out, but you’re right.” I drew in a deep breath. “It’ll be fine.”
“Just let Ethan talk to your belly for a bit, and he’ll calm down.”
I smiled. “He’s smitten with the idea of being an uncle.”
“So distract him with that, and he’ll grow to love Dom,” Darcy said. “Or at least tolerate him.”
Laughter bubbled out of me. “Yeah, even tolerate may be a stretch. Let’s go to the suite. Or maybe we should grab seats near the glass?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in the room with all the WAGs right now. But being close to the glass and watching my brother potentially injure Dom wasn’t my idea of a good time, either.
“I vote suite. I’m sure everyone knows by now,” Darcy pointed out.
I sighed. “Okay, fine.” Before my secret had gotten out, I’d been looking forward to watching the game up close. To watching Dom up close. The last time I’d seen him in person, he’d been looking shell-shocked as I turned to leave his condo.
A few minutes later, we walked into the family suite. Penny, Amanda, Gabi, and Sophia all stopped talking to look at me.
“Hey, Ally. Fucking men are the worst gossips,” Rylie exclaimed. She was the coach’s daughter and currently dating Desmond, one of the players.
“So, I guess you all know, then,” I said.
She grinned. “Yup. Dom, huh? Makes sense. There’s always been something between the two of you. Bet Harty’s losing his mind.”
“Something like that,” I muttered.
“Ah. He’ll get over it. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters,” she replied.
“Thanks.” Rylie was always sweet to me.
“We’ve all been locker room talk at some point,” she said with a shrug. “Men are so much worse than us.”
“So true. Jake’s been pestering me about it for months,” Darcy chimed in.
“Get over here, Ally,” Penny called out, a bright smile on her face.
“I totally knew it,” Amanda said with a grin. She was engaged to the captain, Cheesy.
Penny rolled her eyes at her best friend. “You did not.”
“I did too. They were very flirty at your wedding,” Amanda said.
“True. But it clearly didn’t happen then,” Sophia said. “How long have you guys been a thing? Like, Ally and Dom 2.0?”
I snorted. “So not a thing. Ugh, I have no idea. I got pregnant when the Stampede were in town last March. Definitely not planned, and we’re not really a couple. But we’re figuring out how we’re going to co-parent, I guess.”
“Sit down. Need a cookie?” Penny asked.
I chuckled. “Definitely.”
“I’m on it. They’re from Devine,” Penny said, referencing her favorite local bakery.
“Now, fill us in. I mean, only if you want to,” Amanda said, taking the seat Penny had just vacated.
“Wait for me,” Penny yelled, rushing back with a full platter of cookies.
While we settled in, a few of the other WAGs joined us. I’d known these women for years and they’d been like family since Ethan had joined the team five years ago. There were very few secrets in the group.
“Yes. Dom is the father. No, I don’t know what’s going to happen because he lives in Denver, but like I said, we’re figuring everything out,” I said. “It’s super weird, but we’re focusing on the baby.”
“Think you’ll move to Denver?” Sophia asked.
“Um, we haven’t really talked about that,” I said. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities since my job was remote, but could I really leave my entire support system for a currently unstructured co-parenting agreement? No, that wasn’t happening. I needed them.
Thankfully, the game announcer started up, then the anthem was sung, and I got out of saying anything else.
Penny booted Amanda out of her seat right after the anthem so she could sit down next to me again, claiming auntie privileges, and she squeezed my hand. “Whatever you need, Ally. Anything. You know, you just have to ask. And don’t worry about your brother. He’ll get his head out of his ass eventually and be nice to Dom. He just wants you to be happy, and sometimes he gets a bit overprotective. We just have to call him out on his caveman ways.”
“Pretty sure you like his caveman ways,” Amanda teased from the other side of Penny.
Penny’s cheeks pinkened. “Oh, hush. We’re talking about Ally here.”
I wrinkled my nose. I did not need to know about my brother that way.
“Let’s just hope Dom’s still walking on his own by the end of the game,” Amanda quipped.
“Ethan’s not going to fight him,” Penny said sternly. “He knows that’s not the answer.”
“You sure about that? He definitely roughed him up a little during warm-ups,” Amanda pointed out.
“I’ll go yell at him during intermission if he takes it too far,” Penny said, giving me a soft smile.
“Maybe Dom shouldn’t have let it slip that he knocked me up,” I grumbled. I probably should’ve had more compassion for Dom, but I was annoyed that this was how my brother found out.
Amanda snorted. “I heard Baz started it.”
“Of course he did,” Gabi said from the seat behind me. “I will seriously Nair his beard this time.”
Penny laughed. “Oh my god, don’t. He would totally lose it.”
“It’ll be fine,” I muttered to myself as the first period started. At least Dom wasn’t on the ice with my brother’s line right now.
DOM
“Fuck, Harty,” I gritted out as Harty drilled me into the boards yet again. With only a few minutes until the end of the first period, I was hoping to avoid Harty’s wrath—at least for one full period.
I mean, I got it. But what the fuck, man. Harty was one of the nicest players in the league.
Until you knocked up his sister, apparently.
“Wipe that grin off your face, asshole,” Harty barked in my ear. Then he shoved his shoulder into me again.
I managed to wiggle away from him while keeping the puck on my stick. At least Harty was distracted. Bugsy, the Strikers coach, was definitely going to give Harty shit later for targeting me instead of focusing on the game.
That made me feel marginally better.
“Naughty, naughty Dom,” Baz taunted, getting in close.
“This is your damn fault,” I bit out, trying to deke around him, but he wasn’t giving me an inch.
Baz barked out a laugh. “Definitely didn’t get Little Harty into her current situation. That’s all you, man.”
I knocked the puck over to Haldy before Baz could get his stick on it, then skated around the back of the net, easily catching the puck when Haldy sent it back. I shifted away from Baz again when he crowded me, but Harty was soon pushing me into the boards again; this time, he growled at me and swiped the puck.
“Fucking hell,” I yelled, chasing after him. My shoulder fucking hurt, and I was gassed, but he was not going to get the better of me. Dammit.
Harty easily passed the puck to Jake, and they closed in on Tucks. Jake took his shot before Xan could stop him, and Tucks dropped, covering the puck.
Thank fuck it didn’t go in.
I faced off against Harty at the dot to Tucks’s left.
“You’re a fucking asshole,” he said right before he won the face-off.
Son of a bitch.
Luckily, Haldy managed to get the puck on a wonky pass. I streaked up the ice behind him, ready to end this damn shift with a goal.
Haldy passed it to me, and I caught Harty out of the corner of my eye. I fell back a step before he could check me and skated around him toward Gally in net. Baz grinned like a damn menace as he tracked my every move, his stick poking out to grab the puck, but I fired my shot, and it went five-hole between Gally’s legs. The goal buzzer blared, and Baz shook his head at me.
“Nice goal, asshole,” he muttered as my teammates crashed into me in a bruising hug.
A hug that I felt more this time because Harty was clearly making it his mission tonight to injure me. As my teammates patted my helmet and slapped me on the back, I glanced up at the Strikers family suite. What the hell was Ally thinking right now?
When the period ended without another run-in with Harty, I breathed a sigh of relief. It would be short lived since I still had another forty minutes of bruising hockey to go.
“So, Harty’s pissed,” Micah said as we headed down the tunnel to the locker room.
I side-eyed him. “You think?”
At this point, the entire team knew I had a baby on the way. News had traveled down the bench as fast as I could skate a length of ice. Not that I thought it’d stay a secret after my scuffle with Harty during warm-ups.
As I walked into the locker room, all eyes turned to me. A few fucking hells and damn, man were thrown out as I took my seat in front of my stall.
Millsy stopped in front of me. “How you feeling, Dom? He’s gunning for you, as expected, but the hits have looked mostly clean. He’s a great player.”
I looked up at my coach and shrugged. “What am I going to do at this point? He’s going to hit me because he’s pissed. I’m doing my best to play the game and beat them.”
Millsy chuckled. “Can’t give you too much shit since you did get the only goal of the period. Just try to avoid any actual injury and don’t take any penalties, and it’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, just sign me up for an ice bath after this.” I shook my head. “Uh, do you mind if I go check my phone? I’m sure Ally’s freaking out.”
“Go ahead, but only a few minutes,” he said.
I ducked into the changing room where we kept our personal stuff and suits and grabbed my phone.
Ally: Shit. How did he find out?
Ally: I should’ve told him.
Then, there were more texts in the last ten minutes.
Ally: I’m so sorry he’s being an ass. Penny’s going to talk to him.
Ally: And if he hits you again, I’m gonna punch him.
Ally: Fuck. Sorry. He’s acting like a child.
Ally: Are you okay?
Ally: Should I come check on you?
Her concern warmed my entire body.
Dom: I can handle him. It’s okay. But will you come down after the game? We should probably talk to him together.
Dom: That is, if he doesn’t send me to the hospital.
Ally: Oh my god. Don’t even joke like that. I’m seriously going to kick him in the balls if he tries.
Ally: Ugh, his overbearing big brother act is irritating as hell.
Dom: It’s fine. I get it. I’d probably be the same if I had a sister.
Ally: It’s annoying and unnecessary. I’m going to text him and tell him to back off.
Dom: Don’t worry about it. I can handle him.
Ally: You’re sure you’re okay?
Dom: I’ll be fine. Did my little girl enjoy my goal?
Ally: She was fluttering around a lot.
Dom: Of course she was. She knows it was me.
Ally: LOL
Ally: I think she just likes the loud music.
Dom: Don’t kill my dreams like that.
Dom: I can’t wait to see you later.
Ally: Um. Yeah, me too.
“Dom, get your ass in here,” Millsy called out.
Dom: Gotta go. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. See you after the game.
I shoved my phone back into my suit pocket and headed back to the locker room. I could get through the next two periods. Harty would eventually accept the fact that I was his niece’s dad, but ultimately, his opinion wasn’t my priority. And that was why I wasn’t going to lash out at him. Ally didn’t need that extra stress, and I got where he was coming from—even if I would rather not be on the other side of his ire.
***
Almost two hours later, the final buzzer blared, ending the game. The Strikers had the win at three to two, but we’d fought hard. They were one of the best teams in the league, and I wanted to beat them since they were my old team, but I’d scored a goal, stayed out of the penalty box, and was still breathing, so I was taking it as a personal win.
Harty had ended up in the box after tripping me at the start of the third. My elbow hurt like a bitch, but at least I hadn’t gone into the boards or anything. I’d gotten a smidge of satisfaction watching him skate to the sin bin after all the “legal” hits he’d taken on me since the start of the game. I could only imagine how pissed Ally was going to be at him after the game. I’d known since the moment I met Ally that when Harty became the overbearing big brother, it rankled her. It was one of the reasons she’d started flirting with me back when I was a rookie. I’d been too scared to try anything with her because of Harty and because I’d always felt she was out of my league.
We’d come a long way in the last four years.
“You survived,” Flower said, lightly punching me in the arm as we headed down the tunnel.
“Barely,” Haldy said. “Man, I thought he was going to knock you out at some point.”
I scoffed. “He probably wanted to. But it’ll be okay.” I was determined to believe that. I needed it to be for Ally.
Millsy gave a speech after we all got into the locker room. Half pep talk, half do better. Typical for a loss.
“No media for you, Dom. I have no clue what’s out there right now, but I’m not putting you in front of a mic.”
“Thanks, Coach,” I said gratefully. The last thing I needed was for some reporter to have gotten wind of what was going on with me and Ally before we all had a chance to talk.
“Want me to come with you to talk with Harty?” Flower asked.
I appreciated the offer. We were all old teammates, and Flower was loved and respected by everyone.
“Thanks. But I got this.”
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.