48. Homemade Jersey
HOMEMADE JERSEY
Oliver—September
One question had rolled around my head for the last month, and truly, I had given it a great deal of thought.
Do I tell Ivy about the photos? Yes, maybe, or no.
I went with option three. Now to some people, this may have been some sort of dealbreaker. A sign that I was a horrid man and didn’t deserve her, and that would be fine. They’d be right. I didn’t deserve her.
She was too good, too kind, too loving for a man like me. But I’d never claimed to be a good guy, not really.
One of three things would happen if I told her.
One, she’d kill him. Two, she’d call the police and have to deal with those photos being entered in as evidence.
This would’ve been the logical choice of course, but me in my selfish tendencies, I couldn’t handle knowing someone else could see the woman I loved like that. Then option three, she’d crumble.
Personally, I knew she’d go with option two.
My girl was strong and vengeful when needed.
But again, I was a selfish man, so I didn’t tell her.
Instead, I destroyed all the photos. I even had Wyatt pull the crime scene and arson photos that night to ensure there’d been nothing left, and then a week later, we’d gone back ourselves to check.
Even the stove was gone. Theo would’ve made one hell of an arsonist in another life.
Wyatt had confirmed the case had been closed. Accidental house fire. He’d left the stove on after cooking and up it went. No reason to believe otherwise. No one had seen anything suspicious, after all.
Which brought me to my plan now. The flash drive had been destroyed. Bits spread around different landfills because I was that insane.
But what was left? The bottom of the Polaroids. My brothers hadn’t asked me what my plan was, but Theo was with me tonight to witness the last bit of my insanity.
The bar we were at was a dump. It sat on the outside of town. The beer was watered down, and I’m pretty sure the guy in the corner was a drug dealer or an undercover cop trying to find a drug dealer. It was hard to tell in this lighting.
I couldn’t believe this was where that idiot had been abandoning my girl to go hide. The pool tables didn’t even look flat. Why did they have the league practice here?
Todd was at the bar, talking to another woman. Long blonde hair and short shorts with white flip-flops on. She was flipping her hair back and forth, half leaned on the bar, and I just knew she was an out-of-towner.
“Are you sure about this?” Theo asked me.
“Positive.”
“Okay, I’m here if you need me. Do you think he’ll be much longer? This place makes me feel like I need a tetanus shot.”
“Fuck, I hope not.”
I’d thought about walking up to him in the middle of the bar and embarrassing him, but according to Tessa and Ivy, Becca had done plenty of that already. She’d even gone as far as posters calling him a dead-beat dad that she posted all around town. It was quite the sight for a while.
So no. Embarrassment wasn’t my goal. My goal was simple. Explain to him in so many words that he was not to reach out to my girl again.
He’d tried texting her a few times, but of course she hadn’t seen them.
Another girl walked up to the bar and grabbed her friend’s hand, pulling the blonde away from Toad. The blonde smiled a closed-lip smile that said, ‘oh sorry’ and left.
Theo and I watched as he threw some cash on the bar and headed out the front door, the both of us rising to follow after him.
I waited until we were out of the bar and down a block before I rushed forward. Grabbing the collar of his shirt, I threw him in the alleyway next to us.
“What the fuck, man,” he hollered as he spun around, his gaze landing on me. I swore, even in the shitty light, he seemed to get paler than normal.
“Well hello, Toad. Having fun tonight?” I questioned.
His eyes darted back and forth between Theo and I. “Look man, I don’t know what the deal is, but I don’t have no money or anything.”
I looked at my brother, who was staring at the ground, trying to swallow down his chuckle.
“I don’t want your money. I want you to leave Ivy alone.”
It was as if those words finally made him realize exactly who I was. Maybe he’d had more to drink than I imagined.
He swung though, words not coming after that. I took a step backwards, his balance not fully righting before he turned slightly, and I used that moment to my advantage, slipping a foot behind him. He fell hard onto his back, staring up at the night sky with a groan.
“Just stay there, Todd. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” I said.
“Fuck you. She isn’t your girl. She’s been mine since she was a teenager! I had her first, before anyone. Bet that makes you feel good, huh?” he mumbled with a strained chuckle. He was trying to push himself up to a seated position, but it was slow moving.
I’d never thought of myself as one of those men who prided themselves on their woman’s body count, so to speak. I didn’t care about shit like that.
I loved Ivy for the woman she was, and I knew we’d be together for as long as we lived. But something about the way he spoke about her as if she were an object to be had, set a new sort of rage on fire within me.
Once more I stepped forward, landing a solid kick to his ribs. Based on the scream he let out, I’d cracked at least one, and as he rolled back to his side, I found myself smiling.
Stepping over him, I knelt down beside him. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the bits of paper I’d cut off and held them above his head, releasing them to rain down across his body.
His eyes took a moment to adjust to what he was seeing as he picked one up and stared, but I knew the moment he understood.
“If you ever come near her again, it’ll be you in bits and pieces,” I growled low for just the two of us to hear. “And it’ll be more than your house they find burned to bits.”
His eyes darted back up and met mine, but he didn’t speak. He only nodded, his hand clutching his side.
Standing back to my full height, I kicked him one more time and stepped back over him towards Theo, who was just smiling with his arms folded across his chest.
“Pretty sure he peed himself a little when you mentioned the fire,” Theo mumbled with a smirk.
But I just shook my head. I had a hockey game tomorrow and a beautiful woman waiting at home for me.
I sat down in the second row with the rest of our family crowding in the rows with me—Wyatt and Ember, Aspen and Rowan, Payton, Theo, Mom, Ivy’s parents, and of course Ivy beside me.
She was decked out in a homemade jersey that she and the girls had crafted themselves.
The blue and white patchwork with Carragan written on the back.
The giant blocky number thirty-two—Hudson’s official number—in blue.
She leaned the massive poster she’d been up late making against the seat in front of us, her leg bouncing as we waited for them to take the ice.
I reached over, my hand settling on her leg, and her gaze swung over to mine.
“Do you think he’ll hate the poster? Am I about to embarrass him for the rest of ever? Will he disown me by the end of the game?” The words tumbled from her lips at a higher rate than I could even begin to reply. Aspen was on her other side, shaking her head as she turned back towards the ice.
“Baby doll, he’ll be thrilled with the poster,” I was finally able to say. “I do recall something about the promise of glitter posters months ago, anyway.”
She let out a breath and nodded. “Okay, you’re right. I did. And he did say yes. So, logically, it’ll be fine.”
The seats around the rink were filling up fast, speckled dots of blue and white, mixed with black and red throughout the stands.
It was the first game of the season, and Ivy and I had both been there when Coach Beck announced that Hudson was being given the first official spot as right winger on the team.
Colby was called out just before him. The coaches had started calling them their dynamic duo, and Hudson hadn’t stopped smiling about it since.
He’d worked so damn hard that seeing that hard work pay off and be recognized by someone other than Ivy and I meant the world to him. I was elated to be sitting here, and as the intercom clicked on and a voice sounded through, Ivy reached over and squeezed my hand.
“It’s starting!” she squealed, her body practically vibrating next to me.
“Don’t forget to breathe, Ivy!” Ember hollered from down the row, a smile on her face.
“Oh, I can’t wait to see him in all his gear!” Mom said from behind us.
“He’s going to look so handsome,” Lydia, Ivy’s mom, added from next to her.
As the kids from our team started skating out on the ice, George, Ivy’s dad, let out a long and loud whistle just as we spotted Hudson.
Ivy’s hands clutched her home-made glitter poster and threw it into the air as she jumped to her feet, the number thirty-two in bubble letters on it with smaller letters that said ‘Sunny’s number-one fan’.
“Let’s go, Sunny!!!” she yelled as she bounced up and down.
Her excitement had the rest of us on our feet hollering and cheering for him, her energy palpable in any environment, but especially with Hudson and me.
Hudson’s eyes scanned the crowd until he found us and threw Ivy a massive smile and wave.
“Ah! He looks so happy to see us!” She giggled, lowering the sign and sliding her arm around my waist.
I pulled her in close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as his team did a few warmup laps around the rink and started stretching.
“Of course he is. You’re here, baby doll,” I whispered into her ear, the words for us and us alone.
She’d been angry with me for a few days after I burned down Todd’s father’s house, but I knew she was also relieved to not have the videos she didn’t consent to having taken with Todd gone and no longer an issue.
So I let her be angry that I hadn’t told her beforehand.
I understood, I just wouldn’t change anything about it either way.
She, of course, didn’t know about the photos or that I’d seen him at the bar last night.
I felt guilty for not telling her for about half a second, but the need to keep my family safe outweighed any guilt that tried to fester.
Time moved quickly once the game began. Hudson assisted on two goals and made another himself, putting their team up two points to their opponent’s one.
As the final buzzer sounded at the end of the third period, Ivy, Aspen, and Theo’s voices were near gone from yelling so much. Of course, that didn’t shock any of us—except maybe Theo, who’d started believing he was damn near invincible these days.
“Okay, everyone. Ivy and I are going to go get the kid of the hour, and you’re all invited back to our place for a celebration dinner. I promised Hudson a full-on grill meal if he won his game today,” I announced.
“Yay! But Ember needs to leave the pastries at home, or I won’t fit into my damn wedding dress this weekend,” Aspen pointed out as we all filed out of the aisle and towards the tunnel to find Hudson.
“Is that why you haven’t been in to see me the last week and a half?” Ember pouted.
“Exactly why,” Ivy said with a chuckle.
“Then what’s your excuse?” Ember shot back at her.
Ivy’s eyes widened. “Um, just moral support. We’ll be back to normal next week. Don’t fret.”
Ember sighed. “Fine. I just missed y’all this week. But I’ll let it go in favor of hanging out tonight and then all weekend.”
“Girls’ day!” Payton hollered as the four of them laughed.
“Girls’ day?” Aspen asked with a smile.
“It was Ivy’s idea,” Ember explained.
“Spa day tomorrow before the wedding. It’s nothing major,” Ivy added with a faint blush.
That was an absolute lie. She’d spent a solid week researching the best spas in driving distance to take Aspen and the girls to, making lists and calling with questions.
Making sure everything was vegan and safe for Payton, ensuring it was all sensitive safe for Ember’s skin, and seeing what sort of extras she could get for the bride.
But I wasn’t going to say any of that. They all knew without even being told.
Lucky for Ivy, Hudson picked that moment to run out from the locker room. He was in a pair of basketball shorts and his jersey, but nothing stopped him as he bolted to Ivy and wrapped his arms around her. “Sunny! Ah fuck, you’re sweaty as hell, dude. You didn’t shower first?”
He laughed, still not letting her go. “Nope. Had to give you the same level of excitement and dedication as you gave me!”
“Gross but appreciated. Let’s get out of here. I’m starving, and your dad promised to grill me up extra spicy veggies for this gathering.” She wrapped her arm around Hudson and reached her other hand out for me to take.
We walked out of the rink like that. An arm around my son and a hand in mine, on our way to our house to grill all evening with our families.
A life I never could’ve imagined for myself again, but I was living it. Happily.