He faux gasps. “Did you just call me old?” He lets out a low whistle. “Wow, you offer your girlfriend anything her heart may desire, and she calls you old. I’m really feeling the love here, Angel. Really feeling it.” He pulls his hand away, pretending to be insulted but the smile on his lips says otherwise.
I grab his hand back, holding it close to my chest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. You’re not old, not at all.” I press my lips together, refraining from giggling once more when he narrows his eyes at me. I pepper his hand with kisses then cuddle it to my face. “Do I still get my sundae?” I grin wide, my mood instantly lifted with the help of Shane.
“Extra caramel?”
That surprises me as my brows rise. “How do you know I take it with extra caramel?”
“Because the last two you’ve made at home had more caramel in it than actual ice cream.” He chuckles.Hmm, I guess that would make his assumption easy.“So, is that a yes?”
“Yes, please.” I give him a white toothy smile.
I rest my head against the seat, placing our hands like they were a few seconds ago, interlocked on my thigh. I sigh, looking at the man who managed to turn my night around despite the horrible events of today. He truly is the man of my dreams. If I had any doubts before, I definitely don’t have any now.
“Thank you for making me feel better,” I whisper.
“It’s my job to make you feel better, Angel. I’ll do anything to put a smile on your beautiful face.” He looks over, his eyesdropping to my lips as I smile, giving him what he wants. “Now let’s get those sundaes and eat them by the fireplace in our room.”
“You should probably get two for me, I might not be able to wait until we get home,” I admit as my face turns red.
“I was already planning on getting you three.” He winks again as I giggle.
I ate all three.
Chapter seventeen
Shane
Talk about motivation.
~ The Next Day ~
Last night was rough. After our sundaes and sitting by the fire, Aubrey and I made love then called it a night. But at three in the morning, her quiet sniffles woke me from my sleep. I found her curled up in a ball with her phone in hand, going over the pictures Emma had sent her of her nephews.
From what I’ve heard, apparently Emma lost it when she found out Greyson forbade Aubrey from seeing them. She toldhim to go home and not come back until he was ready to act like the man she married.
She then told Aubrey she was welcome to come and see the twins, but Aubrey refused. She said she had already put too much strain on their marriage and didn’t want to make it worse. I know going would have made her feel better, but I also understand what she meant.
I sat up in bed and pulled her into my arms. My heart shattered into a million little pieces as I listened to her weep every last tear from her body until exhaustion took over and she fell back asleep.
This morning, she seemed in a better mood, though, which is a good thing. I don’t know if I would be able to get through my day if she was still in the same state. It’s game day for the team today, which means I won’t be home much and won’t get to see Aubrey until later tonight.
The only good thing about this is that since she changed her schedule and now works during the day, we wake up almost at the same time and get ready every morning that I’m home together. It gives us a little extra time spent together, and I find myself craving those moments when I’m out of town.
I usually get to the rink near half past six and get straight to business with the staff. We’ve already had our coaching staff meeting and our morning five-on-five meeting with the team. As well as special teams meeting for the power play while the rest of the players went on to do short energy workouts, special stretches, or treatments.
It’s now morning skate time and I’m finding it incredibly hard to be a good coach at this moment. Because despite reminding myself to separate my personal life and feelings from my job, I desperately want to punch Greyson in the face. I’m so angry and riled up at how badly he’s treating Aubrey that it’s taking every ounce of my willpower not to lash out.
Using the whiteboard, I demonstrate the next drill I want them to work on. When I finish up my speech, I go over all my players who are kneeling in front of me, except for one. I haven’t made eye contact with him all morning. I just can’t. Maybe it’s petty of me, and a shitty coaching technique, but pretending he doesn’t exist right now is what’s keeping my head focused.
Jonathan, our assistant coach that works directly with the forwards, has been spending a lot of one-on-one time with Ford. He’s been trying to help him improve his game by showing him clips of missteps he’s made and ones that were good. Normally, Greyson is a great player, but lately, I won’t sugarcoat it, he’s been shit.
And if things don’t change, I’ll have to take him off the starting lineup.
If I’m being brutally honest, I don’t think we’ll be making it far this year. I know I shouldn’t think this way, but our winning record isn’t as great as it was last season. We only have twenty games left to go in the regular season after tonight, and at this rate, we’re lucky if we make it into the playoffs.
And it’s not just because of Ford’s weak game. My first pair of defensemen are injured and out for the regular season. And now Olchkov, my defenseman who was moved up to the starting line, suffered a scaphoid fracture at our last game and won’t be back for the rest of the season either.
I’m down three defensemen, and one of my star wingers is messing up the chemistry on the ice because he’s letting his anger get in the way of the game. I’m constantly breaking up fights between my players because any little comment acts as a trigger for him and he lashes out. It’s in those moments that I think he would make a great defenseman.
