Page 25 of Center Ice

I had no choice but to be honest and hoped he cared. “Because I’m hoping my name will somehow be attached to this and the wedding.” I looked around to make sure no one else in the office was around. “I’m hoping to be able to move back to the states soon and start my own wedding planning business. Big names like you and Noah will really help with that.”

“Really? That’s your dream?” Kendall asked before glancing at Wyatt.

“Yeah,” I admitted.

Wyatt huffed out a laugh. “I swear, we’re like magnets.”

I narrowed my eyes, but Kendall giggled. “It’s true. The guys on the team and the women, or as we’re usually called, the Pride, are attracted to people like you. We really like helping people’s dreams come true.”

“And they usually end up with one of the players,” Wyatt said with a smirk.

“True.” Kendall nodded.

Before I could question what he meant about that, she leaned forward with a conspiratorial smile. “I’ll make sure your name is linked to both.”

“Yeah, we’ll let photographers be there.” He groaned. “But only the ones I approve.”

I nodded. “No problem.”

9

Jake

I woke up at six to head to the beach to watch the sunrise alone. Living in a valley surrounded by mountains didn’t allow me to see them very often back home, and I wanted some time by myself.

As grateful as I was to not be the only single guy on the trip, Mikey and Lance were draining. The two extroverts didn’t understand why I turned them down to hang out by myself. They thought I was moping, but really I just needed some quiet time to recharge.

Most of the guys on the team were like that. They were the ones Chloe loved because they actually enjoyed being in front of the cameras and making funny promo videos. I’d dodged her enough in my first two years that she stopped asking me.

There was no one else out on the beach, so I picked the beach chair in the row closest to the water and waited. The only sounds were the waves crashing and the birds chirping in the lush greenery on the resort grounds behind me.

The sky was tinting purple. Gradually, orange peeked over the horizon. It was stunning as the first curve of the sun rose.

Mom would have loved this. She would have made me come out with her every morning to watch this. I wouldn’t have cared. I would have gladly woken up early every day to make her smile.

It’s time, Jake. Live your life. Be happy.

I was trying. I was here, breaking far out of my comfort zone, trying to find a new life to live. For her.

But I wasn’t happy.

I missed her. As selfish as it was to wish she were here when she’d been in so much pain at the end, I still did. I wanted to call her and tell her about Dani and how much I’d screwed up. I wanted to hear her tell me I was right. That love had brought her nothing but misery. That the end of her marriage wasn’t worth a few years of happiness.

From the way she spoke about my father, I knew there wasn’t much good to say. She tried to be diplomatic so her opinion didn’t taint mine, but it didn’t matter. I hated him from the moment he left, even before.

He left her––us––when we needed him the most. When she was at her lowest. When he should have been her rock in sickness and in health, like he promised.

Instead, he left.

The orange lifted as the sky blurred to pink, then a dark blue.

I should have brought her here. I should have left the league and taken her around the world. Not that she would have let me. She would have been furious if I gave up my chance to play in the NHL, not after all we sacrificed to get there.

A figure was coming toward me from the far end of the beach, running along the water’s edge. I watched from the corner of my eye as the person came closer. I could tell it was a woman, but it took until she was almost in front of me to recognize her.

“Dani.” I didn’t shout, but my voice broke through the near-silence as if I’d screamed.

She glanced over, missing a step, and stumbled before righting herself.