Page 26 of Score Her Heart

She was distant and texting on her phone as we waited for our bags to come around the carousel. When she looked up from her phone, she asked, “So what’s your schedule like this week?”

I grimaced and scratched my face. “Practice today. We travel tomorrow, game in Minnesota Tuesday, back here for a home game on Thursday, off Friday, but I have another home game on Saturday.”

“Oh.”

“Will you come to the game on Saturday?” I asked before thinking about it.

She eyed me cautiously. “You want me to?”

“It would be nice if you could come to my game.”

She put her phone away. “I don’t know if I can. I’m still on deadline and have a lot of work to do.”

I nodded, understanding her reasons even if I didn’t like them.

“Well…how about next Saturday night? My teammates Noah and TJ usually have people over.”

“Maybe.”

Our bags finally came around on the carousel, and I grabbed hers for her. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you home? It’s not that far.”

She shook her head and waved me off. “It’s fine; Katie’s coming to get me.”

“Okay…so I guess we’ll plan for something Thursday or Friday?” I asked, hopeful that I wouldn’t come back from Minnesota with divorce papers waiting for me in the mail.

She nodded. “Sure.” She had a smile on her face, but I knew her well enough to know it was a smile she reserved for her mom. She was faking it, and I couldn’t understand why.

“I can wait with you,” I offered while we walked outside to the pick-up area.

“Oh, Riley, that’s sweet, but you don’t have to do that.”

I nodded. She seemed firm on this, and I didn’t want to push it. I turned to her and snaked my hands up behind her neck, sliding one hand to grip her there as if to say she was mine. She looked at me like I had knocked the wind out of her, and then I leaned down to plant a long and lingering kiss on her lips.

I rested my forehead against hers when I pulled away. “I wasn’t lying, Fi. I want this marriage to work.”

“O-okay,” she stuttered out but avoided meeting my eyes.

I brushed my hand over her cheek and grasped her jaw in my hand. I kissed her again, and I smiled against her lips when I felt her hand slide to the back of my neck. She lightly stroked my short blond hair while we kissed goodbye.

“See you later, okay, sweetheart?”

She nodded but stared at me wordlessly as I walked away. A part of me wanted to stay with her and make sure Katie got there okay, but I didn’t want to be late for practice. Once I got home, all I wanted to do was drop down into my bed and take the longest nap ever, but I had to get to practice, and since Benny lived close by, he swung by to take me to the rink.

“DUDE!” he exclaimed when he saw my wedding ring glint under the light in my kitchen. “You seriously got married?”

I nodded but fidgeted with the wedding band around my finger. I hadn’t taken it off since Fi slipped it on my finger a couple days ago. I was a hockey player, so I was superstitious, and taking it off made me think she would know and she would want this to be over. I didn’t want to ever take it off, but I knew I had to when I was playing. Like most teams, the bulldogs had banned wearing rings when we were on the ice. It was too risky to take a puck to the hand that at best led to you having to get the ring cut off, but at worst led to a gruesome, career-ending injury. No way I would risk an injury like that.

“So where’s your new bride anyway?” he asked. I flipped off the lights in my condo, and we walked out to the parking garage together.

I scratched the back of my head. “Um…”

“Did you agree to a divorce already?”

I shook my head and climbed into his SUV. “It’s complicated.”

He put the car into drive and started off. “How so?”

“Well, for one, she was with someone else for five years and then up and married me,“ I explained with a sigh.