Page 71 of Score Her Heart

After the game, Noah was getting hammered with questions by the media since he had gotten a goal and an assist in the game. Despite assisting him on the goal, I was able to slink away to the showers. I checked my phone after I got dressed and was a little disappointed that I hadn’t heard from Fi.

Hallsy slapped me on the back. “Hey, man, you coming out for drinks tonight?”

I shook my head and started typing a message to Fi. “Nah,” I answered.

“Oh,” Hallsy said, dark eyes smiling. “You miss your wife; I get it. I miss Mia so much when we’re on the road.”

I nodded but was tight-lipped about the whole thing. Yeah, I had missed my wife, but I wasn’t sure if she missed me. I also didn’t like that this morning, she was so sad and crying. I think she had still been drunk, but I didn’t know what to think. What was she sorry about? And why was she crying and begging me not to leave her? I had a whole day off tomorrow, no practice, no games. I wanted to spend it with her as much as possible. If she would let me.

Chapter Twenty-Three

FIONA

I woke groggily and in a haze with the familiar pounding of a hangover in my head. It felt like a giant took a sledgehammer to my brain. I didn’t even want to open my crusty eyes, but when I wiped my hand across my face, I realized the problem was not just sleep. I had been crying.

What the fuck?

The last thing I remembered was freaking out when Finnegan told me that Riley married me because he loved me. Then I went to Dinah’s with a bottle of whiskey to distract myself from the confusing feelings. And also to knock some sense into her so she would beg Noah to take her back. Since she broke up with him for no good reason, the kid had been a real shit to be around. I knew Riley tried to mentor the younger guy, which was why he had asked me if I could intervene. Well, I did, by avoiding the fact that my brother thought my husband was hopelessly in love with me. I vaguely remembered D trying to tell me the same thing last night after she had drunk texted Noah. Oh, woof. I better call her later.

I slid my eyes to the other side of the bed, and something wrenched inside my chest at the sight of it empty. I squinted up at the ceiling, trying to remember how I got home in the first place. Had D put me into an UBER last night? No, she was just as bad as I had been.

HOLY SHIT!

Noah and Riley had come over to her condo after they got off the team jet. Guilt, or maybe it was all the whiskey, bubbled up inside me as I remembered that Riley had a game today. I ran a hand across my face and groaned. I was the worst hockey wife.

I pulled my left hand back when it felt odd. My eyes widened, and I swore when I noticed my wedding ring was missing. Why was my wedding ring missing? I couldn’t remember anything from last night.

The condo was quiet, but when I looked at my phone, I knew Riley had already left for the arena. He had left a note on the bedside table along with a glass of water, which I drank quickly. I didn’t think there was any way I was going anywhere today. Especially not to the game if I couldn’t find my wedding ring. What would Riley think if he saw me without it?

I got up out of bed and paced. Then I went to the kitchen to eat some toast because it was all I could stomach at the moment. Luckily, I was keeping the whiskey down, but all I was thinking about was how Riley would look at me when he came home and saw me not wearing my wedding ring. I didn’t want that.

I finished my toast and started tearing apart our bedroom, looking for that stupid ring. I looked under the bed, opened all the drawers in the dresser, checked the box in the walk-in closet where Riley kept his cufflinks, and finally went to the bathroom. Nowhere. My ring was nowhere to be found. I stormed around the living room, searching behind every cushion, and even checked the damn refrigerator. Drunk Fiona was known to put things in weird places. Still nothing.

I slumped on the couch in defeat. I pulled out my phone and dialed Dinah’s number.

“You suck, you know that, right?” she said by way of greeting.

“Sorry, but it worked, didn’t it?”

“I’m not sure. I was too drunk to talk to Noah last night. I think we’re gonna talk when he gets home.”

“That’s good, though? You still want to be with him, right?”

She sighed. “More than anything. Anyway, do you feel like hot garbage too?”

I laughed. “Yup. And I have another problem.”

“What’s up?”

“I can’t find my wedding ring.”

She was silent for a minute. “Hang on. I’m going to go check if it’s here.”

I waited in silence on the line while she searched her condo. I sipped at my glass of water and tried to make my hangover disappear.

“Sorry, Fi, I can’t find it, but I’ll keep looking,” Dinah said when she got back on the line.

“Fuck, okay. Thanks. I better go; I need to find it before Riley gets home.”