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I cup her cheek and smile down at her. “I love you, Lily Johansson.”
She kisses the head of my cock before rising to her feet. Then, using her stage voice, she whispers, “I love you more today than yesterday, Ash.”
I trace my finger down her nose and across her top lip.
“Promise me we will always be like this.” Her hopeful eyes burn deep into my soul.
“I promise.” I kiss her lips and she sighs contentedly.
“I want to have a baby, Ash. I’m ready to start a family.”
Imagining Lily pregnant makes my dick spring to life again. “I think I can help you with that. Now get on the bed, Suki Cockoff. And put your wedding ring back on. Let’s make a baby.”
Giggling, she runs to do as she’s told.
I will never let anything come between us, Lily Johansson, I promise.
PART 2
THE PRESENT
15 YEARS MARRIED
“What the hell happened to us?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ash – The Evening After the Prologue
Lily and I are at Bree and Troy’s dinner party.
Something they host every couple of months, ensuring we keep in touch, and for those with kids, allow them to have ‘adult time’.
How I wish that was the case for Lily and me.
As our marriage progressed, and once her business took off, her focus changed from building the business to starting a family. All she ever dreamed about was having a family of her own and all I ever wished for was to give her everything to make her happy. And yet I couldn’t give her the one thing she dreamed of; a baby.
Something our friends are acutely aware of.
Unless Lily asks about their kids, they don’t share.
Friends since we were all drafted to the NHL the same year, Bree and Troy along with Candy and Brayden, Buster and Leon who are yet to settle down, both bringing plus ones along tonight that I didn’t catch the name of, have remained friends. Troy is now the Eagles Video and Coaching Analytics Coordinator, while Brayden is one of three of our assistant coaches. Buster got himself out of the game altogether and went on to become an author, writing crime books set in Edmonton. His latest book became a New York Times bestseller, and we couldn’t be happier for him. Leon, on the other hand, is still a self-confessed man whore who, following his retirement from hockey, went on to become a player agent and owns a sports bar with Buster. We remain tight but don’t get much downtime to see each other lately.
Completely focused on her business, I don’t think Lily meets with Candy and Bree as often as she used to either. Which is a shame. They were always close.
The past few years have been hectic, and since we won the Stanley Cup again for the third year running this year has become even more stressful. Everyone wants to know how I do it, how the team does it, and what training, drills, coaching, and specialist training are we doing. What’s our secret? The truth is, together, we just work. The magic formula is all of us. But everyone is watching. They want to see if we can do it again this season. Can we break the record no one has ever achieved before? And that weight of expectation is playing havoc with my sanity, sleep, and stress levels. I can feel it building, as if someone has wrapped their fist around my lungs, squeezing every last drop of air until I can’t breathe. Some days I can’t concentrate, on others my heart races so fast I can’t regulate it.
Add to that, the mounting pressure it’s putting on my marriage. It’s reached peak levels and I've barely seen Lily.
I miss my friend, my lover, the only person I trust to share everything with. And yet, I haven’t told her how unwell I have been feeling; the heart palpitations, headaches, insomnia. I swear I’m on the brink of having a mental breakdown.
All I do is run about, replay video tapes, and manage and organize the players. Media and press interviews never stop and I stupidly volunteered myself to coach the peewee team for the local group home. I am seriously considering telling them I can’t do it anymore. But the boys are always so invested; they listen to me and the way they look at me like I made their whole day fills my heart with joy.
But it’s all taking its toll.
I haven’t been to the gym in weeks, which is unheard of.
And I’m late for everything.
