Page 44 of Absolutely Pucked (Punk as Puck #3)

FORD

“Left! Go, take the fucking shot!”

The ice beneath my sled was covered in thick piles of snow. We were playing a rough, intense game. I didn’t know what had gotten into everyone, but it was almost like someone was pumping adrenaline into the air.

Or maybe it was just me. Killian was meant to be home tonight. His flight out of SFO was delayed by fog, so he didn’t make it in time for the game, but that was fine. The point was, he was on his way.

And he was a free man.

For now.

I was eventually going to make him mine in every sense of the word, but we had time, and I wanted to save for a ring he deserved.

The game was also an important one. It was Tucker and Boden’s last hurrah. It was the last time I’d see them with their Wolves sweaters on. It was the last time their sleds would touch this ice. The last shot on goal Tucker would take. The last penalty for fighting Boden would get in our sin bin.

I was thrilled for them, but my mourning period would be long and intense.

I couldn’t think about that now though. Boden shot the puck under Dennis’s sled, and it hit my stick. I turned, seeing Tucker check Brady, who had been coming right for me, and then I saw it. I had a single shot on goal.

And I took it.

There was just enough time to hear the clink of the puck bounce off the poles, past Georgie’s glove, and hit the back of the net before the buzzer sounded. Then I was met with a face full of ice as both Boden and Tucker’s intense celly brought me to the ground.

The ice tasted amazing.

And so did the victory. I couldn’t hear over the team’s screaming, but I knew the meager crowd our little community team brought in was enjoying it just as much as we were. This night was…well, it was a lot.

It was the last night for so many things, but it was also going to be a first. I had a key in my bag and a mostly unpacked, brand-new apartment that Killian would be walking into for the first time.

Getting myself upright, I swiped powdered, shredded ice off my face and looked at both Tucker and Boden, who were openly crying. Now that they’d started, I couldn’t hold back. There would be no big ceremony. No lifting jerseys to the rafters. No red carpet and big speeches. No presser.

They’d move on as though it was like nothing, only for us, it would never be nothing .

How could it be? This team had created the family that we were, and while nothing could break it now, we were losing something.

“You all need to get me out of here before I totally lose it,” Tucker said with a sniff.

We quickly gave our victory head-bops to Mikey, then exchanged a good game with the other guys before pushing ourselves off the ice. There were crutches and wheelchairs waiting everywhere as the guys slid out of their sleds, and it wasn’t long before we were in the locker room.

The mood was subdued for the victory that it was. It wasn’t a playoff game. It wasn’t a trophy game.

It was…just a game. A last game.

I sat under the spray in my little shower stall on the bench for a little too long.

Boden was muttering in angry French as he fought with his legs, which always spasmed after a night like this.

I could hear Tucker laughing at him, making fun of his toes, and the other guys slowly making their way out after getting dressed.

“Dude, you grow a fucking mermaid tail or what?” Tucker finally asked.

Reaching for the knob, I turned off the water and grabbed my towel, drying off my chest and dick before snagging my crutches and moving into the main room. Naked as fuck and entirely surprised, I almost hit the floor when I saw Killian standing there, arms over his chest, smirking.

“Oh, what the fuck?”

Tucker burst into laughter. “Totally worth it.”

“I hate that you two are talking now,” I snarled. I didn’t mean that. Not even a little. Tucker was still a little weird with him, but that was fading. The only saving grace for my relationship was that in spite of being identical, they couldn’t be more different.

I had never once looked at Killian and thought about his brother.

They had the same laugh though, and it echoed around the tiles as Killian walked over and set his hands on my hips.

“You can’t afford the fine for that shit,” Boden reminded me.

I peered around Killian’s shoulder. “You don’t even go here anymore.”

Flipping me off, Boden spun in his chair and jerked his head toward the exit. Tucker followed, and when the door slammed, we were alone.

“Were you two planning that?”

“No. I texted him a few minutes ago and let him know I was in town. He said it would be funny for me to catch you with your dick out.”

I sniffed. “Funny?”

“Well, maybe not funny. Not to me, anyway.” He reached down and palmed me. I wasn’t going to get hard. I never did have a thing for being in public. But his touch felt so fucking good anyway. “I’d like to get this and you home.”

Home. Our home.

Surging up, I kissed him, then shoved him away and moved over to the bench so I could get dressed.

I didn’t bother with Carol-Ann. I would have ripped her off and thrown her in the closet the moment I got in the door anyway, so I shoved her into my hockey bag, then let Killian pick it up as I grabbed my crutches and led the way to the parking lot.

His car was next to mine, and I squinted. “Let me ride with you. You can drop me off in the morning to grab it.”

Leaning in, he kissed the side of my neck. “Yes. I want to hold your hand on the way home.”

Fuck, the way he just…said things like that.

Things that still tripped over my tongue from fear that it would be the one thing that killed all of Killian’s desire for me.

I knew that was irrational, but I couldn’t help it.

And he never faulted me for being the one who showed with my actions instead of my words.

He did exactly as promised too, his fingers playing over my palm as he talked about his trip.

He avoided details about the hearing, which made sense.

Neither one of us wanted to invoke Delia’s name in this moment.

He talked about her sometimes, but not often.

He reserved those moments for when Tucker was up for rehashing old shit.

And that was fine by me. I understood that all of Killian’s past shaped him into the man he was today, and I could appreciate that because I fucking loved this man. But just like my stepdad and mom shaped me, I didn’t want to talk about them either.

I didn’t want their ghosts ruining my happy home.

We got in, and Killian gently set my hockey bag against the wall by the linen closet, looking around at the space that was now ours. He’d helped me pick it out, of course, but then he’d been across the country to deal with his divorce, so I was in charge of decorating.

I’d been tempted to put up a blanket fort. I settled for putting string lights all around the bedroom instead and filling the bed with as many pillows and comforters as I could manage. Most of them had come from Killian’s attempt to woo me.

He grinned when he saw it, grabbing me by the hips and lifting me. I wrapped my leg around his waist, arms around his shoulders as he carried me to the bed and laid me out on the soft cushions.

I hissed when his gentle hands met tender bruising.

“Can you get hard tonight?” he asked.

I assessed myself, then winced. “I, uh…I’m not sure.”

He breathed out like he was relieved and kissed me deep and soft and slow. “Me either. It was a long flight and a horrible day. All I could think about was being with you. Is that okay? If we just…have this?”

His skin against mine, sharing breath, basking in the heat of each other, and the knowledge that this was it.

It was fucking heaven.

He pulled the blankets back, and we crawled onto the cool, freshly washed sheets before he carefully pulled my sweats off, then removed his clothes. He left them in a pile beside the bed before curling into me.

He felt so perfect in my arms. He fit there like he’d always belonged.

“So,” I said after a long silence. “How was it?”

“More fun than the state fair,” he said with a snort, holding me a little closer. There was a tense, heavy beat of silence. “It was hard.”

“Did she show up?”

He nodded against the top of my head. “She was there. She didn’t say much. She didn’t fight me on anything. I didn’t expose all her dirty secrets, and we walked away with whatever we’d come in with. Everything else was split down the middle.”

“Like the bible baby,” I said.

He laughed softly. “Mhm. Except there was no one around to care enough about the baby to save it. The house is going on the market. She’s keeping all the furniture because she picked it out. I’m keeping my car, she’s keeping hers. It’ll be like the marriage never existed.”

I frowned. “That feels…” Sad, sort of? Strange? “Wrong.”

“I know,” he admitted. His voice was a little rougher than before. “What she did—how she did it, how she hated me and tried to convince me it was love—that’ll stay with me. But it doesn’t matter now.”

My brow furrowed deeper and I leaned back, looking up at him. “How does it not matter?”

His gaze held mine, and then he leaned in for a kiss. “Because I’m yours. I think she knew it too. She saw the look on my face. She saw that I was happy. I think that destroyed her a little. She has nothing. No one.”

“Fitting punishment,” I said. I was unwilling to be kind toward her. She tried to destroy two of the people I loved most in the world.

He sighed. “I don’t really want to think about it anymore. I closed that book today, and I never have to open it again. I have this now. I have you.”

“You do.”

“If I had walked away with nothing, it would have still been worth it.”

My heart felt too big for my chest .

He traced a touch around my lips, and I kissed the tip of his finger before grinning. “Remind me we need to send that bartender a muffin basket,” he said.

The who? “The barten—oh. Yeah. They did kind of make this happen, didn’t they?”

“Them, and fate,” Killian said before taking my chin and pressing a lingering kiss to my mouth. “And Delia for letting me go. And you, for being perfect.”

“And you, for being all right and all wrong at the same time.”

He laughed and closed his eyes, breathing in deep. “I’m happy, Ford. I am so fucking happy.”

I wrapped my arms and leg around him and let my heartbeat sync with his. “Feels a little like forever, doesn’t it?”

He met my gaze, then gave a single nod.

In this, there was no doubt. I was right.

This was ours to keep.