Page 34 of Breaking the Pucking Rules

It was fun being someone else for the night.

Being wild.

I may never have done anything as risky as that before, but it was a little reminder that Fun Casey still exists somewhere.

Somewhere between work and life, I’ve lost her. It was nice reconnecting with her, even if it was only for a few hours.

Scraping my hair back into a ponytail, I apply a light coat of makeup before returning to my bedroom, stuffing my feet into my sneakers, and swiping my bag from the floor.

It’s Sunday morning, and there’s only one place I need to be right now.

Nerves flutter in my stomach as I drive toward the arena, despite the chance of seeing him being slim.

Unless the guys have a Sunday home game, they’ll be enjoying a well-deserved day of rest. Dad should be, too. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t bumped into him here before now.

Unlike usual, when I pull up outside, I pause for a moment.

At some point, I’m going to have to face him. But as much as that terrifies me, I think him glancing my way and dismissing me is worse than him learning the truth.

Will I be able to live with being such an inconsequential part of his life when he has always been such a huge part of mine?

Swallowing down the inevitable disappointment, I kill the engine and shove the door open.

With my bag and my skates over my shoulder, I head inside.

“Casey,” the young girl behind reception says with a smile as I walk inside. “You’re late this morning.”

“Busy weekend,” I lie.

I may have had a wild Friday night, but since returning home the next morning, I haven’t left the apartment.

“Well, hopefully an hour on the ice will sort you out.”

Here’s hoping.

“Thank you,” I say softly before walking farther into the building that’s basically been my second home all my life.

Before Dad started coaching here, he was a proud LA Vipers winger. To this day, he still leads the team in the most goals scored in a career.

A few have come close, but no one has matched him quite yet.

He’s a hockey legend.

Players want to be on this team purely because of him.

They dream of being as good as he once was.

It’s incredible, and I’m so fucking proud of him.

Every single day, he inspires people. No, not just people; he inspires players that are already at the top of their game.

I shake my head as I push the door to the rink open and take a deep breath.

Home.

I lower myself to a bench, take my sneakers off, and begin lacing up my skates.

Once I’m ready, I sit up straight and look at the ice.