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Twenty-Three

Sheridan and Finn rushed into the family room at the arena with only a few minutes to spare before the team took the ice for skate around.

A noon game left little time to get packed for a flight to Florida that evening before she took Finn to sit with Hattie at the vet clinic.

Alek left for the arena super early that morning.

She knew because she’d lain awake waiting for the garage door to close before venturing downstairs.

She’d managed to avoid Alek all afternoon and evening yesterday.

Finn, who’d been exhausted from the sleepover the night before, coupled with worry over Hattie, had passed out as soon as they arrived home from the vet.

He’d been restless, though, and calling out for his parents in his sleep.

It was easier to hide out in Finn’s room under the guise of taking care of him than to face Alek.

Valentine’s reminder that Alek only thought of her as a sister was a wake-up call of sorts.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Jamie—and Madison—still cast a long shadow over her relationship with Alek.

At least, the relationship she wanted to have with him.

The closer she grew to him, the harder it was to live with herself for the role she played in the whole sordid affair of nearly a decade before.

She’d slipped back to her high school self, once again letting herself dream about a life with Alek.

Only now, that fantasy was for the three of them to be a family.

Hattie, too. Except she had no idea if he wanted that.

He certainly acted like he did. Yet he hadn’t corrected Valentine when he misspoke yesterday.

It would have been the perfect time to set the record straight.

The fact that he didn’t left her feeling unsure of everything.

“Can I go up to my seat?” Finn asked. “I want to tell Alek that Hattie is much better this morning.”

“Sure. Go ahead.” Sheridan took his coat and draped it over the back of a chair as he raced out.

Freya carried two cups of coffee over and handed one to Sheridan.

“Bless you.” Sheridan took a resurrecting sip.

“I figured with the past few days you’ve had that caffeine was likely needed. Although there are mimosas if you want something stronger. How’s Hattie?”

“Improving. Finn is a little hesitant to head out for Thanksgiving break tonight, but this actually works out better,” Sheridan told her.

“She can board at the vet while she heals. The staff agreed to FaceTime Finn so he can see her twice a day. Which reminds me, I need to get Finn’s phone from Claire before we fly out.

He left it at their house the other night. ”

“Claire’s not here yet. She’s still dealing with the police.”

Sheridan rocked back on her heels. “The police?”

“Yeah. Someone broke into their house while she and the kids were at church this morning. Likely the same crew who robbed Trey Van Horn and Dex Fletcher from the Growlers last night.”

“What?!” Sheridan noticed as she glanced around the room that the mood was more muted than usual.

“There’s been a rash of burglaries at the homes of pro athletes lately. The Growlers players had precautions in place and not much was taken.”

She felt a fission of fear crawl down her spine.

“What about at Claire and Gus’s? Did they lose a lot?”

Freya shook her head. “Claire’s parents are in town for an early Thanksgiving. Her dad skipped church. Luckily, he’s a retired cop and was able to scare them off before they got their hands on anything.”

“Very lucky.” Sheridan heaved a sigh. “And very scary.”

An image on the monitor caught her attention. Alek was warming up on the ice. When he shoved his mask on top of his head to grab a drink of water, she gasped.

“What happened to Alek? He looks like he’s been in a fight.”

Freya gave her an odd look. “You don’t know?”

Sheridan felt a little guilty for hiding away last night. “Uh, no. I was busy dealing with Hattie. I haven’t seen Alek since we took her to the vet.”

“He got in a fight with Brad Merriweather yesterday,” Freya announced.

“Oh my gosh! What were they fighting about?”

Freya scrutinized her for a drawn-out moment before replying.

“Henrik didn’t say. He was busy getting the new kid into town for tonight’s game.

Brad has been suspended indefinitely.” She lowered her voice.

“The team is negotiating with his agent to admit him to inpatient counseling. They’re citing his temper.

He tried to strangle Timothée.” She leaned in closer.

“If you ask me, I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy doesn’t have a concussion disorder.

And self-medicating with drugs, even if they are legal, doesn’t help. ”

Sheridan plopped down into the nearest chair. “Wow. I missed a lot while I was distracted with Hattie. How are Brooke and the boys?”

“She took them home to her parents. For good.”

“That was a smart move,” Sheridan said with a nod.

She was proud of the other woman for standing up for herself. It wasn’t always the easiest thing to do. There were so many times in her life when Sheridan had gone with the flow, toughing it out and not rocking the boat for the sake of her family. Mostly for the sake of Jamie.

The one time she had decided to take the reins in her life, she’d imploded a friendship. And crushed her heart in the process. Her hands shook just thinking about it. She could right that wrong. But at what cost to her future with Alek?

The WAGs began to file out of the room and into the arena to find their seats before the horn blew at the start of the first period. Freya and Sheridan followed.

“How is Valentine?” Sheridan scoured the group of WAGs, looking for Sloane. It was odd not to have the woman filming content before the game. “I hope Brad didn’t injure him, too.”

“The only thing hurting on that boy is his heart,” Freya said. “He and Sloane broke up last night.”

Her announcement had Sheridan nearly tripping over her own feet. “What?! I swear. I feel like an entire lifetime happened in the past forty-eight hours. Do you have any more tea to spill?”

“Only that Zack Picard is pouting because Sloane made a scene at his restaurant when she walked out on Timothée. Of course, a video of it landed on social media. Not only that but both the Growlers were being robbed while they were enjoying dinner there.”

Sheridan slapped her hand over her mouth and shook her head from side to side.

“I know,” Freya said. “You can’t make this stuff up.”

The Mayhem were already down two goals, and they weren’t even through the first period when Claire slipped into her seat next to Sheridan.

“How are you?” Sheridan squeezed her friend’s hand.

“Grateful my dad was home and that he didn’t shoot anyone,” Claire replied with a humorless laugh.

They jumped from their seats and cheered when Alek blocked a shot on goal after it slipped past the stick of the new defenseman.

Claire groaned. “A big day for that kid. He looks frenzied, though.”

“Truth be told, they are all playing out of sync today.”

“Not surprising. There’s been lots of drama in and out of the dressing room.”

“So I heard. Do you know what was behind the fight with Brad?” Sheridan knew Alek was disgusted with the situation with Jackson.

Still, she was surprised he’d confront his teammate about it.

Especially if it might upset the team’s cohesive play.

In Alek’s eyes, winning the Cup was the only thing that mattered.

Claire donned a critical look similar to the one Freya wore when Sheridan asked her the same question. “You really don’t know?”

She shook her head. “Freya said Henrik didn’t tell her.”

The other woman scoffed. “Freya is lying. They fought about you, Sheridan.”

The horn sounded to end the first period.

The Mayhem lost three zip. Alek’s streak of eight scoreless periods ended two minutes and thirty-nine seconds into the game.

And he couldn’t even blame Merriweather’s replacement.

Once the kid got past his first-period jitters, he’d played up to his potential.

Too bad none of the team’s points leaders—Valentine, Gus, and Picard—did the same.

They all seemed to be going through the motions out on the ice.

Alek included.

As a result, the dressing room was subdued when Coach walked in.

“There were some good moments out there. Unfortunately, there were some stupid ones, too. Valentine, that was a cheap shot you took. If you’re going to drop gloves and land in the sin bin, make it worth it next time.

Lucky for you, Jensen and his line carried us on the penalty kill.

” He looked at the new kid, Parker Dern, who’d been touted by many in the league as hockey’s next big thing.

“Solid job tonight, Dern. Keep it up.” Coach handed him a puck.

The guys broke out in applause.

“Let’s put this one behind us, boys,” he continued. “We’ve got a three-game road trip that ends in sunny Florida and a full day off with our families on Thanksgiving. Pack up your gear, and let’s be on our way to Dallas for tomorrow night’s game.”

As soon as the coaching staff exited, Alek stood.

“Look, boys, we are going to have an off game here and there. The important thing is for us to pull together on this road trip so we don’t have a string of them.

” He pulled the chain with the medallion out of his stall.

“Without a doubt, the guy who deserves this tonight is Dern. Welcome to the show, Junior. Great game.”

His teammates all stood and applauded. “Speech. Speech,” several of them chanted.

Dern pulled the medallion over his head. “Man, what a great night. I’m stoked to be here.”

Alek bit back a chuckle when the kid’s voice squeaked.

Gus guffawed beside Alek. “Jesus, he’s still a baby.”

“The rookie needs a nickname,” someone called out.

“The way he parked his ass in the corner and kept the other guys out of the crease, I think we should dub him Park-His-Ass,” Picard called out.