Page 173 of Pucking Sweet

I know Colton loves me, and I know he wants to say it. I think he’s waiting for me to say it first. I know Lukas loves me too…but I’m getting anxious worrying that he’llneverbe ready to say it. I look at the quiet strength of Ilmari on that couch, so poised as he refuses to let the press penetrate his hard shell. I look at Jake and Caleb, ready to defend Rachel and profess their love for her and each other.

What would Lukas do on that couch? He says he wants to fight for me, but I don’t need him to physically fight. I don’t need him championing my character to ESPN. I just need to know he’ll emotionally fight for me. Gosh darn it, I need to hear him say he loves me. Colton might be okay with only action, but I need words too. I need that validation. Without it, I feel frozen. Like I can’t move forward with either of them. I need us all on the same page.

Until then, I can’t tell them about the baby. I won’t use the news of a child as leverage to force an emotional confession. But the longer Lukas waits to say anything, the more likely this little chaos lentil will be the one to tell them both how things have changed.

God, why is this all so hard? Why are we even put in these impossible positions? Why can’t people just let others live? I’m in love with two men, and I want to grow old with them, and be happy with them, and raise their children without the trolls of the world telling us we’re terrible people.

Blinking back tears, I step out onto Jake’s front porch, breathing in the fresh beach air. Placing a hand on my belly, I take comfortin talking to Lentil. “Don’t you even worry about all the mean-spirited people in the world. They’re just jealous of us. They know we’re happy, and jealous people will always try to make happy people less happy. But we’re not gonna let them win, are we? I’m a fighter, and so are your daddies. We’re gonna fight for our happiness, okay? You just stay in there. I’m gonna make sure everything is okay.”

64

Well, color me impressed. Maybe I should start taking PR lessons from my own players because, in under a week, Jake, Ilmari, and Caleb just flipped the script on bad press. I’m standing in one of our team’s boxes at the LA arena, looking out at a sea of “Price” jerseys. Fans are waving signs and cheering, going crazy for Rachel and her guys.

Again, it was all their idea. I hardly had to do a thing except approve some promo materials and order some travel packages for flights and hotels to the game. In a show of solidarity, Jake, Caleb,andIlmari are all legally changing their last names to Price. It’s already been changed on their jerseys. Jake and Mars are down there now, playing a shutout game against the Kings. Nothing is getting past our goalie tonight. He’s made some truly spectacular saves.

I’m smiling from ear to ear as I feed off the joy and exuberance of the crowd. After a hellish week being torn apart by the media, this is what Rachel needed to see. She needed to see the joy again. She needed to know it could all be okay.

Heck, I needed to know it too.

I watch Lukas and Colton hop the boards, tagging out Jake and Jean-Luc. Lukas is playing with a full cage to protect the cut on his face. I begged him to wait another week to heal, but the man can’t be stopped. We’re deep into the third period now, and the Rays are up. My guys work as a team, moving the puck out of the defensive zone. They’re so beautiful together. So strong and good.

I have to tell them. I want them to know about the baby. I want them to know how much I love them both. I don’t want it to be a secret anymore. I want everyone to know.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and see it’s a text fromRachel. She’s sitting down right on the ice with the rest of her family. I tap the screen and read:

RACHEL: Just FYI, the boys and I made a bet. If this is a shutout game, we’re getting married tonight.

“What?” I shriek, gripping to the phone with both hands.

RACHEL: And no, this is not a joke. I’m marrying Ilmari, and Caleb is marrying Jake. Tonight.

I’m gonna have to ask Mark for another raise. We’ll call it the Price Family Bonus.

I look to the game clock. Less than three minutes left. That’s not enough time for the Kings to win this game. We’re up by too many points. But it’s enough time for them to score a point. Apparently, we’re holding out until the last second here because if Mars lets even one puck in that net, he’s not marrying Rachel tonight. With one look at our dialed-in goalie, I know that’s not happening. Nothing is going to stop this man from getting what he wants, and what he wants is Rachel Price.

We won.It was a shutout game.

And the Prices are now married.

It’s well after midnight, and all the guests are still celebrating. Needing a minute of peace and quiet, I escape outside into Hal Price’s sweeping back garden. Behind me, a path lit by a string of Edison bulb lights leads back up to the house. I hold Colton’s suit coat around my shoulders with one hand, warding off the mid-December chill as I take in the lights of Hollywood.

It was a beautiful wedding. Caleb and Jake got married first, declaring vows to each other that made me cry like a baby. Then it was Rachel and Ilmari’s turn. One look in his eyes as she came walking down the aisle was all it took to break me again.

He loves her. He says it out loud. He declares it in multiplelanguages. He takes her hand before god and man and vows to love her forever.Aina, he said. It means always. He will always love her.

Watching them marry each other did more than emotionally break me. It broke something in my brain too. It cracked a truth wide open. Oh god, why did I never think of this before now—

“Hey.”

I glance over my shoulder to see Colton coming down the lit path, holding two glasses of champagne. He hands me one, and I take it wordlessly. Tears fill my eyes as I look down at it. He doesn’t know. How could he when I haven’t told him?

He clinks his glass with mine and takes a sip. “Crazy night, huh?”

I make no move to drink my champagne. “Yeah…crazy.”

“What’s wrong?”

I smile up at him, knowing it doesn’t meet my eyes. “What makes you think anything’s wrong?”