Page 202 of Pucking Sweet

“And I want you monitoring your heart rate more closely,” he goes on. “We need you tracking any dysrhythmias. It’s not me being alarmist to say a pacemaker could be on the horizon for you, Mr. Morrow.”

My stomach fills with lead. “Please, doc. You put a pacemaker in me, and I’m done. My hockey career will be over.”

He nods, his gaze somber. “True…but if retirement and a pacemaker could buy youtwentymore years with the people you love? Would it not be worth at least considering?”

I leave the doctor’s office. I can’t even tell you how I got to my car. Before I know it, I’m pulling up inside the practice arena parking garage. I make my way inside, and head up to the fourth floor. The elevator on the left pings, and the doors slide open.

I can’t help but smile as I step in. This is the elevator where Poppy and I got stuck. It was right on the floor of this elevator that we may have made a baby together. My son. He’s growing inside her right now. Every minute. Every second. There’s a clock ticking in my head, counting down the days until I get to meet him.

Fuck, is this really happening? Hockey is my life, right? It’s all I’ve ever wanted. I have to keep playing. Iwantto keep playing…right?

Maybe itwasmy life.

I let out a shaky breath, my eyes focused on that spot on the floor where I first made Poppy mine. Fuck, who are we kidding? She made me hers. What is hockey compared to a longer life loving her, loving Lukas, watching our child grow?

The elevator dings and the doors open. But I don’t go straight to Poppy’s office. I have a stop to make first.

“Hey, honey,”Poppy says brightly, waving me in with her phone to her ear.

Stepping in, I close the door, and glance around her newoffice. It has a wall of windows. My little pothos sits in a place of honor in a pink pot on the sill. This office is large enough for a couch and two chairs around a coffee table. She still has room for an executive desk too.

The walls are adorned with shots of the Rays in action. I smile as I take in the one in the middle. It’s Lukas and I, arms around each other, skating away from the camera. You can see our numbers large on our backs, 22 and 3. I have my stick in the air because I just scored my first goal as a Ray.

Poppy finishes up her phone call, a smile on her face. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. Come here, sweets.”

I step around her desk and give her a lingering kiss.

“Mmm, better than coffee,” she teases. “Did I know you were stopping by? You didn’t have a workout today, right?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Fuck me, now that I’m actually here, I don’t want to say anything. I don’t want to risk popping this perfect bubble we’re all in.

“For dinner tonight I was thinking that place over by the beach with the really good fried green tomatoes,” she says, shuffling things around on her desk. “You know, the one with the goat cheese and that spicy remoulade?”

“Sounds perfect.”

Something in my tone must give me away because she pauses. “What is it? What do you got there?” She glances down, finally noticing the manila folder in my hand.

Taking a deep breath, I open the folder. “I stopped by Vicki’s office and picked these up.” Pulling out all three contracts, I set them down on her desk.

She slides them over. “And what are these?”

“The love contracts we each have to fill out to make our relationship official with HR. I’ve already filled mine out and left a copy with Vicki,” I add, tapping the one filled in with blue ink.

She looks up, eyes wide. “Colton—”

“We don’t have to come out to anyone else,” I assure her. “Not until we’re all ready. But I want this cleared with HR. I want no question that I’m in a committed relationship with you both. And I updated my emergency contact,” I add. “I put you first, Lukas second…please don’t tell him.”

She smiles. “I won’t. Should I update mine to you?”

I brush her hair back with my fingers. “I’d like that.”

“Well, okay,” she says with a flap of her arms. “Seriously, what is going on?”

Steeling myself, I dive forward. “If the baby isn’t biologically mine, I want to adopt him. And I want the same for Lukas. I want all three of us to be named the legal parent with full rights.”

“Of course,” she says tears filling her eyes. “Honey, please just tell me what’s wrong.”