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Chapter Thirty-Four

Adeline

A new security guy we hadn’t met was giving us a hard time.

Conor puffed up his chest. “Man, I hate to say ‘do you know who I am’ but seriously, do you know who I am?”

“No access pass, sir, no entry.”

“Good job, Conor,” Rosie murmured. “Now you just made him mad.”

“Hey, kids, need an assist?”

Over my shoulder, I spotted Hatch approaching in his game day suit. He must have just arrived from the press box where the players on IR often watched the games.

“We need to see Dad,” Landon said.

“And Adeline needs to see Lars.” Rosie looked at me and shrugged. “Well, you do.”

Hatch nodded at Security. “Damon, these idiots are with me. Can we let them through this once?”

“Sure, Mr. Kershaw.”

Conor snickered, “Mr. Kershaw,” and led the rest of us into the arena’s inner bowels. “Dad’ll be in the dressing room.”

He walked on with Landon while Hatch pulled at my elbow. “Could I have a word?”

I slowed my roll, then stopped altogether. Rosie threw a quick glance of support over her shoulder and kept on walking.

Hatch and I had barely spoken at dinner last night. I had assumed he was mad at me along with Dad.

“Hatch, I’m so sorry about the game. I know it’s my fault?—”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not. Look, I had a talk with Dad this morning. He told me you’ve been feeling like you don’t contribute to the family. And if I’ve ever given you that impression, I’m sorry.”

Hatch had blamed me when Dad lost the Finals all those years ago, but he was a kid at the time, only twelve. I’d agreed with him, but maybe I’d done something else. Internalized my difference so much that it kept me at a distance from the people I loved more than anything.

“I’m not the same as the rest of you. And sometimes that bothers me.”

“Like we need more of whatever it is we offer.” He meant the boys and their masculine energy. “Addy, you’re my sister, completely unique, and one of the most amazing people I know.”

“Even though I’ve just ruined one of the best defensive partnerships in professional hockey?”

“They’ll get over it. The question is, will you? Do you want to?”

“I need to see Lars.”

He grinned. “Not Dad? He did just get ejected from the game.”

“He’s not the one with a broken nose.”

“Which he thoroughly deserved.” Dad stood at the corner of one of the myriad corridors in the arena’s backstage maze.

“I can’t believe you hit him.” I closed the gap and grabbed his jersey. Not gently, either. “Is he okay?”

“No idea. I’m mad at him, remember?” But he didn’t sound angry. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“This isn’t funny!”

“I’ll say. Your reckless disregard for my feelings has screwed with this team’s dynamic and put my swan song season in jeopardy. What do you have to say for yourself?”

I rolled my lips in to hide my smile. “I choose him, Dad. And I still love you.”

“Exam room’s that way.” He thumbed over his shoulder, then pulled me into his arms. A big hug, no words, absolutely perfect.

With one last look at Hatch, I headed toward the exam room and its open door. Lars was seated on a table, holding an ice pack to his face.

“Hi.”

He lowered the pack. I winced at the damage.

“Hi.” He sounded understandably nasally.

“Is this a bad time?”

“It’s never a bad time when you’re here.”

I stepped inside. “Just ran into my dad. I can’t believe he did that.”

“Can’t you?” Okay, he had a point. “Thanks for the meal last night.”

“Did Vicki enjoy it?” I tried not to sound sour.

“She did. Sends her love.”

That made me smile.

“She’s looking for an angle into my life, but all she’s got is Mabel. I’m not interested in Vicki.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Hated myself for it. Onto the next mess.

“I ruined the game.”

“Nah, your father and I did that all by ourselves. We had a good talk after. An important talk.”

I suspected as much, given my dad’s attitude, but it was gratifying to hear it confirmed. “So, the Dream Defense will be back in action for the next game.”

“Sure, but that’s not the partnership I want to discuss this minute.”

His nose was broken, his eye sockets bruised, his cheek raw and red. He was beautiful, my big-hearted warrior coming home from battle. Not that he thought so.

“I screwed up, Adeline. I didn’t fight for you when I had the chance.”

I took a seat beside him. “Want to tell me why you panicked?”

He took a moment. “If I could hold a grudge like that against my father, one that lasted long past his death, if I could betray your dad, my closest friend, if I could lie to all these people who had accepted me, given me the family I’d always craved, then what kind of man was I?

How could I be worthy of someone as good and kind as you? ”

I snorted. “I’m not that good. Or kind. I wanted you and I was prepared to sacrifice my relationship with my dad and my family and destroy a billion-dollar hockey franchise’s season into the bargain, all to get my way.”

“Yeah, you were.”

I thumped his arm. “You don’t have to agree!”

His chuckle turned into a wince. My poor guy.

“What I’m trying to say is that it might have been selfish, but you went for it, Adeline. For me. You saw something you wanted, something worth putting your heart and a lot more on the line for.”

“And you saw it, too. I don’t think even my feminine wiles are powerful enough to get you to risk everything that means so much to you.” I bit my lip. “Are we actually justifying all our selfishness in the name of?—”

“Love,” he finished. “Yeah, we are. I love you, Adeline. And I’m sorry I told your dad before I told you.”

“You did?”

“Out there on the ice. After the fourth, or maybe fifth punch.”

“Looking for an escape route from the beatdown?”

He snorted. Another wince. “That’s what he said. But no, I needed him to know the truth. I needed him to know I wouldn’t have crossed this line, created this chaos, and risked my partnership with him if the prize wasn’t worth it. My sweet, lovely Adeline.”

I considered his words. “But, when I told you how I felt—how I truly felt—you rejected me.” That had hurt and I needed him to know it. “I thought once my mom told you she knew, it would start this snowball of reveals and you’d … pick me.”

He closed his eyes, opened them again, and the pain I saw there told me how much he regretted it.

“I made a mess of it. Never think that in that moment I was choosing Theo over you. Or the team over this amazing love I’d found. I truly thought I was giving you an out, a chance to start your life without the baggage of me. I thought I was choosing the best path for you.”

I sniffed. “The best path is the one I choose for myself. And I choose you.”

He touched his forehead to mine. “I should have known better than to second guess you. You’ve taught me so much, not just how to look after Mabel, or fight for what I want, but how to open my heart.

Because you opened yours and showed me purity and love.

And I’ve a feeling you have so much more to show me. ”

He curled a hand around my jaw. “When Mabel arrived and I was in panic mode for that first hour, day, week, I thought my life was about to become smaller. Constricted and bound by my mistake. I was so wrong. Little did I know it was the start of my life becoming bigger, richer, brighter. Not just because of Mabel but because you came into it and showed me a new world. A love I couldn’t live without. ”

Tears flowed freely down my cheeks now, and he caught them with his thumb.

“I’m not saying I deserve you, but I want to be the kind of man you deserve.

The kind of dad Mabel deserves. The kind of friend your dad deserves.

Mostly, I want to stop expecting everyone to let me down.

To be like Sven. That’s not the blueprint I should set for my kid. For my life. For you and me.”

My lungs tightened. “I won’t let you down. I’m not going anywhere.”

“About that.” He rubbed a thumb along my bottom lip as I swiped at my wet cheeks. “I’ll wait for you.”

“Where am I going?”

“On another adventure. Maybe travel, school, a job somewhere. It could be here or there. What I’m trying to say is that you have the world at your feet.

I’ve got maybe a couple more years in me at this game because there’s no way in hell I’ll be working as long as your dad.

I’m hoping those years will be here, so Mabel can grow up singing silly songs with people who love her in the Rebels village, the best place I can imagine for her.

I’m going to fight Vicki for full custody because that’s what’s best for my daughter.

But I don’t want you to feel you have to be on hand, supporting us.

You already did that for your mom and your family.

This is your time. Spread your wings, fly into your future. ”

I’d known I loved this man for weeks now, maybe years. But with those words of support, I knew I would love him for the weeks and years ahead.

“I love you so much, Lars. It might have started as a schoolgirl infatuation, but I’ve peeled back a lot of gruff man layers?—”

“And you’re still here?”

“I’m still here. I see you, Lars Nyquist.” I touched his chest with my fingertips, then spread my hand over his heart.

“I see the heart and soul of you. The good dad, the great friend, the amazing lover, the better man. I’ve traveled the world, seen a few cool things, but I can’t think of any better adventure, any place I’d rather be, than right here with you and Mabel, my family and my music. ”

He sucked in a breath and in his deep blue eyes, emotion shone back at me.

“How did I get so lucky?”

“You worked hard to be this lucky, Lars. You deserve good things.”

He leaned in. “Or maybe I deserve sweet things. Adeline, the sweetest thing of all.”

His lips brushed mine, and I fisted the front of his jersey and took what I deserved.

My Great Love Story.

Trademark.