Page 40 of Tempting the Goalie (Riverside U #5)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

L uc

For the past month, Izzy and I have been going back and forth on what to do about our future together.

We know we want to be together. She prefers to stay close to Val -Du-Lys.

That is something I never thought about doing.

Going back to my decrepit house with my alcoholic father wasn’t on the top of my list. But now Elyna is living on the Thornes’ property, and I find myself missing little Braden.

I FaceTime them as much as I can, but the little man is growing fast. For now, Izzy applied to both Canadian and American programs, and I am fending off pressure from multiple teams to sign.

I’m in a better position than I ever thought I would be, but I also don’t want to go to a team that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup in multiple decades.

“I wish you were coming with me,” I say to her. I’m leaving on a flight to Punta Cana with my friends for Aaron and Briar’s wedding.

“It makes sense for me to go home for the holidays. If I don’t, I won’t see my family until Easter. It’s too long.”

I get it, she is super close with her family. They are tightknit and loving. They watch out for each other. I get the appeal.

“Okay, I’m going to miss you,” I say to her.

I kiss the hell out of her and hear Macklin clearing his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, bro, but the Uber is outside, and we all have a plane to catch.”

He and Ruby are flying out with me, along with Annie and Cade, and Charlie and Finn.

I give Izzy one last hug and I leave. I sit on my own on the plane ride, which gives me a lot of time to think. It’s funny how distance makes the heart grow fonder. I love Izzy with all my heart but not having her with me makes me ache for her in a completely different way.

We all arrive to the hotel where Briar and Aaron stayed at last year on their trip here. It’s where they connected and conceived Atlas, so they felt like it was the right place to get married.

Aaron is busy with his family and guests, getting ready for the big day, so I can’t really catch him for a talk.

He’s the friend I always go to for the deep stuff in life.

And right now, I need to decide which team to sign with while Izzy doesn’t know which school she’ll be accepted to.

The other option is to enter the draft at number forty and see where I land. It’s like playing Russian roulette.

I head down to the pool and find my friends hanging out and drinking.

Macklin and Ruby are here but I live with them, so I see them all the time.

Finn, our old captain, is here along with Cade, one of our old enforcers.

I haven’t seen Finn since he graduated in the spring.

Cade still drops by for visits at the hockey house because Annie is still in town working on a veterinary degree.

Finn and Cade are both in the NHL now, so they would be a good source to tell me what to expect.

When the girls head into the water to swim. I stay behind with Cade, Finn, and Macklin. If Aaron isn’t around to give me advice, they are the next best thing.

“So how’s life in the NHL, boys?” I ask with a beer sitting on my stomach, leaning back in a chair.

“Hectic,” Finn answers. “Always traveling. Little downtime.”

“I heard you and the girlfriend are living together,” Cade says.

“Her name is Izzy.”

“So where did you meet, Izzy?” Finn asks.

“She’s my best friend from back home,” I share with them.

“So this is her first year at Riverside U?” Finn continues with the questions.

“She’s a senior, like me,” I say and his brows draw together.

“He kept her away from us,” Macklin cuts in. “Dude was scared to bring her around.”

He isn’t wrong, so I just smile and shake my head like I find him annoying.

“So she’s important,” Finn states.

“Very, which is why I don’t know what to do.

I have offers waiting on me. Izzy plans on going to grad school but she doesn’t know where she’ll land.

She wants to be in Quebec, which is the province we’re from, so she can be close to her family.

I want to be in the States on a team that’ll invest in me as a player. ”

“It’s tough,” Cade admits. “There’s no perfect solution, but you want to make sure she’s living out her dreams and you’re living out yours. Otherwise, one of you will live with regrets, and that kind of thing can fester in someone.”

He makes a solid point.

“I have to agree with Cade,” Finn says. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, life can be hectic and can pull you and her in different directions. You have to put the work into your relationship, especially if you find yourself in a long-distance situation like Charlie and me.”

“Annie and I also have to put in the work. I may be a short plane ride away, but we aren’t together most of the time. When I’m on the road, my head needs to be in the game,” Cade adds. “So, yeah, it takes work and commitment, but at the end Annie is the one waiting for me and that’s what matters.”

“Whoa, you both have seriously grown-up,” I laugh.

“You have too,” Finn says. “I could see a change in you from the moment we arrived. You seem, I don’t know, settled, content, happy.”

“I’m all of the above. I went home this summer and had to face some demons from my past. Izzy helped me through it. I couldn’t have done it without her.”

“So what will you do?” Macklin asks.

“I don’t know,” I reply. It seems like what the guys are saying is that Izzy and I need to choose our paths and ensure we can somehow make us work, but that doesn’t feel right to me.

“Take your time. You’ll know what the right move is at the right time,” Cade advises. “It’s about making the right play.”

I nod.

We spend the rest of the day chilling by the pool.

At night, we head out for dinner. Throughout the day I text Izzy to see how things are going back home.

Her brothers are keeping her busy and her father’s new girlfriend is apparently super sweet and living with him at the main house.

Izzy really likes her, and it makes me happy because growing up not having a mother figure was something she struggled with.

The next morning, I wake with a heavy feeling in my chest. My friends gave me a lot to think about, but every relationship is different. What works for one doesn’t work for another.

I wake in the morning and shower and shave. Then I call Izzy on FaceTime.

“Hi there,” she says grinning. She’s still in bed, her chocolate-brown hair splayed across her pillow.

“Hi yourself, beautiful. I wish you were here with me,” I say to her.

“I’m kind of wishing the same thing. I spent time with the family. Elyna and Braden were over for dinner last night. He’s grown so much, Luc. You wouldn’t believe it. He’s saying Dada Dada and he’s crawling everywhere. He can take a few steps. It’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.”

“I don’t doubt it,” I smile. Her excitement, love, and commitment to her family have always been endearing qualities.

Even the way the Thornes have given Elyna a place to live and a job is truly a testament to the kind of people they are.

She goes on to tell me about her Christmas plans and how she plans to go skiing with her brothers after.

We end the call with, “I love you and miss you and wish you were here.” I start to realize that certain decisions we make now will determine how our relationship will look.

I don’t want the I miss yous. I don’t want the I wish you were heres.

I want her. She followed me to Riverside because she worried about our friendship.

She lived far away from home for the last four years for me.

Things are becoming clearer to me. I just don’t have it all figured out yet.

The next day we are all invited to a pre-wedding brunch for the wedding party minus the happy couple, who has gone to the beach with the photographers to take photos with Atlas and Aaron’s family.

Just before the ceremony a bunch of the groomsmen and me, the best man, are hanging out in one of the rooms the hotel gave us to get ready together.

The men are all wearing off-white suits with a white dress shirt underneath.

I have my hair slicked back so it won’t fall into my face mid-ceremony, and I’ll screw up my best man duties. It’s a logical fear.

“You’re so calm,” I say to Aaron.

“I wouldn’t say I’m calm. I’m excited. I can’t wait to make Briar my wife,” he states.

My best friend looks so at peace and happy. I completely understand how he feels. He’s making the woman he loves his forever. I want that too.

The ceremony begins and the wedding party walks down the aisle in pairs.

My friends all walk with their girlfriends but since mine isn’t here, I walk on my own.

We make it to the head of the aisle. They are getting married on the beach so there’s a breeze brushing off the water.

Aaron comes down the aisle with his dad.

He stops beside me and I watch him watch Briar coming down the aisle, pushing his mom in a wheelchair.

The emotion in his eyes does something to me and suddenly I’m pulled into a fantasy.

This isn’t Aaron and Briar’s wedding it’s mine, and Izzy is walking toward me in a white dress.

My heart picks up pace and I feel so alive, so impatient, like I can’t wait for her to close the space between us.

My fantasy gets interrupted when the pastor asks Aaron for the ring, cue my role in the ceremony.

I take the black velvet box out of my front pocket and pass it to him.

One of the guys is holding little Atlas in his arms. They are a family.

When Aaron kisses his bride, we all cheer and then the wedding party begins, but me, I’m sitting on pins and needles.

I want to get back home to Izzy. I know exactly what I need to do.