forty-five

GRIFFIN

Isla opens the door the next morning when I knock. She doesn’t look all that surprised to see me standing there, holding a tray of four coffees.

“Hey.”

Her eyes, soft and sympathetic, sweep my face, lingering on the bruise her fiancé gave me the night before. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

“Bringing coffee to my wife. And my brother- and sister-in-law.”

She grins at that. “Not sure that’s how it works.”

“I guess I don’t really care how it works. I consider you family, Teach. That’s all that matters to me.” The smile I give her is genuine, but it fades when my thoughts turn to Mira. “How is she?”

Isla sighs. “I don’t know. She hasn’t come out of her room yet this morning. You two have really been married these past three and a half months?”

“We have. Best three and a half months of my life.”

Heavy footsteps sound from inside the apartment, then Maddox is there at his fiancée’s back. My best friend of over a decade greets me with a fierce scowl. “The fuck you doing here, Wright?”

I knew it would hurt if Maddox decided to hate me rather than accept my marriage to Mira, but I didn’t expect to feel such a sharp pang of loss.

She’s his sister, and I’m glad his loyalty is to her—I am—but that doesn’t mean I’m not hurt by the distance he’s putting between us.

Maybe for the first time, I realize that not only could I lose my wife, but I could lose my best friend too.

Losing either one would wreck me, but losing both?

How the hell am I supposed to move on from that?

I can’t let it happen.

“Can we talk?”

Maddox’s scowl grows deeper, the lines between his eyebrows becoming canyons. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Nothing to talk about? There’s everything to talk about, Madds.

I’m married to your sister. I’m in love with her.

And I get that you’re pissed at me, but you’re my best friend.

We’re teammates. We play on the same line, for fuck’s sake.

We can’t just ignore this.” I’m sure he’d like to.

I’m starting to see that the Graves siblings would choose to ignore a lot of things if people let them.

“You were my best friend,” he says, voice cold. But beneath the icy exterior, he’s hurt. In his mind, I lied to him for months. Betrayed him. I try to remember that when my chest squeezes and aches.

Isla puts her hand on Maddox’s chest. “You don’t mean that.”

Though his face softens when he looks down at his fiancée, his tone is steel. “I do.”

“Look, man, I know you think I’m the bad guy here, and I’d probably feel the same way in your shoes.

But I won’t apologize for loving your sister, and I’m not sorry we’re married.

I wish we would have told you right away, but Mira asked me not to, and you, of all people, should understand that when the woman you love asks you to do something, you do it.

Because you want to make her happy. To make sure she knows that she’s the most important person in the world and her comfort is your top priority.

So I’m sorry if you’re hurt, but I’m not sorry for putting Mira’s needs and wishes above yours. ”

Maddox’s eyes blaze, and his mouth opens, a retort on his lips. But whatever he’s going to say is cut short by a soft voice.

“Griffin?”

The door swings fully open, and the sight of her settles the beast in my chest that’s been pacing since I left her last night. My wife.

She looks tired. Dark circles make her green eyes look haunted.

Her skin is paler than normal, and her dark hair struggles to escape the confines of two messy braids.

One of my shirts hangs down to her knees, which are covered in a pair of leggings.

If she was waking up at home with me, she’d only wear the shirt. Or nothing.

I clear my throat, telling myself that this is not the time to be thinking about my wife naked. Not when she’s looking at me with those big, sad eyes. She looks as lost as I feel without her.

“Sunshine. Hi.” I hold out the coffees. “Brought you your favorite.”

Maddox scowls, Isla smiles, but I only have eyes for the woman I love as she fights an internal battle.

She wants to run into my arms. I can see it, clear as day.

But she holds herself back. That’s fine.

I can be patient. I can wait her out, prove I’m not going anywhere.

I can show up every day for as long as it takes until she’s ready to admit what I already know.

Mira and I are as inevitable as the tides. She’s the moon and I’m the waves. She calls, I answer.

“Can I take you out for breakfast, baby?”

My best friend doesn’t like that, and I have to fight a grin when he grumbles his displeasure. Tough shit. He’s gonna have to get used to me calling his sister all sorts of sickening pet names.

Mira sucks her lower lip between her teeth, considering me. “I have a lot of work to do…”

I nod, having expected this. I’m not happy, but I expected it.

Snagging my coffee from the carrier, I hand her the rest. Then I grab the bag I’d set to the side and hand her that too.

“Okay. Tomorrow, then. I brought you some clothes and things I thought you might need. Obviously, you can come home whenever you want. To pick things up or to stay. But this way, you have the essentials.”

Tears pool in Mira’s eyes, and I hate it. I want to shove my way through the door and wrap her in my arms, kiss her senseless, and promise that everything will work out. But I won’t. Because I pushed her to accept this in the beginning. I pushed her to accept me.

This time, the choice has to be all hers.

So I’ll show her all the reasons she should choose me.

“Call me if you need anything, sunshine. I don’t care where I am or what I’m doing, I’ll drop everything for you. I love you.”

“Griffin, I…” Mira’s mouth moves, the words I know she wants to say trapped in her throat.

I smile sadly at her. “I know, baby. I’ll see you later.”

Isla reaches out and gives my hand a squeeze before Maddox shoves me back. His eyes are hard as he glares at me. Then he shuts the door in my face.

Practice today should be interesting.

“What happened to your face?” Ryder reaches out and grabs my chin, studying the love mark my best friend gave me. He pulls back when I wince.

“Long story.”

“Did you sleep with someone’s wife?” Logan asks, teasing me. I know he’s just being a little shit, but the comment pisses me off.

“Yeah, my own,” I mutter. I think it’s quiet enough that no one will hear, but Ryder’s mouth drops open.

“Dude. What?”

Well, they’re bound to find out, eventually. Especially with what I have planned. And there won’t be any hiding the rift between Maddox and me. I clear my throat and find Ryder, Logan, and Sebastian looking at me like some sideshow animal with two heads.

Right. Here goes nothing.

“Yeah. So, I’m married.”

Total. Fucking. Silence falls over the locker room. The whole team is staring at me now.

Logan is the first one to speak, his voice high and pitchy. “You’re what, now?”

“Hitched. Off the market. Married.” I run a hand through my hair, agitated by this whole situation.

“When?” Logan gapes at me.

“Uh, for almost four months.”

“Four months? The fuck? To who?”

“To whom,” I mutter. Logan is not amused.

“Wait, almost four months ago, we played that away series in Vegas.” Ryder is squinting at me like that’ll help him figure this all out. Maybe he’s hoping he’ll suddenly develop X-ray vision or telepathy or some shit.

Logan frowns. “Wait, you’re married? What does your roommate think about that? She’s just what, been staying in the spare room, with you and your wife across the hall? That’s weird, dude.”

Jesus fucking Christ. Pinching the bridge of my nose, my eyes fall closed.

“Seriously?” I hear Bash mutter incredulously at Logan.

“What the fuck are you all doing, standing around?” Maddox’s voice booms like a cannon in the locker room, and my eyes fly open. He slams his bag down on the bench and glares at all of us, his angry eyes lingering on me.

“Dude, did you know Griffin is married?” Logan asks.

Pretty sure steam is about to pour out of Maddox’s ears.

His face gets all red, and his eyes practically glow with the fires of hell.

“Stop standing around gossiping like a bunch of old ladies, get your gear on, and get your asses on the ice,” he shouts before shooting daggers at everyone and storming into the bathroom.

Ryder looks between Maddox’s retreating form and me. His mouth drops open. “You didn’t.”

My silence is answer enough, and the rookie gapes at me.

“You married his sister in Vegas? Do you have a death wish?”

“I knew it,” Bash says.

“Wait. Wait, you and Mira?” Logan runs a hand over the scruff of his jaw. His eyes narrow on me. “That’s why you stopped going out with me? You married Maddox’s sister? What the hell?”

“How many times are you assholes going to ask me the same questions?” Turning my back on them, I tug off my hoodie and start changing into my practice gear.

“Yes, I married Mira. No, Maddox didn’t know until yesterday.

He’s obviously pissed about it, and yes, he’s the one who punched me in the face.

No, I don’t regret it, no, I don’t care what any of you think, and yes, it’s complicated right now, but it won’t be forever, because I fucking love my wife and I’m going to do whatever it takes to prove it to her. Any more questions?”

“Yeah,” Maddox says. He’s standing behind me with his arms crossed over his chest and a deep frown marring his face. “Are you ready to drop down to the second line? Because I sure as shit can’t trust you to have my back on the ice when you just stabbed me in it.”

Right.

Lifting my chin, I stare my best friend down, ignoring the sting of his distrust and rejection. “Do whatever you have to do, man. I plan to.”