Page 78 of Pucks and Coffee

Austen nods. “Which is why we would tell her.”

I roll my eyes. “No, Coleson is dumb and does stupid boy shit, but at the end of the day we’re good.”

“What happened, Liza?” Louisa demands.

I give her a dark look and almost remind her that she’s not my mom, but she kinda is. Ignoring that thought since it’ll send me down a dark road, I say, “This crazy chick shows up, practically naked, and says Coleson hired her for the afternoon.” Both my sisters gawk at me. I hold up my hand. “But I know he didn’t because, one, I’m a great lay, and why wouldn’t he want all this?”

Louisa sputters as Austen gives me a dry look. “Men like sex.”

“Yes, and my man likes sex with me,” I tell her, and Austen shakes her head.

“If only I had that kind of confidence.”

Louisa cuts Austen a look. “You do.”

“Eh, sometimes, but Eliza is always so happy and confident. It’s annoying.”

Louisa holds her gaze. “Yeah, and you ran off to Nashville, while I was stuck with her.”

I smack my sister. “You love me. And also, Coleson makes me this way. I swear, he looks at me like he wants to gobble me up. And just saying…I let him.”

They both grin like they’re cats with canaries in their mouths. “I can’t,” Austen cackles, shaking her head.

“All that aside, what if he did hire her?” Louisa asks.

I shake my head. “No, he wouldn’t. He doesn’t have sex before games. He never has, and when I asked her who sent her, ’cause I’m sure it was one of his teammates to get him in trouble, the girl took off.”

Austen’s jaw falls open, and Louisa glares as she gasps, “No fucking way. They’d do that?”

“Yeah,” I say with a disgusted shake of my head. “I realize he has a past, but he’s such a good guy. So giving and kind. He’d give the shirt off his back to his teammates, but they can’t let go of the mistakes he made. He hasn’t had it easy,” I say softly. “I mean, nothing like us, but his parents weren’t the greatest. And in my opinion, he let the attention of making a hockey team get to his head.”

Austen squeezes my hand. “You’re probably right. When you go without the right kind of attention, you either plunge headfirst into the wrong kind, or you run from it.”

“Exactly. Which is why it was nothing for me to look past it all. He’s not that guy. He’s wonderful,” I breathe out as I watch him skate. “I love him very much.”

Louisa leans her head on my shoulder. “We know, Liza.”

Austen leans her head on top of mine. “I just hope he loves you as much as you love him.”

I don’t answer her because I’ve already lied enough, and I can’t confidently say he does. I feel he does, and I want to think he does, even though he hasn’t mentioned the three words I want so damn badly. However, I know things have changed. After last night and after our talk today, I know things are on their way up, but I can’t tell my sisters about that. As much as I don’t like lies between my sisters and me, the one of how my marriage came about will be one I hold forever. I’m okay with it, because in my heart, this has always been what I wanted.

Him. Coleson.

When my eye catches Barnes’s number 7 jersey, I point to him. “Hey, Austen. Who is that?”

She follows the direction of where I am pointing and then opens her trusty iPad. She taps a few times. “Willis Barnes, number seven, forward, left wing, newly acquired by the Kraken over the summer. Oh, he actually played for the Knoxville Bears last year.”

Beside me, Louisa says in a low voice, “His wife is the one Coleson was found with.”

My stomach clenches, and now it makes sense why Coleson looked so stricken on the ice. “He stopped Coleson during warm-ups.”

Louisa nods. “I know. I saw.”

“Hopefully he doesn’t ruin Coleson’s night,” Austen says, a tinge of concern in her voice.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. All night, I have to watch as my husband takes hits from Barnes and a lot of the other Kraken players. Coleson can’t even get a shot off without getting slammed into or checked. Each hit feels like I’m the one taking it, and each time he winces, I wince too. I don’t like this part of hockey, but Coleson’s resilience is inspiring. He doesn’t give up. He plays his game and draws two penalties back-to-back. Though, he hasn’t had a chance to score or even set up a play without someone being on him.

It’s fucking frustrating, for sure.

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