Page 99 of Pucking the Enemy

For a man more than twice my age, he sure had a vise-like grip. My shoulders stung with the intensity of it, but I didn’t care.

I could ask Duchess to kiss it better later.

“Her name is Hazel.” I beamed, hugging the man back.

“You’ll bring her by next week for the home game, right? Introduce her to the family?” he asked, pulling back and returning to his seat. His excitement for me was clear on his face, and it made me feel elated in turn.

“If she’s feeling up to it. The early days of her pregnancy were a bit rough.”

Coach winced. “My wife had a horrific time with her pregnancies. I hope you boys are taking good care of her.”

“We are. I wanted to give you a heads up because I imagine, around the time she gives birth, we may miss a game or two.”

“You’d better miss a game or two! Your omega is going to need plenty of care and attention after giving birth. Family is more important than playing hockey.”

I snorted. “As my coach, I don’t think you’re supposed to say that.”

He waved off my concern. “Family first. Always.”

“That brings me to the second part of this conversation. Hazel is from Hawking University, and she came with a best friend who had been in love with her for years. He’s a good man but a bit of an idiot for not realizing he was in love with her until she was pregnant with our baby.”

I was probably oversharing, but it was nice to talk to someone about it. With everything that had happened since Hazel had walked back into my life, I’d hardly had time to take it all in.

“We’ve been working things out the last couple of months, and he’s officially joining our pack.”

“That sounds like a marvelous thing. If the poor kid can put up with Cormac, he’s all right in my book.”

“It’s Sebastian Coombs.”

The coach’s brow furrowed before a look of shock crossed his face. “The defenseman from the Hawking Hawks?”

“The very same.”

“If memory serves, last time you two were on the ice together, you almost broke each other’s noses! How the hell did you work out your differences?”

I shrugged. “We all love the same omega, so we had incentive to make it work. Other than his abysmal choice of university, he is a good guy.”

Coach scratched his beard as he chuckled absentmindedly. “He’s a damn fine player, I’ve never denied that. If he wants to play with his new pack, he’s more than welcome to join us here on the Knights.”

“Do you mean that?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. I hadn’t admitted it out loud, but I had been concerned about what would happen when we had to go up against each other in a game. Pack mates tended to play together. I had never heard of pack mates playing against each other. It would be impossible to ensure a player’s loyalty to his team if his pack mate was on an enemy team.

“I do. I can put in a good word with the university to get him transferred. They’re always looking to add more athletes to the student body. And we could use a player like that here, especially if you guys won’t beat each other up on the ice.”

I smirked. “No promises there. We are brothers now, after all.”

“Well, you’ve scuffled with Cormac several times, and you’re strong as ever.”

“We are.” I nodded. “Anyway, I can’t stay too long. I’ve got to stop by a store on the way home and get a very specific kind of potato chip for Hazel. Last week, Cormac made the mistake of getting her salted chips, instead of salt and vinegar, and she nearly castrated him.”

The coach hissed in pain at the idea. “Yeah, that’s a rookie mistake. You’ve got to get the pregnant lady exactly what they want, or they will become a demon from the depths of hell. I once bought my wife the wrong kind of chocolate, and I slept on the couch for a week.”

“We’re learning. Hopefully by the time we have the second kid, we’ll know what we’re doing.”

“That’s the secret, kid—you’ll never know what you’re doing. The moment you think you’ve got that stuff down, something will come along and throw you for a loop. Also, maybe don’t mention a second kid until your omega heals from the first, or she may maim you.”

“I can’t wait.” The grin plastered across my face probably looked somewhat like a serial killer’s, but I didn’t care. I was just so damn happy.

By the time I got home, I had a bounce in my step. Opening the door, I strode into the den, where Seb was sitting on one of the overstuffed armchairs my mother had picked out to decorate the place, an open textbook in his lap.

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