Page 13 of Ice, Ice… Maybe?

Oh – and her brother called him a ‘Panty-Slayer.’

“Let’s not forget that,” she muttered aloud, shaking her head. “If Matthew turns out to be right and Travis is as big of a ‘Himbo’ as my brother, I will literally be crushed and give up on dating – forever.”

Late the next day,Becca was emotionally and mentally wiped out. Starting a load of laundry, she poured herself a glass of cheap box wine from the fridge and sank in a bath. Gosh, it had been such an exhausting and rough day that she needed this silence so badly.

There was always the option to move back home, but it just wasn’t the same since her father passed away. Her mother had died when Luke was a boy. Becca was willing to bet it was the stress of running the farm, combined with five kids, that probably broke her father.

Jason was now in charge, and maybe that was why she didn’t want to go back home. She was afraid that it would be too much for her brother, too. Matthew was right. They each had their strengths and weaknesses – and maybe she just needed a chance to focus on her own strengths instead of being told what to do all the time, knowing it was wrong.

And she sighed heavily, slumping down further into the bathwater.

There was so much that felt like a jumble of messy thoughts in her head, so maybe bringing another element into her already tangled world wasn’t the smart thing to do right now. She really didn’t need one more ‘snarl’ in her mess, no matter how sweet the roses were or how endearing Travis seemed to be. What if her brother was right and he was a dumpster fire waiting to happen?

Yeah, all of these thoughts were not relaxing or comforting in the slightest. She needed time to think and sort things out in her mind, and honestly – Travis couldn’t be a factor in that right now. She didn’t know him and barely had any discussion with him, so she needed to focus on what shedidknow, what she could handle, which was the biggest secret she had ever kept from her family. They might be really upset when she dropped this bombshell on them.

“And that’s probably the reason I’m staying away,” she whispered to the silence, finishing her glass of wine to drown out her thoughts.

CHAPTER 5

TRAVIS

Bleary-eyed,Travis blinked slowly, feeling exhausted. He lay there in his bed, staring at the window that looked out from his bedroom over the five-acre property where he lived north of Fort Worth and cursed softly. It was the day before another big game, which meant he needed to get his body ready for the abuse it was about to take. He practiced all the time, but pregame and game day were slightly different – a little more intense. Every joint ached as he crawled out of bed, feeling it in his bones and wincing.

He loved hockey, but it didn’t love him back.

I’m barely thirty-two years old,he thought painfully as he stretched,and I feel like I’m eighty.His muscles were tight from practice yesterday, and he heard his uncle moving around downstairs.

This had been his uncle’s place, and it still was, but Travis lived on the top floor and paid the entire thing off with his first endorsement check just to keep from having to live downtown. He wanted the privacy of living outside of the city, and this place gave him the ability to find a little peace in his world while investing heavily, so when the day came and he couldn’t do this gig anymore, Travis would be set for life.

“Man, that day feels closer and closer sometimes,” he uttered and winced as his knee twinged as if to say ‘Hello! Remember me?’.

Moving slowly, he stretched each muscle, staring out the panoramic window overlooking a grove of mesquite trees, cacti, and the outbuilding where the two men stored their ‘toys.’ A fancy riding mower, a pair of jet skis, a boat, and other goodies.

“Travis, ya’ up, kiddo?”

“Yup, Uncle Davy,” he called out, stretching his quads once more behind closed doors. His bedroom had a seating area that had been converted into his own little home ‘trauma’ center. He even had an ice bath dunk tank just outside on the balcony.

He had all sorts of exercise balls, bands, and a ballet bar built in here so he could stretch without being gawked at like he was some weirdly masculine ballerina. Before he signed with the Coyotes, he used to go to a gym and workout – but now, between the media and endorsements, his privacy was something he treasured. He worked out here, at the clubhouse, and then again on the ice.

Groaning, Travis jerked on some pajama pants and headed downstairs to join his uncle. The two got along famously after reconnecting at his father’s funeral. It was strange how certain things affected a family. You grew apart over time, people lost track of each other, but one tragedy could bring out the best or the worst in people – and he was lucky that it had brought out some of the best moments.

“Game day tomorrow, eh, kiddo?”

“Yup,” he chuckled. “Are you coming?”

“Love to,” the man grinned. “You know there’s nothing healthier than seeing your favorite nephew get in a fistfight on the ice every three minutes… but I’m proud of you. You still have all your teeth.”

“It was close there a few times.”

“You know you don’t have to get in a fight every game – and Thierry isn’t helping things with that mouth of his.”

“Gerry isn’t so bad,” Travis began and then nearly choked on his breakfast as he and his uncle shared a look. “Theo’s temper eggs him on.”

“Agreed. Eat up, kiddo,” he urged, pushing the bowl of scrambled eggs toward him and Travis swallowed the lump in his throat. Gosh, he was so tired of simple proteins, vegetables, slow-acting carbs, and watching everything he ate. Maybe he was getting burnt out – or maybe this life just didn’t interest him anymore like it did when he was younger.

Ten years ago, at twenty-two, Travis thought he knew it all. Staying out until three in the morning, vomiting up whatever he’d eaten, slugging down a ton of water and salt tablets, combined with a ton of fattening things, seemed to get him through it all. He didn’t ask for names, or phone numbers and didn’t even care what those faceless women looked like. It was like he pretended to be invincible, and truthfully - he had never felt so bad physically or mentally in his life.

Wrapping his Porsche around a telephone pole, nearly killing himself, and being finally scared straight had changed his outlook entirely. He ate right, took care of his body, and focused on what it would be like to have a future, a family, and what would his father have said. Yeah, a lot of soul-searching happened during his brief stint in the hospital, for which he was really lucky to have a second chance to do something productive with his life.

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