Page 14 of The Forever Game

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I catch her against me, and we tip to the floor. Resting my back against the wall, I cradle her on my knee, smoothing her hair and letting her cry into my shirt.

I don’t say anything for a long time. Not until her tears have dried up and she’s down to soft whimpers. Brushing my lips across her forehead, I rub my hand down her back and gently suggest, “Maybe it’s time we seriously consider adoption.”

She goes still and sniffs. “Yeah. Maybe.” Her long fingers play with the buttons of my shirt. “I guess I just wanted a little part of you and a little part of me all blended together. But that’s never going to happen, is it?”

I curl my hand around hers. “Whether they’re our blood or not, they’d still be ours, and we’d love them with everything we’ve got.”

Pulling in a shaky breath, she sits up, her eyes glistening as she gives me a closed-mouth smile. “Yeah, we would.” Her head starts bobbing. “We’d love them so much.”

Cupping the back of her head, I pull her forward, crushing our mouths together, then holding her tight, quietly praying that we’ll get this chance to become parents.

I want to raise kids with this woman.

I want to watch her be a mama.

I want to live my life with her by my side, and I want to see her smile every day.

I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy. Whatever I possibly can.

MARCH

CHAPTER6

ETHAN

Careening down the rink, I get myself in position to receive the puck, quickly gathering it and flicking it off to my right. We’ve practiced this play a million times over, and when it shoots back to me, I send it toward the net. Holding my breath, I watch it fly, skimming the goalie’s shoulder before whacking into the back of the net.

“Fuck yeah!” I punch the air while the fans in the arena go nuts. It’s not the roar of a Colorado crowd, but there are enough people here cheering us on.

My teammates skate toward me, smacking me on the helmet as we celebrate the goal together.

We’ve got three minutes left in the game, and if we can defend our goal, we’re going to win this. Yes! I can taste the Stanley Cup playoffs. At this rate, we’ll make first round, and I can’t fucking wait!

I’m living out my dreams right now, and I’m pumped.

Coach pulls me off rotation and I jump into the box, cheering on my team as they keep our goal clean and nearly score again. The buzzer sounds and we erupt, jumping back onto the ice and celebrating the win.

This was an epic battle, and we’re high on adrenaline as we pile on top of one another. Casey’s pounding me on the back and laughing. “Yaaassss! We did it, man! We fucking did it!”

I slap his helmet, giddy with this triumph.

An away game against one of the strongest teams in the league. We’re going to be celebrating tonight!

We finally skate off the ice, enduring interviews as we make our way to the lockers. I say all the things I’m supposed to say, playing it cool while itching to get out of my sweaty gear and call my wife. She said she was going to be watching the game. I wanted her here with me, but work has taken over her life, so it’s hard to pin her down.

I try not to complain, but it riles me pretty bad.

I miss the days when she’d make herself available to me.

Now I’m slotted in, and as much as I want her to progress and succeed in her career… a selfish part of me wishes she wasn’t so fucking motivated. I miss my girl. I miss looking into the stands and finding her pretty face.

I miss walking out of the arena and having her jump into my arms.

I thought when she finally graduated and we got married that things would be different. No more long-distance from Nolan to Centennial. And that first year, it was fucking awesome. But since she got this new job with the more impressive agency… it’s sucked.

It’s a strategic move on her part. Leave the smaller agency to advance up the food chain. But she’s stepped down in position to get into this prestigious firm and is basically a gopher for this agent I can’t stand. He’s a total fuckwit, and the big boss above him isn’t much better. She’s at their beck and call and will drop anything to be anywhere and do anything.

It pisses me off to no end.

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