Page 26 of On Thin Ice

But now everything was messy, and I didn’t know what to think about Dom. Of course, I wanted him. Hell, he was hot and great in bed, and lusty pregnancy hormones were no joke. But wanting him wasn’t smart, especially now that I was going to give birth to his baby. It would just complicate everything.

I snorted. My brain made no sense lately.

I pushed back from my chair, walked into the kitchen, and opened the fridge, clueless about what I wanted to eat. Staring at the shelves, I waited for something to jump out at me, but nothing did, so I headed back into my office. In a few short months, it would become a nursery. Ethan and a few of the guys were stopping by next week to move my office stuff out, and then Darcy and Penny were coming over the following week to paint the room a pale pinkish-purple color that I’d picked out.

So many changes were happening, and at times, it was overwhelming. Adding Dom into the mix and figuring out this co-parenting thing just put another thing on my overflowing plate. But once my office was switched to the nursery, I could check that off my list, and I would feel better.

My phone dinged in my hand.

Darcy: I grabbed an extra sandwich and cupcakes. You busy?

I smiled, grateful every day for my best friend. It’s like she knew I needed her. And food.

Ally: Great. I’m starving.

Darcy: See you in ten. See, I warned you this time instead of just showing up.

I was never asking for that key back, and she knew it.

DOM

“Fuck,” I yelled as another easy shot bounced off the pipes. One of St. Louis’s defensemen got the rebound and knocked it to one of his forwards.

And then I was spinning and chasing after the puck. We were in the middle of the second period during our third preseason game, and I was off. Fuck. I’d been off for our last two games too, but luckily, I’d potted a goal in each, and it’s not like there were any points in these games to count. I didn’t want to set up aDom sucksprecedent going into the season, but I was getting too easily distracted, and I needed to focus.

All I could think about was Ally and the progress that I thought we were making. I still had no clue what to do when the baby was actually born, but we had some time, and it was nice getting to know her even as I ignored the fact that impending fatherhood scared the ever-living shit out of me. Was I setting both of us up for disappointment in the long run by trying to be involved?

“Dom,” a voice called. I shoved aside my preoccupied thoughts and focused on the game at hand. That was my job, and I neededto be present on the ice, or I’d end up injured or, almost worse, a healthy scratch next time.

I skated closer to the forward who had snagged the puck due to my lack of attention and crowded him in the boards, my stick darting out to take that puck back. He twisted away at the last second, and my shoulder went into the Plexi. Fuckinghard.

“Shit,” I barked out, catching a look from Timmy. Luckily, Tucks blocked the shot on goal, and Haldy was there to grab the rebound. I was gassed, but I followed my linemates, skating up the ice toward the St. Louis goalie.

Haldy passed me the puck, and I skated around the back of the net, looking for my angle. Not seeing an opening, I sent the puck back to Haldy. He deked left around a St. Louis defenseman and took his shot. The goal horn blared, and we were up two to one as we crashed into Haldy in a hug.

“Great play,” Xan called out.

“Nice goal, Haldy. No thanks to me,” I grumbled that last part. I knew I should be happy. Yeah, my life was in a bit of a jumble, but I was playing the game I loved, and Ally and I were working on figuring out this co-parenting thing.

But the doubts ate at me. I didn’t share them with Ally because she had enough on her plate, and I didn’t want to come off like a needy asshole or a serious dick.

As we tapped gloves with the rest of the team on the bench, I knew that dwelling on all of it during the game wasn’t helping anyone. When I finally slid onto the bench, Micah leaned around a few of the guys to give me a look. I just shook my head and turned forward, watching the third line on the ice. A few of the guys were still fighting for a final roster position, and the game started to get a bit chippy.

All the more reason to get my head out of my ass. Chippy games led to penalties and injuries, and the last thing I needed was that. I could already feel our coach, Millsy, glaring at theback of my head. He hadn’t said anything yet, but he’d probably want to talk to me at some point.

***

The game ended with a four-to-three loss, and I had zero goals or assists. I’d also been all over the place for part of the second period and only truly got my shit together in the third.

I was a damn mess. After tossing my sweat-soaked jersey into the center bin in the locker room, I made my way to my stall seat, my head down.

“Fuck, that was rough,” Micah said, sliding onto the seat next to me. “What’s up with you? Ally not talking to you?”

“Can we not do this right now?” I muttered. “And she’s talking to me fine. I just have a lot on my mind and it keeps popping up when I should be thinking about hockey only.” I gave him a pointed stare.

“Figure it out, Dom. We have three games left until the start of the season. Everyone is going through something, and I know you’re still processing shit, but fuck. We have to play,” he said.

“Everything good here?” Tally asked, taking the seat on the other side of Micah.

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