Page 60 of On Thin Ice

Dom: See you then.

Tally, Sin, Tucks, and Micah were already in the lobby when I got there.

“There he is, the baby maker,” Sin yelled.

“Ignore him,” Tally said, punching his friend in the shoulder.

“Harty put a hit on you yet?” Sin teased.

I rolled my eyes. The man was a pain in the ass and loved stirring up shit even more than Baz.

“Maybe he could take one out on you and put us out of our misery,” I fired back with a laugh.

“Ow. That hurts, man. And I’m not the one knocking up baby sisters,” Sin said, a smirk on his face.

“Because they won’t touch you,” Tally taunted.

“Knock it off, Sin,” Micah said, smacking the man in the back of the head. “We going for a beer, or what?”

I gave Micah a nod of thanks as we headed out to a waiting car.

“How you holding up?” Tally asked, sliding onto a barstool at Tipsy a short while later.

“I’m good. Trying to do the right thing and be supportive, but it’s hard being in a different state,” I replied. The distance was constantly on my mind. I kept thinking I could learn to be a good parent if she were here and modeling it. After all, she didn’t come from a broken home, and her parents actually liked each other still. Not to mention that I just flat-out wanted her here.

“He’s trying to get her to move here,” Micah offered, taking a sip of the beer the bartender set in front of him.

“Is that even possible? She’s due in like a few months, right?” Tally asked.

“Not even. She’s due in two months. Just before Christmas. And I’m working on it. I can help out more if she’s here.”

Tally nodded. “Makes sense. Well, whatever you need, we got you covered.”

“Thanks.” It meant a lot to have such a supportive group around me. It was one of the things I valued the most about hockey, and I was lucky to have that with the Strikers and now with the Stampede. When my family life was at its worst, I’d always been able to count on my teammates and coaches. I wouldn’t be living my dream life without their support. I could be a cocky asshole, but even I gave credit where credit was due.

“Yes, yes, whatever you need. Now, can we talk about how you’re finally playing better? Woof, the start of the season was rough,” Sin said.

Tally shook his head at his friend. “I swear to god, you cannot read the room.”

“What? His daughter is going to want to look up to him, and she can’t do that if he’s playing crap hockey.”

“There’s more to life than hockey,” Tally said.

Sin gasped. “You bite your tongue, young man. Hockey is life.”

“You’re so fucking dramatic, you know that? If hockey doesn’t work out, maybe try a soap opera,” Micah deadpanned.

“I would be epic. You’d tune in every single day, and you know it,” Sin crowed, pointing his beer bottle at us.

Tally rolled his eyes. “Anyway, he’s right. You’ve been playing great the last few games.”

“Thanks. Maybe Harty knocked some sense into me,” I said sardonically.

“I can’t believe he reacted that way. He’s one of the nicest guys in the league,” Tally said.

“Ally and I have a strange history, and I’ve never been, ah, relationship material,” I explained. At least I’d always been honest about it.

“So, are you two together now?” Tally asked.

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