Page 11 of Broken Promises

“Let’s go with the night you called me and yelled at me,” he says, smiling around a mouthful of fries.

“Which one?” I counter with a laugh.

“The most recent one, obviously.”

“I’m not sure anything about this is obvious, hockey boy.”

He looks sheepish. “We can scratch this,” he says, but I know we can’t. His career would be over if we did. I won’t do that to him when I can easily help.

“I’m with you, Dec. Quit giving me an out,” I stare at him so he knows I’m serious. He nods and goes back to shoveling food into his face like a starved man. “How long do we have to be married for?”

“Until I retire?” he asks in a small voice, not even looking at me.

“When is that? I’m not going to be fake married to you for a decade. No offense, but I’d like to find an actual husband one day.”

He laughs. “I love that you think I have another ten years left in the tank, Princess. I have three years at most. If I’m really being honest with myself, this will probably be my last season.” I can see how sad that makes him, so I scoot closer and throw my arms around his waist, hugging him.

“So what now? We know each other better than most married couples, so we don’t need to go over personal facts or anything.”

“Pick a date?” We both pull up our calendars. It’s the middle of September, and we don’t go back on tour until after the new year, but Dec starts practice tomorrow and his first preseason game is in two weeks. He also has a ton of media commitments and physical therapy for his knees.

“Um, we have today,” I joke. But the more I look between our calendars, it becomes less of a joke.

“I’ll call city hall and see if they can get us in. Maybe see about getting us some rings,” he says, pulling up the numberfor city hall on his phone. “I’ll have to special order your engagement ring, so just bands.”

I watch Declan as he’s suddenly all business. It takes a moment to snap out of my stupor from how fast this is moving, but once I do, I find the closest jeweler. The call is quick and easy. It always amazes me what you can get done when you throw money around.

“We’re getting hitched in two hours,” Declan says with a smile.

“Perfect. We need to get to the jeweler now. He’s willing to size whatever bands we pick right away for a fee you so graciously agreed to,” I tell him, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the door.

Once we’re in the car, I turn towards Declan. “I know we’ll be legally married, but can we wait a little to announce it? I still have to figure out how to break this to my friends in a way that they’ll believe.”

“You don’t trust them with the truth?” he asks, looking worried.

“It’s not about trust. It’s about the number of people that are always around us. One slip backstage where we think we’re alone, but someone is hiding in the shadows and the media knows we tricked your new team into signing you. Then what happens? You get sued and your entire career ends in a scandal?”

His eyes widen like he hadn’t thought of that. “Shit. You’re right. How long do we keep it secret?”

“Let’s just figure it out as we go. Your schedule is about to get crazy,” I say, feeling a little guilty. “Your team will know, but I don’t want your name connected with mine until it has to be.”

Declan looks angry, but I hold up my hands before he can say anything.

“Someone is after us, Dec. You know that. I refuse to be the reason someone attacks you in a parking lot or tries to take out your knees Tanya Harding style.”

I thought that would get a laugh out of him, but instead he’s intently studying me. “I hate you being in danger. Maybe you should stay with me. Or I can figure out how to take you with us on away games, so I’m never far from you. Wives usually have to travel separately, but maybe I can get an exception for you. Or you can get a random job with the team that lets you travel with us?”

“I’m safer here with my friends. Cal hired an absurd amount of security. Plus, as much as I would enjoy traveling with you, I’d just end up alone most of the time. Which would make me vulnerable.”

Declan sighs and slams his head back into the headrest. “Fine, but I want you with me at my apartment when I’m home. I’ll sleep better knowing you’re with me. My building has security too.” I frown at his demand. “I want to spend time with you. I miss you, Princess.”

I hold my argument. I already hate feeling like I’m being trapped at home, and now Declan wants to smother me some more. But I don’t say any of that because the truth is, I really missed him too. So instead I say, “Deal.”

SIX

declan

“Quit fidgeting,”Willa says. We’re sitting in the stiff plastic seats outside my new coach’s office. I’ve been playing with the platinum band on my finger, spinning it around and around. She grabs my hand and holds it in her small one when I fail to comply.

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