Page 46 of Broken Promises

I open my mouth to apologize or argue or beg her forgiveness. I don’t know which, but it doesn’t matter because I can’t get a sound past my lips.

“Give her time to calm down. She’ll come around.”

“Will she?” I ask, turning to face Kai.

“She loves you. She’s just hurt.”

“Belle and Declan mean so much to me, but in such different ways. There was never a competition,” I try explaining to him because I can’t seem to do it with Belle.

“You made her feel like she was in a competition she wasn’t aware of and then lost. I’m not saying that was your intention,” he adds quickly, seeing the protest forming on my lips. “I’m just telling you how she feels so you can work on fixing it. Which is probably more than I should say at all if I want to sleep next to her tonight.”

“Thanks Kai.” He nods and jogs after Belle.

I take a deep breath and try to get my head on straight.

TWENTY-FOUR

declan

“Ben!”I shout, jogging to catch up to where he’s standing by the entrance to the tunnel.

“Hey Dec.” He’s busy adjusting something on his camera and doesn’t even look up.

“Can you do me a favor?”

He looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

“My wife is coming tonight, and I was wondering if you could get some shots of me interacting with her. Like the ones you got of me last time, but where you can see her too?” I ask.

Ben laughs. “I can definitely do that. Since we’re on home ice, I have free rein of where I can shoot from.”

“Can you get my wife too?” Gideon asks, having overheard our conversation on his way to the locker room.

“Are they sitting together again?”

“Sure are,” Gideon answers.

“Easy enough.”

“Perfect. I’ll pay for your drinks after the next away game,” Gideon says, clapping Ben on the shoulder and heading to the locker room. None of us married guys go out after home games. Even when Willa was away, I just wanted to be somewhere I shared with her.

“I’ll . . .” I pause. Trying to think of something to thank him with. “I’ll get you something I can’t tell you about yet.” I smile and clap my hands together. He said he likes Shattered Halo, and I’m sure Willa wouldn’t mind giving him some tickets to one of their Boston shows. But it hasn’t been announced yet, and I’m not going to be the one to spill the secret.

Ben laughs and shakes his head at me like I’m an idiot. “You don’t need to get me anything, Dec. I’ll happily get a picture of you and your wife. I’ll already be taking pictures anyway,” he says, gesturing to his camera like I forgot it was his job.

“I know. I want to,” I shrug and head towards the locker room to get ready.

I practically run into the locker room, my teammates laughing at me. There’s always a different energy surging through my body when I know Willa will be at one of my games. It’s been like that since she went to a few with her dad when I was in college.

“Save it for the ice,” Coach says, trying to get me to stop bouncing on the balls of my feet.

“Sorry, Coach,” I mumble and take my seat on the bench next to Gideon.

I put my gear on and lace my skates while Coach talks strategy. Chicago is a good team. Both their offense and defense have been solid so far this season. It’s going to be a tough game. But I’m ready.

The lights are bright, the ice is cold, and the crowd is loud as we make our way out of the tunnel and onto the ice. The energy in the arena tonight is perfect for this type of game. We’re surrounded by hometown fans on our own ice. They’re wild and screaming and excited to see their team win.

Tonight is going to be a great night. I can feel it.

---