Page 69 of Broken Promises

My knee bounces as I stare out the window of the bus. Coach insists we park at the training center and take a bus as a team to and from the airport for team bonding or something. It’s the first time I wished I could’ve gone straight from my plane to my car. I’d be getting home right about now. Even Gideon seems pretty antsy to see Maggie. He’s usually the calm one.

“Dec.”

“Yeah?”

“Dec,” Ben says again, shaking my shoulder.

“What?” I ask, turning to him.

“Look.” He points to the window opposite us where Bouchard and Ivanov are sitting. The bus pulls into the parking lot and there, leaning against the hood of my car, is Willa.

I jump up and practically fall over Ben, trying to get past him. I mutter an apology under my breath. Ripping my bag from the overhead compartment, I charge towards the front of the still moving bus. Everyone on the team is laughing at me, and Coach is sighing into his hand. I ignore them all. The moment the bus is in park, and the doors are open, I’m running.

Willa runs to meet me, throwing herself into my arms and wrapping around me. “I missed you, hockey boy.”

“I missed you so fucking much, Princess.”

I hear the click of a camera. Willa looks over her shoulder, ready to tell off the paparazzi, but I pinch her chin and turn her to face me. “That’s Ben.”

She smiles and wiggles to get her feet on the ground. I watch her strut right up to Ben and hold out her hand. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Ben. I’m Declan’s wife, Willa.”

Ben smiles and shakes her hand. “I’ve heard too much about you,” he says.

“Dude! Don’t tell her that,” I whine and slip my arm around Willa’s waist.

Willa laughs and snuggles into my side. “He talks about you all the time too. I feel like I know you.”

Ben looks at his feet, like he’s feeling awkward. “Maybe in another life,” he says before looking back up. “Have a good night, guys.”

“He doesn’t speak much, does he?” Willa asks as we watch his retreating form.

“He does, but it took him days of being stuck with me to open up.”

“You ready to go home?” she asks, smiling up at me.

I grab her and throw her over my shoulder, causing her to squeal. I smack her ass, and she gasps. “Save those noises for home, Princess. I plan on staying buried inside you until I have to leave for practice tomorrow afternoon.”

“Fuck, baby. Hurry up and take me home.” She scrambles to get into the passenger seat as I throw my duffle bag in the trunk. I slip into the driver’s seat and start my car. I pause with my hand on the gearshift.

“How did you get here?” I ask her. She smiles, a little guilty.

“I had to sneak out when the guards Cal hired traded shifts. Then I took an Uber from the gate.”

I want to smile and frown at the same time. My mouth is twitching so much that Willa bursts out laughing. I join her, deciding to drop it for now. I barely make it out of the parking lot before my phone rings.

“Uh oh,” Willa mutters when she sees who it is.

“Hi, Cal,” I say.

“Dec! I can’t. . . I lost. . .she’s —” The poor guy is in a panic.

“Willa is with me, Cal.”

The breath he lets out is so loud over the speakers I flinch. “I thought your plane was landing around now. I didn’t know you came home to get her.”

“Sorry about that, man. I should’ve let you know. That was my bad.” I look over at Willa to see a breathtaking smile on her face.

“Totally cool. She’s your wife and all. Just, uh, maybe next time tell me? You know, until we don’t have to keep track of each other anymore.”

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