Page 91 of The Enemy Face Off

He chuckles. "You really are something else, you know that?" He takes a breath. "I'll make the official announcement in the next few days, but…I'm retiring."

My mouth falls open in shock. "You are?"

He nods. "Yep."

"But you're only twenty-seven. The Swifts just won the Stanley Cup, and you've had the best season of your career with a .920 save percentage and six shutouts."

His forehead wrinkles. "How do you know that?"

"Evie."

"Right. Of course." He lets go of my hand, strolls to the edge of the lookout, and then swiftly steps back.

I get up and join him. "Why are you retiring?"

He smiles, staring off in the distance. "A lot has changed this past year, and I realized that my old life isn't compatible with my new life."

"Are you referring to becoming a dad?"

"I am." He turns to face me. "Amongst other things."

A warm shiver races through me as I stare up into his green eyes. "Other things?"

"Yeah." His thick fingers slide softly down my cheek. "One thing in particular. She's five-six. As snarky as she is gorgeous. Obsessed with books. Someone I'm lucky to call myfriendand am currently in anus-ship with."

I move in a little closer to him. "She sounds amazing."

He wraps his arm around me, tucking me into his side. "She is. There's only one problem."

"Oh."

"I can't get her out of my head. I think about her all the time. And when I'm away from her, I miss her like crazy."

A long beat passes.

"Really?"

"Really. I don't want to be away from you anymore, Beth. What's the point of buying a house in Comfort Bay if I'm never here? With Josie starting school soon, I want to make sure she and Jonah are settled and having a normal childhood. I want to do dad things like school drop offs and pickups."

"For gossiping with other parents?"

"Of course. Why else?" He grins. "I want to watch a million YouTube videos and learn how to build Jonah a treehouse. I want to have dinner at the same place at the same time every day, not room service from a different hotel in whatever city we're staying at."

"That's amazing of you."

"Actually, it's not," he replies. "Women give up their careers all the time. It's expected of them. My kids don't have a mom, so I want, no, Ineedto do this for them."

I'm at a loss for words as I so often am around him.

He goes on. "I'm lucky. I got to achieve my dreams. I made a successful career doing something that I love. And I went out on a winning high. I'm also in the very privileged financial position where I can take a few years off paid work to do, well, only the most important job in the world."

I smile and resist the urge to argue with him that he is amazing, despite what he says. He's right. Women make these sorts of sacrifices all the time, but it's still rare for men to do the same.

He braces my shoulders. "And I'd like a chance to see where things with us go. I'm not putting any pressure on you. But Iwould like to take you out on a first date, and who knows, see if you can tolerate being around me more often."

I brush my fingers over his stubbled jaw. "That doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world."

I cut off his chuckle with a kiss.

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