Page 38 of A Little Puck Luck

Nope, it was the surprise I had for Eric. Sadly, the surprise was late, and I wanted to kick my best friend’s ass for not getting here sooner.

Finally, I saw his frame coming up around the back gate. But it wasn’t just Gavin. He also brought in a bunch of guys from the Cleveland Sound.

Eric dropped his mini hockey stick and screamed out, “Holy—”

I loved how my kid loved hockey. I made sure he knew who my buddies were when we watched some of their games, so he recognized my friends without too much problem.

Scooping Eric up so he didn’t get too shy, I went over to my best friend Gavin and gave him a one-arm side hug and fist bumps to Klaus Lagerfield, Matt Shore, and Colton Weber.

Then I turned my body so Eric could get a good look at the guys. As the kid’s grip tightened around my neck, I rubbed his back.

“So it’s true. You are Mr. Dad now,” K said with a laugh. “I thought Gav was shitting us when…”

Oops. I forgot to tell the guys that Annie didn’t like swearing in front of Eric. Since I usually only swore when I was making love or playing hockey, it had never been an issue.

Thankfully, Eric was a good kid and wouldn’t swear unless he was talking about Annie’s ex. Then he made me proud by calling his ex-dad a dish-canoe—still working on that one, but he was close enough—and an asshole.

“Language, Mr. Lagerfield,” Eric said boldly.

Which caused all the guys to laugh, including myself. One, we never called him by his last name since Mr. Lagerfield was his dad, who was always hanging around the Sound organization. He was just K to us. But he was the leader of the group, and we always deferred to him. So, to see my little one just correct him was too funny.

“Oh my god, that’s amazing,” Weber said. He held out a fist for Eric, who immediately gave him a fist bump. “Nice to meet you, Little Dude.”

Eric crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave one of those pouts that kids do so perfectly. “I’m not little. I even play hockey with the older boys now, and I’m not even the shortest one.”

Weber held up his hands in surrender, but he was all smiles. He looked over toward Shoresy, aka Matt Shore, “You know this is what you’ll be in for in a couple of years?”

It seemed like Shoresy and Weber had worked out their differences after Shoresy fell for Weber’s little sister. Shoresy had a two-year-old who was just learning stuff. But seeing how excited they were when Jennifer hit those milestones made me so angry with Annie for taking away those moments from me.

Shoresy looked like he wanted to kick his friend’s butt when he said, “What do you mean byyou? Isn’t itwe?”

“I’m only the fun uncle who can give Jenny back to you and Renee. Besides, you know my contract is coming up, and my agent hasn’t heard anything about an extension.”

That was the sucky part of the business. Unless you were able to get a no-movement clause in a contract, there was always a threat of being traded. I never wanted to leave.

Eric was getting heavy, so I let him down to the ground. He immediately picked up a mini stick and ran toward the net, calling out, “Watch me.”

Moments later, Annie came out to the backyard with a pitcher of ice water and some cups. It was so thoughtful. A bucket full of beer would have been way better, but we had a game tonight.

“Annie, come meet my friends,” I said as I gestured for her to come over.

Chapter 30

Annette

IfIwasbeinghonest, I hated going to hockey games.

Everything was so fast, and at Terry’s games, you could really hear each and every bone-crushing hit. It wasn’t until hearing it firsthand that you realized why it was called a bone-crushing hit. I constantly winced.

I wouldn’t hate the games if they didn’t fry my nerves so much. I was so afraid Terry would get hurt after each and every hit. Why couldn’t it be more like Eric’s games, where the players weren’t allowed to touch the other players?

Regardless, the whole no-contact rule didn’t stop me from worrying about Eric, either.

Natalie came up to me and passed me a glass of white wine. “Here. It looks like you need this.”

That was when I let go of the railing. As I held the stem of the wine glass, I realized how white my knuckles were since they were now turning back to a more pinky color. After I took a sip, I said, “Thanks.”

The dry liquid felt so good. But I reminded myself that I could only have one.

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