Page 72 of Zero Pucks

I couldn’t see his face, but I could sense he was scowling. “Promise me you’re not leaving.”

I froze. “What? Where the fuck would I go?”

“You’ll be coaching the Legends soon,” he said. “And you’re really into this new guy. Everything is changing, and now we have this able-bodied dickhead telling us what to do. I can keep my shit together, but only if you swear you’re not leaving.”

“Oh my God, don’t be a dipshit. I’m not going anywhere.” I wrapped my arms around him, and he buried his face in my neck. “This is my home.”

“So if your husband?—”

“He’s not my husband. Fuck’s sake, you two. It was a fake Vegas marriage officiated by Elvis, okay? Will it make you feel better if we had a bonfire and burned the marriage license?”

Boden stiffened and pulled back. “No. I don’t want you to set your love life on fire. I just don’t want this guy’s beer-flavored dick or whatever you fell for to convince you to move to the West Coast.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I told him. My West Coast dreams died the day of my accident. And I was happy here. I was more than happy here. And not that I was going to say it aloud, but I didn’t think Amedeo wanted me to come back with him.

Every time he started to talk about his life back where he’d come from, he got…weird. Too quiet, like just talking about it created open wounds in his chest.

“Would you two hate it, um, if he stayed though?”

Ford made a choking noise. “Does he want to stay?”

“I don’t know. We didn’t get around to chatting while he was choking on my dick.”

“Fuck’s sake,” Boden said, shoving me back.

I toppled over, but Ford caught me before I hit the ground, shaking with giggles. “Fuck you both.”

I could hear Ford’s grin when he spoke as he lifted me to my feet. “Whatever happens happens. But we all need to get our heads out of our asses. I know this team isn’t the NHL or the AHL or the fucking PPHL. Only one of us in this room is an Olympic hopeful, and there’s a damn good chance one of the PPHL teams is going to recruit Boden before the end of next year.”

Boden was very, very quiet at that. I started to wonder if maybe he’d heard something, but I was too afraid to ask.

“But this is still us,” Ford went on. “It’s family, right?”

I squeezed Ford’s arm. “Yeah. It is.” My phone buzzed in my pocket—my alarm alerting me to my next student. “Listen, I have to jet. I don’t feel like getting bitched at by angry hockey moms today.”

“How about lunch?” Ford said. “I don’t have a shift until four.”

“Uh…yeah. So. I’m busy,” I said, walking back to the bench to feel around for my cane.

“Dinner,” Boden grunted. “I’ll cook. You can bring your cock sucker if you want.”

“Call him that again and see what fucking happens,” I growled.

Ford whistled. “Yeah. He’s lost. It’s just you and me, Bodie. Only we carry the bachelor flag now.”

I wanted to argue. I’d been proud of that my entire life. But it wasn’t a label I wanted anymore, and I was coming to accept that.

“It can be just us,” I said quietly.

Boden and Ford didn’t respond for a short while. Then Boden sighed. “If he’s with you, then he’s with us.”

My heart swelled. I loved them so fucking much. “I’ll catch you two later.”

Ford gave my arm a shake, and Boden caught me as I walked by, tugging me into another hug. “Don’t fucking disappear on me like that again.”

“I won’t.” I probably would, but I didn’t need to acknowledge that right now. He knew if good sex was involved, I’d break nearly every promise. And I had a feeling he’d appreciate my disappearing act once he realized how loud Amedeo could get. “Catch you dickheads later!”

The door shut behind me, and it was only when I was nearly back to the rink that I realized things were looking up.

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