Page 82 of Goaltender Interference

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The team had a little downtime at the hotel before they had to leave for the cruise, and Jesse was half-dressed when he heard a quick rap on his door.

He opened it to find Connor standing there with his phone out.

“Hey,” Jesse said, surprised.Hell yeah.Maybe he’d changed his mind about hooking up on the road. “What’s up?”

“Uh, hey. Do you have a minute? The girls wanna say goodnight to you.” Connor waved his phone, showing off a video chat.

“Tome?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure. Yeah, of course.”

Jesse took the phone from Connor, holding the door open, nodding for him to come in. “Hi, Evie, hi, Maura!” he said, grinning at the screen.

“Hi, Jesse!” Evie giggled, waving. “Daddy said your room was right next to his at the hotel.”

“Yep,” he said, taking a seat in the chair by the window. “Are you getting ready for bed?”

“All ready!” Evie held up her book and Maura waved a stuffed animal.

Shit, that reminded Jesse, he needed to figure out what to bring back for them.

Jesse talked to the girls about their days for a few minutes, before Evie changed the subject. “Daddy said you played games today. Not hockey, but another kind.”

“Yep, we had to solve a mystery!”

“Daddy said his team beat yours because you made a mess.”

Jesse scowled. “Hey?—”

“Annnddd that’s enough,” Connor said, plucking the phone from his hand. “It’s time for bed. Say goodnight to Jesse, girls.”

“Night, Jesse!” they chorused.

He stuck his face in front of Connor’s screen so he could wave. “G’night! Sleep tight! Don’t let the wildebeest bite!”

That set them off into a fit of giggles and they were still laughing when Connor said goodnight and ended the video call. Connor had a faint smile on his face as he took a seat on the end of Jesse’s bed, tossing the phone onto the mattress beside him.

“You’re good with them,” he said thoughtfully.

Jesse shrugged. “Kids are easy. They like people who aren’t afraid to be silly with them. It’s not like I’m doing the hard work like you are.”

“Yeah, fair.” Connor sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“Hey, you doing okay?” Jesse asked, frowning. “I’m sure it’s hard leaving them.”

“It is. It’s easier with Nolan now, thankfully. We text a lot, plus he’s at an age where he’s starting to be a lot more independent. But the girls …” He winced. “Sometimes I think I should fucking retire and stay home with them.”

Jesse studied his face. “Is this something you’reseriouslyconsidering or just feeling right now?”

Connor sighed. “It comes and goes. It’s stronger right now but nah, I’m not seriously planning it. Not while I’m still playing well. Not when I want another Cup. It’s a fucking insane long shot to think we’ll be able to pull it off but I have to try. My family … you know how much I love them butfuck, that legacy is a lot to live up to.”

Jesse nodded because yeah, he could imagine it was. His own father had been a pro baseball player and now was a successful GM of a pro baseball team, so there’d been some pressure there to follow in his footsteps. But Jesse had always preferred hockey to baseball and his dad had understood.

Jesse hadn’t had a father and two older brothers in the same sport—on the sameteam—who were all frighteningly accomplished.

---