Page 3 of The Puck Daddy

I give Chrissy my best panty-dropping grin. “You heard the man. I gotta go.”

With a deep blush staining her cheeks, Chrissy sputters, practically melting under my stare.Once a puck bunny, always a puck bunny.“Uh—just one more comment, Adrian. What are your plans for the future if Olivia Cove decides not to sign you?”

My smile falters for only a split second. With the camera still on me, I can’t afford to slip up. Not when anyone might be watching. But fucking hell. What kind of question was that? Her interview should be a positive one, especially right off a win.

“Hockey is in my blood,” I say with a wink, and flip around before I let my true emotions show.

Chapter 3

I hate puck bunnies.

Theo

Hockey is in my blood.

I scoff at the big screen before changing the channel and tossing the remote back onto the bar top next to my co-worker Kayla.

“Hey! I was watching that, Mr. Hockey Pants.” She grins and rolls her eyes.

Of course she was. Kayla has a crush on half the hockey team.

“I remember when I used to say shit like that,” I mumble, picking up the rag and cleaning my station in front of me. Sure, I meant every word. Back when I played for the NHL, I lived and breathed hockey. My life revolved around the sport; my diet, my exercise routine, hell, even my relationships were all planned to work perfectly into my crazy hockey life. But what happens when hockey is ripped away from you? What happens when you think you have only one purpose in life and suddenly, you’re just…lost?

They don’t really teach you crap like that when you make it to the big leagues.

Yes, technically, everyone in professional sports knows your career can be yanked away from you at any moment, but they don’t prepare anyone for how to handle it, what to do next, or even how to handle the money and fame, so that you aren’t left with nothing after that dark tunnel.

Ever since I was a little kid, my only passion has been hockey.

I used to think I had it all: the game, the money, the big mansion, and even a secret romance with a boy to call my own.

“I still can’t believe you used to be some famous hotshot hockey player.” Kayla walks over to my side and tugs the damp rag from my fingers. “And I’m pretty sure you’re going to scrub a hole into the bar top if it gets any cleaner.”

“Sorry.” I let out a deep sigh and leaned against the wall behind me. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Your mother again?”

“Worse. My ex.”

Her eyes widen, and I nod my head. “Yeah.”

“You can’t be serious,” she hisses, reaching for my hand and tugging me to the other side of the bar, where there are fewer people. “The ex who dumped you when you got injured?”

“The one and only.”

Damn. Sometimes I hate that she knows everything about Grant. One night after work, Kayla and I stayed at the bar after hours and had a few drinks. When she started flirting with me, I politely turned her down. She was the first real friend I’d made since returning to town, and seeing her hurt made me want to open up. To tell her my truth. Being gay was something I’ve learned to hide from the hockey world.

And now that I have my head on straight after my injury, I promised myself I’d be honest with those I cared about.

Once I started talking, I told her everything. About how hard it was to keep a piece of myself hidden, and about the only guy I allowed myself to love while in the sport. While I was in the NHL, the only people who knew I was gay were my mother, Grant, and his parents. My ex is the son of one of my mother’s best friends and the only person she has ever successfully set me up with. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

Snapping me out of my daze, Kayla smacks my arm. “Well, what the hell does he want?”

“No idea. He texted me several times and even called, too. But all his messages just say he needs to talk to me. He doesn’t say what about.”

“That’s it? You aren’t even a little curious? What if it’s an emergency?”

I push my way past her, but keep talking as I walk back toward the bar. “I haven’t talked to him in years, Kayla. Not since he decided to upgrade to a better Daddy.” My words are nonchalant, but guilt still swirls in my stomach every time I think of Grant.

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