Page 13 of Finding the Forward: Part One
“Hey, make sure you’re focused for the game tomorrow,” I whispered, remembering what I’d overheard. “While you’re on fire, you still have a lot to prove.”
“Like I don’t know. I found out what they want from me. They want my final game performanceevery night.” Defeat rolled off him.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Sure, we knew they wantedlast season’s Grif.Which he’d delivered. What I hadn’t realized was that they meantfinal game Grif.Grif’s performance in the last game of the championship finals was stuff hockey legends were made of. It was the best game of his career.
He also had major motivation–me.
“What can I do, Gumdrop?” I pulled him to me, fitting nicely into him, his rainy scent too sour and salty for my liking.
His head bowed. “If I’d known they were only giving it to me to save face, I never would’ve taken the contract.”
It had turned out that the Knight’s offer to trade him in if he won the championship had been a joke to get Grif’s agent off their back. When he’d won, and I’d made it public that he was winning for love, the team had to honor their word. We hadn’t known about this until training camp when Grif’s agent let it slip.
Who wouldn’t want a player like Grif? Certainly, he hadn’t lacked offers. But Jonas and I couldn’t just go wherever we wanted. I’d grown tired of waiting for the four of us to be together.
“I believe in you. The team loves you.” My heart shattered. How could I even fix this?
“I’ll keep pushing myself so they don’t trade me. I won’t leave you Jellybean.” His arms wrapped around me.
His statement made me suppress an omega whine.I know, Gumdrop. I know.
Loud music flooded the rink as lights flashed. A mob of people in unicorn onesies skated onto the ice with us. Our social media guy skated closer to catch everything on his phone.
“The Maimers have entered the building,” I laughed as they danced in formation, crashing our family skate. Skate smash was more performance-oriented. While we gave a good show, we didn’t have on-ice dance battles.
Coach Atkins looked mildly annoyed at their antics, but most of the little kids lit up.
“There you are.” AJ Zaman joined us on the ice, wearing an expensive suit and a pair of sunglasses. His skin was a deep golden, his features regal. Near-black wavy hair was short, his goatee neat. He was the oldest of the four of us and good-looking.
Not my style romantically, but we were great friends. Everything about him was expensive–and a total sham.
“AJ, you’re here.” Grif lit up. They’d met back in the minors and became fast friends. Sometimes, they were more. Right now, they were waiting for the pack contract before getting serious.
Well, that and AJ wanted to be his alpha. Grif, who was always at war with his omega nature, wasn’t quite ready for that. Especially because he was terrified of anyone discovering that he was hiding his designation.
“Sorry, Compass BioTek is making announcements again. You’d think a privately held company wouldn’t affect the stock market the way they do.” AJ made a face. Compass BioTek dealt in painless medicine and was constantly coming out with new things.
AJ had retired from hockey because of injuries and now worked in finance.
“Hey AJ.” Jonas joined us. Those two were also friends and worked out in our home gym together and played video games and shit.
While Jonas would be our head alpha, AJ had given us our pack name–Pack Lune Noire. Since it reminded him of a puck. Yep, AJ spoke a ton of languages, and we loved him for it.
“Always,” AJ assured, giving Grif a fond look.
“I’m glad you made it.” Grif wrapped his arm around him. AJ was about the same height as Jonas but more broad-shouldered.
Jonas grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s join the fun. The family’s all here, so let’s skate.”
I let him pull us away from the wall. “Yes, let’s.”
Yep, Pack Lune Noire would go out there and show them we were a pack. Tomorrow night, Grif would get out on the ice and prove them wrong.
Then he’d be here to stay.
Chapter Four
Grif
