Page 95 of Crush
“Brynn. The nanny. I've fallen head-over-heels for her.”
Note:yes, it was way too early to talk like that. But I was only putting on a show for the boys. Anything to drag their spirits out of the gutter. They needed something to laugh at. They needed to forget about the hole we'd dug ourselves and have a little fun.
And oh, it worked like a charm. A buzz immediately gripped the room:
“I fucking knew it!”
“Are you serious, Boomer?”
“He finally comes clean!”
“And I actually have you idiots to thank for helping me realize it,” I said, tearing off my undershirt and trading it for an athletic compression shirt.
“What do you mean?”
“Voting us King and Queen at the gala. Sneaky move, guys, but smart.”
“So something happened?!”
“I kissed her later that night. I'll be honest, I sorta made a mess of it, too. But boys, we've been trying to figure things out since then, and things are looking good for me. For the first time since the divorce, I'm actually feeling a little optimistic about a girl. So, I guess I owe you all an apology. Sorry boys. You read me like a book.”
My teammates went wild and launched a sortie of follow-up questions: how far had we gone, when was I going to pop the question (“quick, Boomer, do it before you retire and she realizes that you're just a boring nobody!”), what the hell we were going to tell my kids …
I shook my head. “Listen, guys. I don't know the answer to a lot of those questions. All I can say is that I like her a lot. And once this hockey thing is over, I can't wait to spend even more time with her and find out what the future holds. That said—as excited as I am to start the next chapter of my life? I don't want to do it a loser. I want to go out on top, I want to go to Brynn with a Cup. A champion.”
“Get Boomer a Cup so he can get the girl,” Radar repeated.
“That's some real Boomer thinking,” Brooks said, “but hell, I can get behind that.”
Lance, the Brawlers' future captain, took center stage in the room. “One game, boys. Let's walk out of here with a win tonight, and we'll build from there.”
Chapter 36
Brynn
In the mirror, I could see Cam's face turning as red as a tomato. He'd just hit depth on a ninety-five-pound squat—his heaviest attempt yet—and was trying to grind his way out of the box.
“Push, push, push!” I yelled from behind.
Cam growled, legs and core trembling, as he summoned the strength to push through the squat. There was a loud metal clang as he racked the bar, followed by an excitedwhoop,and I gave Cam a high five.
Nick, psyched to match his brother's physical feat, took his place under the bar.
“You can do it, Nick! C'mon!” I cheered as I got ready to spot him.
I understood now why Shea had asked me to train the boys—it wasn't a given that they'd be blessed with Shea's tall, wide frame. On one hand, it was so sad that Shea didn't know who their father was—was it another teammate of his? Was it someone else? On the other hand, it was sort of beautiful in a sad way that Shea could do his best to grin and bear it, and raise the kids as his own, and make sure they had every opportunity to have the success he had.
Shea was right. My ex, Mikey, was a boy. Shea? He was a man. A great man.
He hadn't even blinked at my crazy speech about adopting. Well, he didn't exactly soundenthralledabout having another kid … but I could tell he meant it when he said he'd do it for me. Obviously, it was too early to think about that kind of thing. But then again, like I told Shea and the other guys I've tried to date—I just didn't have the time to waste on games.
Nick matched his brother's squat. Cam, of course, was ready to throw more weight on the bar to prove he was stronger.
But I pointed at the clock. “Dad's game is about to start, boys!”
We left the gym and put the game on in the man cave.
***
