Page 70 of Pucking My Grumpy Accidental Husband
How'd the meeting go? Harrison looked like he was planning someone's funeral when he called you in.
Need to talk. Meet at home in an hour?
Course. I'll order pizza. You sound like you need carbs.
Jamie knows me too well.
An hour later, I'm sitting in our living room staring at a slice of pepperoni pizza that's gone cold while Jamie processes what I've just told him.
"Holy shit," he says finally. "The Boston fucking Bruins want you as captain."
"Yeah."
"Dude, that's... that's huge. That's everything you've ever wanted."
He's not wrong. Growing up, I had Bruins everything—sheets, posters, jerseys I wore until they fell apart. I used to practicetheir plays in our basement, pretending I was Bobby Orr flying across the ice at the Garden.
"It is huge," I agree.
"But?"
"But Harrison's basically saying I have to choose between Boston and Tessa. And the way he's framing it, choosing Tessa means choosing to destroy both our careers."
Jamie sets down his beer and looks at me seriously. "Okay, let's break this down. What does your gut tell you?"
"My gut tells me Harrison's a manipulative asshole who's using my dreams against me."
"True. But putting aside Harrison's shitty tactics, what do you actually want?"
I run both hands through my hair, frustrated. "I want to be captain of the Bruins and I want to wake up next to Tessa every morning for the rest of my life. I want both, and Harrison's telling me I can't have both."
"What does Tessa think?"
"She doesn't know yet. I came straight here after the meeting because I needed to figure out what the hell I'm going to say to her."
"Dax." Jamie leans forward. "You know what she's going to say, right? She's going to tell you to take it. She's going to insist that you can't pass up this opportunity because of her."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"Why? It's a good opportunity. Like, life-changing good."
"Because it feels like I'm being forced to choose between the woman I love and everything I've worked for my entire life. And the fact that Harrison engineered it that way makes me want to tell Boston to go fuck themselves just out of principle."
"That would be a very expensive fuck you."
"I know."
Jamie is quiet for a long moment, staring at his hands. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah."
"Do you love her? Like, really love her? Or is this just the best relationship you've had so far?"
"I love her. Completely. The kind of love that makes you want to be better than you are. The kind that makes everything else seem less important."
"Even hockey?"
"Especially hockey."
