We will always be good.
When I lay us down, she presses her nose to mine and her eyes burn into mine as her fingers dance along my jaw. My lip curves at the side as I search her gaze before I ask, "Don"t you feel better?"
She smiles a bit. "I"m embarra.s.sed, but I"m glad you know. Now I won"t have to hide."
"No, you never have to hide."
Cupping my face, she moves her nose along mine. "How did I get so lucky to meet you?"
I shrug because I find myself asking the same thing. With my throat thick with emotion, I smile. "A lot of people ask themselves that."
But she doesn"t laugh or even smile. "Well, no other girl will ever ask that, "cause you"re mine."
"And you"re mine, even the broken pieces."
Closing her eyes, she whispers, "You can ignore them."
But I shake my head, which causes her to open her eyes, confusion deep in her gaze. "No, I"ll never ignore any part of you, especially the broken parts. Those are the parts that need the most attention, the parts I"m gonna help put back together."
She smiles, but it doesn"t reach her eyes, still flooding with tears. "I would give you a billion dots right now if we were texting."
Grinning, I dig my fingers into her back. "I"ll take a kiss instead."
"Done," she says before crashing her mouth to mine.
As we kiss, I feel whole.
So much more than before.
And as much as I want to tell her I love her, this isn"t the time. I want her to see that I"m here for her, that I"m in it to win it, before I drop the love bomb on her.
But when I do, when I say it, she"ll never ever feel anything but my love.
For the rest of her life.
My heart is in my throat.
My body is vibrating with nerves.
But I"m ready.
f.u.c.king ready.
As I stand in the hall, listening to each of my boys" numbers and their names, I rock back and forth, excitement rushing through my veins. I have been waiting for this moment, the moment when I"m on the ice, shining brightly, not in anyone"s shadow, and murdering my opponent while my family watches.
And Avery.
I can"t wait for her to see how awesome I am. To know I"m going to look up and see her sitting next to my mom... Man, I"m pretty sure that"s the main reason I"m so excited. Because things have been good. I mean, I know it"s only been a day since she opened up to me, but things feel right. Like they"re supposed to. And when she looks at me, I know she"s almost there. I feel like we are really in a relationship now, and I couldn"t be happier. Well, winning all our games then the championship, before going first in the draft and doing it all with Avery by my side would make me really happy. But all that will happen.
All in due time.
I swallow hard, and Markus looks back at me, grinning. "Ready?"
"Born ready, brother," I say as we tap gloves and his name is announced. Heading out of the tunnel like a rocket, he skates onto the ice, his hands up in the air as the cheers get louder. It"s almost my turn, and as the b.u.t.terflies go nuts in my belly, I feel like I"m on top of the world, especially when my name is called.
"And now, your captain, number thirty-two, Jace Sinclair!"
The roar of the crowd is overwhelming as I take off out of the tunnel and onto the ice with ease, going the short distance to the blue line with my boys. Lifting my head, I look up, searching the crowd for my family. I see my mom first, jumping up and down, a sign in her hands that says, "That"s my baby!" It"s her signature sign. I"m pretty sure it"s the same one from when Jude and Jayden played, not that I mind. I love it. Next, I see Angie, then Lucy, along with Jude and Jayden, Claire and Baylor standing below them, all of them screaming and clapping loudly. Sucking in a deep breath, my face breaks into a grin as I look toward where the rink doors are open and Avery takes the ice.
When Avery told me she was singing tonight, I couldn"t wait. And as she holds the mic to her mouth, I can see the nervousness in her eyes. Closing her eyes, she starts, and I swear she sounds like an angel. Looks like one too, with my hoodie on and a pair of jeans. She sings with all the gusto she can manage. It"s amazing, and when she hits the climax of the song, her hand coming up as she holds the note, I"m blown away, along with the rest of the crowd. I tap my stick to the ice, my boys following as she finishes. Looking right at me, she blows me a kiss, and all I can do is grin. I"m so proud of her, and I"m ready to make her proud of me.
As I skate around, keeping my legs warm while the rest of the team takes the bench and we get ready to start the game, I look around for my dad. When I find him, Ellen is sitting next to him and that bothers me. It"s bad enough he"s here, but he had to bring her? d.a.m.n it. But no, I can"t let that bother me. I have to focus.
One-track mind.
Winning.
Lining up, Markus and Gordon on either side of me, I feel my heart pounding in antic.i.p.ation. I look to Markus and he nods, and then I turn to Gordon, and he does the same. We are ready. Sucking my mouthguard back into my mouth, I meet the gaze of my opponent and grin.
Let"s do this.
When the puck drops, though, Ohio State takes it with ease, which p.i.s.ses me the f.u.c.k off. I hate losing the face-offs, but I don"t have time to dwell on it before I"m poke-checking the puck out of the guy"s possession and right onto Gordon"s stick. Gordon carries the puck into their zone quickly, dekeing around the offense before sending it back to Drake. He only holds it for a second before he sends it to Markus as I rush the net. Moving with the puck, hoping to block the goalie"s view, I watch as Markus sends it to Drake, who sends it to Marty, who then shoots. It rebounds. I try to get to it, but the defense beats me to it, trying to clear it out, but Drake is there, stopping it and shooting once more.
But it"s batted away right onto Gordon"s stick. He shoots; it"s blocked to my left. Markus shoots, and the goalie moves to the left. But it goes over him and the bar, hitting the gla.s.s and bouncing right onto my stick.
And I have a wide-open goal.
Sending it to the back of the net with ease, I throw my arms up in the air as our fight song sounds and my team wraps me up in a big hug.
"That"s one!" Markus yells happily as we tap helmets.
"Let"s do it again!" I yell and they all rally as we head to the bench for the next shift to go on. When I look up to my family, they are all losing their s.h.i.t. And in the middle is Avery, with a huge grin on her face and a sign that says, "My boyfriend is better than yours!" in her hands.
For some reason, that sign is better than the goal I just scored.
We win the first game four to one, but it should have been a shutout. Unfortunately, one of our guys tipped the puck in over Trevor"s shoulder, which I hate. No big deal, it happens, but at least we won. After showering and rallying with the boys, all of us hoping to continue kicking a.s.s, I head out into the tunnel leading to the lobby where my family is waiting. As excited as I am to see them, and Avery, I"m worried about seeing my dad. I blocked him out of my mind when I was on the ice, but now that I"m heading down the tunnel, uneasiness is settling in the pit of my gut.
This is probably going to be a s.h.i.tshow.
Markus walks with me, a grin on his face because we both scored two each tonight. "So I"m pretty sure I"m going to out-goal you this year. Just a warning."
I grin. "It"s good to believe in yourself, bro. Just keep doing that."
He grins back. "Keep on, bro. And when I bypa.s.s you and get my own banner, we"ll see who"s encouraging the other to believe in themselves."
I punch him playfully in the arm, and he laughs as we make it into the lobby. "I"ll come over and say hi to your mom in a minute. Let me go keep my mom and dad from killing each other."
"May the force be with you."
He shakes his head ruefully as he goes left toward where his parents are ignoring each other. Being the only child in that family has to suck, but Markus takes it in stride. He shouldn"t have to, though. But I do envy him, because instead of just two people hating each other, I have to contend with six, eight if you add in my sisters-in-law. Oh, joy. My stomach is in knots as I head to where my family usually stands. When I reach them, they are all talking, joking around. But when I get there, Jude puts me in a headlock while Jayden drops an elbow in my back.
"You think you"re good, hot s.h.i.t," Jude says, squeezing my head as Jayden"s hard-a.s.s elbow digs into my back.
"Scoring like an a.s.shole. Give the rest of the team a chance, puck hog," Jayden teases before dropping both his elbows into my back.
"Mom! Make them stop!" I complain, but all I hear is laughter as they continue to beat me up. When I finally get away, my mom pulls me into her arms and glares at them.
"Leave my baby alone," she scolds before kissing my head. "You did great, sweetie."
"Yeah, sweetie, you did great," Jayden chortles.
"I wish I was you, baby," Jude teases and Claire smacks him.
"Leave him alone. You did great, Jace."
"Thanks," I say, meeting Avery"s gaze. Her eyes are dancing with laughter, her cheeks red from grinning. I"m convinced I"ll never see anyone as gorgeous as her. She pulled her hair to the side, braiding it down her shoulder, and I love how the wisps of hair are framing her face. Most of all, I love her smile. She looks happy, and that"s all I want.
Breaking from my mom"s grip, I take Avery in my arms, kissing her cheek. "I"m amazing, right?"
She lets out a long breath and nods. "As much as it pains me to tell you you were right, you were. Amazing doesn"t even cover how awesome you did."
"That"s right," I say, gesturing toward Jude and Jayden. "You guys better watch out-I"m coming."
They blow raspberries at me, waving me off as Avery kisses my jaw.
"Full of himself," Jude accuses, and yeah, I am, because I"m f.u.c.king awesome.
"He"ll get a reality check," Jayden says, his lips curved. "Just wait."
Rolling my eyes, I turn to my mom to introduce her properly to Avery, but I find she is looking to the left, her face twisted in disgust. Following the direction of her gaze, I see my dad is coming toward us. With Ellen in tow.
"f.u.c.k," I hear Jude mutter.
"Just ignore him," Claire says quickly as Jayden lets out a long breath.
"I"m gonna take Angie to the car," Lucy says quickly, but before she can get a hold of Angie, she is running to my dad.
"Papa!"
He scoops her up, kissing her loudly on the cheek and hugging her. "Hey, honey. Look how big you are!"
"f.u.c.king h.e.l.l," Lucy seethes before crossing her arms, her eyes in slits.
"I miss you, Papa. Why don"t you come see me?"
"I miss you too, honey. I"ll work something out with your momma, okay?"
"Okay," she says, hugging my dad"s neck tightly as he comes up to the group, slamming his hand on my shoulder.
"d.a.m.n fine game, Jace. Real proud of you."
"Er, thanks, Dad," I say, swallowing loudly as Avery"s arms tighten around me.
"Is this Avery?"
Everyone cuts their gaze to Avery, and she looks confused before glancing up at me.
"It is," I say, looking at Avery. She looks just as distressed as I do. "Avery, this is my dad, Mr. Sinclair."
"Oh, call me Mark," he says, shaking Avery"s hand, and I don"t miss the way Claire glares. He was so mean to Claire the first time he met her and demanded she call him Mr. Sinclair whenever they were together. I don"t know what game he"s playing, but he has everyone, minus Angie, on edge.
And I"m the one who caused all this.
"Oh, er, Mark, nice to meet you," Avery says slowly and I bite down on my lip.
A few seconds pa.s.s and then Dad looks around, still holding Angie, a grin on his face that I really don"t understand. "Good to see everyone."
No one says anything to that. Not even my mom, who is nice to everyone. They"re all only glaring, my sisters-in-law looking away because this situation is a thousand shades of f.u.c.ked up. I feel terrible I put all of us in the same room. But what"s done is done, and I did this, so I have to own up to it.
"Yeah, so," I say, reaching for Angie. Thankfully, she comes to me before I place her on the ground, where Lucy scoops her up. "We are gonna head out."
Dad nods. "Cool, going to dinner?"
I swallow loudly and all eyes are on me. Looking away, I nod slowly, but I pause when I see Coach coming toward us, his face blazing with some emotion, maybe anger.
Ah. s.h.i.t.
I shoot a glance to Baylor with desperation in my eyes. She sees where I"m looking and then she"s moving, but Coach walks right past her, coming up behind my mom.
s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t.
"Everything okay?" he asks and I close my eyes.
Really?
My dad"s brow rises as he takes in the giant of a man. Coach used to play for the Bruins; he isn"t a little dude, and I know I"m scared of him. So no telling what my father, who is a foot smaller than me, is thinking.
But to my surprise, he smirks. "New boyfriend there, Autumn?"
"None of your G.o.dd.a.m.n business," Mom seethes and my eyes widen.
Aw, s.h.i.t.
My mom never cusses.
"Yeah, I am. What"s it to you?" Coach says and I look to Jude for help, but he"s got a dumb grin on his face. When I look at Jayden, he"s just looking at me, waiting.
a.s.shole.