Chapter 16

"Fuck, it feels good to be back!" I inhale a deep breath, filling myself with the sights and sounds of the arena on game night. There's nothing like the energy around here when we're about to take the ice. It's a feeling I'll never tire of and I am so fucking grateful to be well enough to play tonight.

Colby chuckles beside me as we stand inside the tunnel ready to take the ice. He claps me on the shoulder. "We're glad to have you back, man. Makes for a nice birthday, huh?"

"Sure, as hell does."

"Cheers to that. We're celebrating tonight, right?"

"Uhh…probably not. I told Ada I would be home."

"Because tonight, gentlemen," Dex starts. "Tonight, our man Zeke is absolutely going to fuck the nanny."

My head snaps his way. "What?"

"Dude, it's your fuckin' birthday." He shrugs. "And you want to. You know you do."

"Doesn't matter what I want to do, Foster. Until those divorce papers have been delivered…"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you. All I'm saying is it's your birthday and from what you were telling us earlier, things are going well between the two of you. So just go for it. Nobody has to know. Well, except me, of course. I need to know. I always need to know." He winks and then finds his place in our team huddle.

Do I want to get Ada alone sooner rather than later? Hell yeah, I do. I just don't want anything to go wrong with this divorce. Grady has to find Lori. It's the only way I'll be able to let go and allow myself to blow off a little steam and have some fun. And Ada Lewis is definitely the fun I want to have.

"Clean game tonight, brothers," Colby says. "Let's go kick some ass for Zeke's birthday. What do you say?"

We all chant, "HUSTLE, HIT, AND NEVER QUIT!" and then we line up at the gate to the ice just as the announcer says, "Let's hear it for our very own CHICAGOOOOO RED TAAAAAAILS!"

The crowd goes wild as we skate onto the ice. I take a few laps around the net before starting my stretches paying close attention to my groin muscles. I feel great going into this game. I can only pray it stays that way because if this injury happens again I could very well be out for the season and fuck if I can live an entire season without being on the ice with my team.

I start my pregame warmup with a burst of quick side to side shuffles, stretching my legs and feeling the ice under my feet. I circle back to the net and then drop to my knees, spread my legs wide and then reach forward until my gloved hands are on the ice. Listening to the music playing overhead, I pull my hips back and pulse against the ice. I'm well aware of the females in the arena that start screaming the moment any of us go down to this position. But I can't think about any of that right now. I have to pay close attention to the muscles I'm stretching so I can be sure my trainers were right and I'm in tip top shape to do my job tonight.

Some of the guys are stretching around me while others are practicing a few skating maneuvers when the music changes and the arena's organ player starts to play a familiar tune. I look up from my stretches and am shocked when I see the whole arena up on their feet. But it's not just them. My entire team has circled around me as everyone sings, "Happy Birthday dear Miller…happy birthday to you!"

Shit.

A boisterous smile grows across my face and my cheeks redden as the arena cheers for me. I shake my head and lift my hand acknowledging their applause and then continue stretching.

The guys skate over to me and give me a helmet tap, or in Dex's case, a slap on my ass.

"Happy birthday Sir Humps-a-lot. Way to put on a show for your girls."

My brows pinch together. "Huh?"

He gestures to where the WAGS usually sit. "Your girls. You didn't tell us they were coming tonight."

What?

I rise to my feet and turn in the direction Dex was gesturing and my jaw drops. My stomach summersaults, my chest warms, and my eyes damn near start to leak. "Holy shit. They're here."

Standing with Carissa, Charlee, Tate, Rory, and Kinsley, is Ada, holding my daughter on her hip. The two of them are sporting matching Red Tails jerseys, their hair braided into pigtails with my number written on their cheeks.

My girls.

God that feels so good to hear.

My girls.

It's perfect.

They're perfect.

And they came for me.

Ada brought my daughter to the game all on her own. To surprise me.

Elsie and Ada wave to me and blow me kisses and all I can do is wave back. When they're behind the glass, there's no way for me to talk to them, not to mention Coach would have my ass if I wasn't focused on tonight's game. But holy shit if my energy level didn't just skyrocket.

"Dex?"

"Yeah, man?"

"We're going to kick some Boston ass and win this game tonight."

He grins. "Yeah. And?"

Finally, I say what I know he's been longing to hear me say for months. "And then I'm going to fuck the nanny."

His smile widens and he throws his head back in laughter. "Fuckin' right you are." He pats my helmet and looks me straight in the eye and says, "You've got this Zeke. You've never let us down."

I know that's not true. I've let them down numerous times, but I'll take all the pep talk I can get. No fucking way is a puck getting into my net tonight. Not if the two good luck charms I've got on my side have anything to say about it.

We get through the typical pregame ceremony and then the puck is dropped and I'm focused on one thing and one thing only. Blocking every single goddamn shot.

I track the puck down the ice as possession banks from us to Boston and back to us. Shay takes his first shot of the game when he has the chance but it's blocked and rebounded by Boston. The play comes my direction and I have an eagle's eye on that tiny piece of black rubber. It's almost laughable how their right wing comes barreling down on me. I can tell by his stance, and the way he's holding his stick, that he's going to shoot to my right. Without fail, he taps the puck with the end of his stick and it flies to me, but my glove is already in the air waiting for it.

Be less predictable next time, dumbfuck.

I tap the puck to Landric who races back down the ice. He swings around the net and passes to Nelson who pivots and shoots but just misses the score. Boston brings the play back to me, O'Brian on the far side passes to Lebank. My eyes are on the puck as I hunker my stance, trying my best to predict his next move. He swings back his stick and I know he's going for it. At the moment his stick hits the puck, Scoval pivots around the net to assist but knocks me over in the process.

"Fuck!"

My fall draws a reaction from both the crowd and the rest of my teammates. Foster drops his gloves and goes after Scoval with Malone right by his side.

"Touch my goalie again and I'll rip you to shreds, you stupid ass fuck," I hear Dex shout as he throws his first punch. I'm not sure what has Dex so fired up but I could almost kiss the guy for looking out for me. If there's one thing our team does well, it's that no matter what, we always have each other's backs. Malone tries to pull the guys apart but he's ganged up on by two other rival players who think he's trying to get in on the action. That sets off Nelson and Shay and now we have a brawl on the ice and all hell is breaking loose.

Aww, my team loves me.

Thanks for making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, gentlemen.

I'm pissed that Scoval got in the way and shoved me, but watching the guys fight for my honor is just a little heartwarming and a lot of fucking fun. All I want to do as I stand myself back up is laugh, but I keep my game face on for their sake. These guys will look for any way to distract us from our gameplay. They're a tough team to beat, I won't lie, but I'll be damned if they're getting the win tonight.

After a minute or two, or ten from what it feels like, the refs finally get involved and break up the fight. A snippet from Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" plays overhead which makes me chuckle. If Dex is hearing this, it wouldn't surprise me even a little bit if he were to break out into some sort of ice dance just for the hell of it.

Fuck, I would almost be willing to pay him to do it.

While I'm waiting for the refs to clear the fights and hand out their penalties, I steal a glance at the jumbotron and I'll be damned. Remi is with my girls. The ladies are all dancing but Remi has Elsie on the stairs dressed adorably in her bedazzled jersey and he's holding her hand as they dance to Taylor Swift.

I should've known she'd be dancing to this.

He turns Elsie around and that's when I see it. The back of her bedazzled shirt—except where it would usually say MILLER, it says DADDY instead. My heart melts and just for a moment I forget about the game play and watch my kid living her best life with Remi by her side. Fuck, it truly takes a village to raise a kid and knowing the entire Chicago Red Tails family is willing to spread some love and attention to my little girl makes me so fucking happy.

By the time we get the game back into play we only have about thirty seconds before the buzzer sounds for the end of the first period. We head off the ice and down through the tunnel to the dressing room. Though the score might be tied at zero at the moment, the guys seem anything but angry about it. Their energy is high, and they're all smiles when I'm the last one to walk in the room.

"You alright, Miller?" Coach asks.

"Hell yeah. I'm perfect. Why?"

He gestures to the rest of the team. "Because for some reason these asshats decided to go to bat for you tonight. What the fuck was that?"

Dex shrugs. "I call it fun."

The guys laugh and even Coach smirks a bit, but he tries to keep his composure. "Maybe next period we focus on scoring and not throwing our fists at the other team, huh?"

"Sorry, Coach," Dex tells him. "But after Miller's injury the last time he was on the ice, I didn't want him getting hurt tonight. There's too much on the line."

"On the line? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means he's got a hot date tonight, Coach!" Quinton adds.

"Yeah. His nanny is here watching so we can't have him getting hurt in front of her." Dex wags his brows. "Gotta protect that groin if you know what I mean."

"The nanny? Miller, you're fucking the nanny?"

"No, Sir." I laugh at his shocked expression.

"Not yet, anyway," Dex quips.

Coach rolls his eyes and swipes a hand down his face. "For Christ's sake. Do you know what? I think the less I know, the better, alright? Let's not get into this now. We've got a game to win." He goes over his thoughts on the next period and then gives us a few minutes to rest and relax. Jason takes me into the therapy room to massage and stretch my legs again. He doesn't want me taking any chances out there if I can help it.

He palpates the inside of my right thigh checking my groin muscle for any sign of weakness. "You feeling good? No pain?" he asks, bringing my leg up to my chest and then out to the side.

I shake my head. "No pain. I feel great."

He nods approvingly. "Good. Are you being cautious out there?"

Cringing slightly, I huff a sigh of frustration. "Maybe a little, but I don't want to be."

"I get it. That's normal. Everything feels good though, so I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe just try not to butterfly with every block you make and you should be fine. We'll check you again at the end of the game. Just be careful and if you feel even the slightest pull, get yourself off that fucking ice and let the second string take care of it."

"Will do."

Second period is even better than the first. So far it's been a shutout for me and the guys have scored three times. They're playing an amazing game tonight. Hawken has done a spectacular job leading the offensive line in keeping the puck inside Boston territory. And in those few moments when the puck does come my way I've had no problem protecting my net from unwanted predators.

Just before the start of the third period Milo catches Elsie, Ada, and Remi on the jumbotron again and points it out to me. Remi has a fudge popsicle in his hand and gives it to Elsie. He gives her a big high five as the crowd around them cheers for the little cutie now enjoying one of her very favorite frozen treats. I'll have to thank Carissa for that one because I'm certain she had a hand in it. Remi offers his hand to Ada and pulls her out to the steps.

Oh God, what is he doing now?

She's all smiles as the music switches to "Lover" by Taylor Swift. And the only reason I know this song is because Taylor is one hundred percent Dex's hall pass and he has a massive crush on her, so we listen to every album she's ever created throughout the season. Numerous times.

Remi wraps his arm around Ada and slow dances with her, even dipping her and pretending to kiss her cheek. Fuck, I've never wanted to be a huge red fluffy bird more than I do right this very moment. Ada takes it all in stride and even gives Remi a sweet kiss on the cheek in return.

I've never been happier to know that Remi has a crush on Gianna, our Zamboni driver because I'm hella-fucking-jealous watching him dance with my girl.

I know, I know. She's not mine yet.

But she will be.

I want to dance with Ada like that.

I want to hold her in my arms and feel her body against mine.

I want to sing to her while we sway.

And then I want to kiss her so fucking sweetly that she's desperate for more.

"Looks like your girls are having a great night, Zeke," Milo says, watching as the fans cheer them on.

I shake my head in disbelief that they're even here. That the woman I'm falling for is wearing my name and my number tonight. That she's adorably matching my daughter and helping her have a fun night amongst an arena full of adults.

"Milo, I don't think I've ever wanted a game to be over faster in my life."

He laughs. "I don't doubt that at all, my friend. You leave that to us. We've got your back." He skates off to get into position for the puck drop and we are on our way to bringing home another win.