36. Asher

36

ASHER

I glance at the stunning woman sitting beside me in my car as I drive toward Crestwood’s hockey rink. Isla is almost rigid in the passenger seat as she stares out the window, her gaze focused on the gray skies above. Strands of her blonde hair whip in the wind from the cracked window she’s currently looking out of. She’s not paying attention to her surroundings as she chews on her thumbnail.

“Hey,” I say softly, reaching over to squeeze her knee before placing my hand back on the steering wheel. “It’s gonna be alright. We are ready for this.”

I can see her turn to look at me before she speaks.“But I can’t stop thinking about what if he benches you, Ash? What if this ruins your shot at the pros? I’d never forgive myself...”

“Stop,” I cut her off gently. “Everything will be fine, and you can’t let yourself spiral due to what-ifs. This isn’t just about hockey. It’s about you and me and about how much I love you.”

I grimace slightly as the mood in the car shifts because of my confession. This isn’t how I imagined telling her I loved her again for the first time in years, but here we are. Sometimes, the best moments are spontaneous, I guess.

Isla is silent for a few moments, and I wonder how much I messed this up. I hear her let out a gigantic sigh, but I can barely hear it because of what feels like the blood rushing in my ears. This happens when I’m on the ice, but I can’t remember the last time it happened when I was in a private setting.

She reaches over and squeezes my knee in much the same manner that I did just a few seconds ago.“I love you too. So much. But I’m still scared of what you might lose because of this.”

The panic in my head and heart stops immediately. I intertwine our fingers and bring her hand up to press a tender kiss against her knuckles.

“We’re not going to lose a thing, and we won’t lose each other. In fact, we have so much to gain after this meeting, sunshine…. And I never thought I would say those words.”

That makes her laugh. I’ve accomplished my goal. If there is anything I can do to reduce the burden she’s carrying, I will do so, even if I am nervous about how all of this is going to go.

I keep our fingers laced as I pull into the arena parking lot. What normally has a very calming effect on me because I know I will be hitting the ice is anything but as I throw my car into park.

“We’re here,”I say unnecessarily because we both know that.

She nods as she does deep breathing exercises to calm herself down. I place another kiss on the back of her hand as I check the clock.

Two minutes until I’m supposed to meet with her father, which means I should head in now.“Let’s go, baby.”

I step out of the car, the crisp air hitting my face as I round the front of my car to the passenger’s side. Opening her door, I extend my hand to help her out. She takes it, her fingers trembling slightly in mine. I give them a reassuring squeeze.

“Hey,”I whisper, tucking a strand of her windblown hair behind her ear.“It’s going to be okay. We’re in this together, remember?”

Isla nods, leaning into my touch for a moment before straightening her shoulders.“I know. Everything is going to be fine. I have to hold on to that thought.”

“That’s all we can do right now,”I reply, agreeing with her. I kiss her on the forehead before I grab her hand again. Together, hand in hand, we walk toward the arena entrance. Is it the smartest thing to hold her hand so her father can see us before we have this conversation? No, but I need to touch and comfort her and myself.

Once we’re in the building and make a turn for the tunnel, we make our way toward Coach Johnson’s office. The walk down the hallway seems to take forever, but Isla’s hand tightens around mine as we approach the door I need to walk through.

I pause a few feet away and turn to face her. I cup her face gently, and my thumbs brush lightly over her cheekbones.“No matter what happens in there, it doesn’t change how I feel about you. About us. We’ll figure it out, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispers. “I love you.”

Hearing her repeat those words blows my mind.“I love you too, Isla. More than anything.”I press a soft kiss to her lips before pulling away.

Isla steps to the side, hiding herself from view as I walk the last few steps to Coach Johnson’s office alone. Taking a deep breath, I raise my hand and knock firmly on the door. There’s a beat of heavy silence, and then Coach’s voice calls out,“Come in.”

I glance at Isla one last time before I turn the doorknob and step into what feels like the lion’s den. Coach looks up at me as I step into his domain. I close the door behind me, and I swear the clicking of it engaging with the doorframe sounds louder than usual.

“Asher,” he says. “Take a seat.”

I do as he says and sit in the chair across from him. Normally, I would look around to see what trophies, photos, and newspaper articles he might have added to his collection because of all the accolades he’s won, but I can’t bring myself to do so.

Coach Johnson leans back in his chair.“Bennett, why did you want to have this meeting?”

“I want to talk to you about....”my voice trails off just before I rip off the proverbial Band-Aid.“…about Isla.”

Coach Johnson’s jaw tightens when I mention his daughter.“What about her?”

I swallow hard because my mouth has gone dry. The glare that he is serving me is warranted, but I refuse to let it intimidate me.

“Isla and I are together,” I say.“We are dating.”

There’s no expression on Coach Johnson’s face, but I catch the subtle twitch of his jaw. It’s obvious that he’s not amused.“Is that so?”he asks, his tone deceptively calm.“And how long has this been going on?”

I debate how specific I should get on the timing of our relationship, and whether to include when we dated years ago, but decide that it’s not worth getting into the details right now. Instead, I meet his gaze head-on because I’m not backing down.

“A while now. But that’s not what matters. What matters is that we’re serious about each other.”

His piercing blue eyes, so like his daughter’s, stare into mine.“Serious,”he repeats.“And what, pray tell, does serious mean to you, Asher?”

I swear my t-shirt is restricting my breathing, but I push through anyway.“It means that I love her, Coach. And she loves me. We want to be together and don’t want to hide it anymore.”

“I see. I’m unsure how I feel about this, but you are both adults. And I will respect the decision you’ve made.”

“Thanks, Coach.”Those are the only words I can say because my brain has short-circuited, and this is going better than I expected. Not that I expected him to be unreasonable, and I did, and still do, have a lot of positive vibes about all this. But this is going almost too well.

“I just hope you understand what you’re risking, both on and off the ice.” Coach pauses and then sighs. “Look, Asher, I will not pretend this is easy for me, but that’s because I wasn’t expecting it. Isla’s my daughter, and I want what’s best for her. And I do like you as a person on and off the ice and have from the moment you stepped into that rink and stayed with us for a couple of weeks years ago. But if you care about her, you need to prove it to her. I’m more than confident that she can handle herself.”

I nod and stop myself before I look like a bobblehead.“She’s amazing.”

“Don’t you think I know that?”

The look on his face and the tone of his voice say it all, and I feel foolish throwing those words out there. I clear my throat, trying to find the right words and not stick my foot in my mouth again.“Of course, Coach. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”

His gaze stays on me for a moment before drifting to the door and landing back on me.“Is she here with you?”

“She is. She didn’t want me to do this without support.”

“Open the door so that she can come in.”

I jump up out of my seat and hurry to the door. With more enthusiasm than necessary, I yank the door open and say,“Hey, Isla, Coach wants to talk to you.”

I hold the door open as Isla steps into the office. Coach Johnson rises from his seat, his eyes softening as they land on his daughter.“Isla, come in, sit down.”

Isla glances at me with a raised eyebrow, and I give her a reassuring nod. We all sit down in our designated chairs, and I wait for him to speak.

Coach Johnson studies his daughter for a few seconds before he speaks again.“Isla, I want you to know that your happiness is my priority. It always has been and always will be. If dating Asher brings that to you, then I support it wholeheartedly.”

The tension in the room lifts as the air in my lungs rushes out. Relief fills my veins, and I almost miss Coach referring to me by my first name instead of my last. Am I traveling through the Twilight Zone?

Isla’s hand finds mine just before she replies to her father.“It does, Dad. Asher makes me incredibly happy.”

Coach Johnson’s eyes dance between us, assessing the situation in front of him once more.“I can see that. And I respect it.”He leans forward, and his gaze once again locks on mine.“But understand this, Bennett. If you hurt her, if you break her heart?—”

“You don’t need to say the words because I know, Coach. I would never intentionally hurt her because she means everything to me.”

Isla squeezes my hand as her father responds.“Good. See that you remember that.”He sits back in his leather chair before he continues.“Now, this better not affect your performance on the ice. I expect you to keep your focus and to give 110% at every practice and every game. No distractions.”

“Of course, Coach. Hockey is still a top priority for me. I won’t let you or our team down.”

“Alright then.”For a second, I wonder if he’s going to say something else, but that thought leaves my head when he speaks up again.“Why don’t you both come over for dinner one night next week? We can talk more then, and you can spend time with Molly and Grace.”

I glance at Isla before turning back to look at Coach Johnson.“That sounds like a great idea if Isla is cool with it.”

“I am,” Isla responds.

Coach claps his hands together once and stands up.“Excellent. I’m sure Isla will let you know the details.”

Coach Johnson gives us a curt nod and dismisses us from this meeting. As we exit the office, the door closes behind us with a click that sounds much softer than the one I experienced when I first walked in.

Isla speaks first.“That went better than I expected.”

“You’re telling me, but now we have to face dinner with your parents and sister.”

“That’ll be a breeze compared to this.”

I hope she is right.