Chapter 10

The good thing about a game night? Nobody asked me about the press or Lia, or anything as we each went through warm-ups. The trainers had been particular about making sure I was prepped as best as I could be. My ankle felt pretty good for how much ice time I'd had in yesterday's game. In the locker room, we each went through our routines. Lou had his big headphones on blasting his music. Daniel was looking at the photo of his wife he'd taped to his locker.

"The smell of your socks is going to kill us all." Lou had his nose pinched as he looked at Matt in the locker next to him. "Please wash them."

"I wash them, we lose."

I shook my head. Superstitious or not, I'd learned long ago not to mess with anyone's routine. Practice days were one thing, but game days- I wasn't going to do anything to put anyone else on edge. Game days had an energy that grew stronger the closer to the puck drop we got. We'd be taking the ice in an hour.

My phone buzzed, I'd thought I'd put it on silent. It was a text from Erin.

You've given me no choice. Penelope and I are moving to New York as soon as I sell the house.

Dread and anger hit me with equal measure. She'd threatened to move a thousand times, usually it was accompanied with a request for money. I typed a text back to her.

How much?

Her response was quick.

It's not about the money. Keeping Penelope in this small town is keeping her from important opportunities.

I frowned and thought to myself, In other words, the opportunities Erin thought she would benefit from.

What opportunities?

My phone said Erin had read my text, but none of the dots showed up to show she was typing. After a few minutes I knew Erin was done talking. She'd let me stew on it so I'd write her a check for whatever amount she wanted. We'd played this game way too many times, and I was done with it.

Instead of arguing with Erin I typed out a text to my lawyer asking for him to do whatever it took to keep Erin from moving away with Penelope.

My lawyer, Jared, must have been working late, because he responded right away.

Full custody?

Yes.

I put my phone on silent before setting it in my locker and grabbing my gear. With a roll of my shoulders, I pushed all the drama out of my mind. Right then, all I needed to think about was the puck and the team. I fell into my pre-game gear-up routine.

Coach Hart walked over to me as I lifted my jersey over my head. "You good?" he asked.

I finished pulling my jersey on. "I'm good."

He nodded and got the team's attention. After talking through the starting lineup, and a reminder of the tactics he wanted to see, he gave the same pep talk he'd delivered last night. We were good, but only as good as we played together. The Frostbite Falcons we were about to play had won last night. They wanted to do it again tonight.

Coach told us to focus on the puck not the punches, and we left the locker room for the ice. We warmed up and I held up a glove to fist-bump Dan in our typical pregame fashion. After the quick skate around the ice we were pulled off the ice for the national anthem to play. As it finished I looked up to the box to see Penelope standing at the glass. Lia next to her. Penelope pointed at something, and Lia nodded.

I looked away. Head in the game. Not on the beautiful redhead treating my daughter with respect.

"Mitchell!"

My head snapped to Coach.

"Faceoff."

"Yes, Coach!" Faceoffs were one of my favorite parts of the game. There's nothing quite like challenging myself against the speed of the player across from me and seeing who can get the puck first.

I dropped my smile as I skated to the center of the ice, stopping just outside the circle where the ref will drop the puck. A quick look around showed that my teammates were in position, a nod from Daniel in the net told me we were all good. I turned my focus forward and immediate distaste coated my tongue as I recognized the player in the red jersey across the circle from me. Evan Mercer had been a pain in my backside since my first AHL season. He took it personally when the NHL called me up over him. Last I'd heard he'd been with the Blizzard Bisons. I hadn't seen him at last night's game.

"Mitchell." He nearly spat the words out as he leaned low.

"Mercer." I leaned forward nice and low to get in position and waited for the puck to drop.

The ref looked between us and held up the black puck. "Clean game boys."

Coach wanted a clean game too, but when it comes to hockey, clean is relative. I won't play dirty, but I will return whatever I get, and I have no doubt that my team will be there for me too.

The ref dropped the puck, and my stick was there to get it and Mercer was just a little too slow. I slapped the puck to my wingman and Mercer shoved me away. I shrugged him off and followed the puck as Lou skated it down the ice. The Falcons played hard, and I hit the boards more than once, but so did the other team.

Back and forth we went across the ice, neither team scoring in the first or second period. The third period started, and just like the first two, I got the puck in the faceoff against Mercer. Switching it up, I hit the puck to Matt. He was young and fast and was off to the other side of the rink while the rest of us played catch up. The Falcon defensemen collided with him, and they ended up fighting over the puck by the boards. They scrapped, and just as I got in position for Matt to sling the puck my way, he dropped his stick and launched himself into the other player.

The ref's whistle blew, and I helped the refs pull Matt away from the fight. Matt was angrier than I've ever seen him. In the pause as we waited for the refs to tell us how long he'd be stuck in the box I stood by him.

"What was that about?" I asked. Matt wasn't a goon and had the lowest PIM on the team.

He shook his head, and skated to the penalty box without a word.

The Falcons had a power play for five minutes, leaving my team down a player until Matt got out of the box. We skated hard, but Mercer ended up scoring. Something he gloated about as we went again in the faceoff. Mercer had figured out that he couldn't grab the puck first, and he went for blocking my stick instead. My hockey stick scraped across the ice and hit Mercer's stick hard. He twisted, and quickly ran a skate on my stick, causing it to break. With a grin Mercer gained control of the puck and he slapped it away to his teammate, and then while the refs were looking away, his stick hooked my skate and pulled. I hit the ice, and if I hadn't had a helmet my head would've been ringing.

Mercer had already skated away and acted like nothing happened.

Whistles blew, and the game was paused as the refs conferred.

I got up and headed to my team's bench for a new stick while the refs divvied out Mercer's penalty. Coach opened the door in the boards as I skated closer.

"Get checked out." He ordered, and I saw Daniel's wife, one of the team trainers and sports medicine experts, was already by the bench waiting for me. I plopped down and watched Coach send someone else out to take my place on the ice for the new faceoff. By the time Alexis cleared me, Mercer was sitting in the penalty box, and the clock on Matt's penalty had run out. The tables had turned and my team now had the power play. The crowd roared in approval, and I could feel the shift in the air from all the energy. Matt was also benched to make sure he was over whatever had set him off.

He sat next to me and took a drink from his water bottle before asking, "You good?"

"Yeah." I looked up at the window where Penelope was standing by the glass next to Lia and Hannah. I waved at them so they'd know that I was fine. "Want to talk about it?"

"Nope."

"If you do..."

"Not going to happen."

But I caught the way he looked up at the suite as well. He looked away as soon as he noticed that I saw.

I lifted an eyebrow in question.

He looked around real fast. "Not now."

We turned back to the game, and watched as Lou took the puck and scored. We were tied up and still had a full minute left on the power play. The fans were going crazy, and the announcer was hyping them up. Lights flashed around the stadium to celebrate the goal. Matt and I leaned over the boards to stick out a gloved hand so we could high-five Lou as he skated by.

Matt and I stayed standing as we watched the rest of the game play out. Mercer was still stuck in the penalty box as we watched Lou take possession of the puck again. He was still riding the high from his goal, as he brought it to the goal, and slapshot it right between the goalie's legs. The roar of the crowd was deafening as we led the scoreboard two to one.

There's nothing like a good power play, and it was what had won the game for us. Spirits high, we circled the ice and did all the PR things until it was time to head into the locker room. Back to the real world and all the things that can't be solved on the ice .

Just like that I was thinking about the mess with Erin, and how I could make up for this disaster to Lia. I hated that Penelope was so used to Erin's theatrics, and that I didn't have full custody. I hoped that my lawyer would have good news for me soon. Hopefully Hannah had finished the statement she wanted me to give.

My phone buzzed. I took off my helmet and gloves, setting them to the side, so I could check my phone. My lawyer's name flashed on the screen.

Why didn't you say you were getting engaged!? This is a game changer, there's no way the judge will refuse your request when you're getting married. Let me know where you want the prenup sent, and don't forget to send me an invitation to the wedding.

And like the power play that won the game, I saw what I needed to be able to protect Penelope and win against Erin. I needed an extra player. I dialed Hannah on my phone.

"I need to talk to Lia, without Penelope."

"Sure, I can put her on the phone."

"Face to face, before the interviews."

Hannah sighed. "I can give you a couple minutes, but that's it."

"That's all I need."

I didn't bother changing anything besides my skates so I could talk to Lia sooner. Hannah brought her down to just outside the locker room, but there wasn't much privacy to be had, with the rest of the team able to walk by at any moment. Lia smiled when she saw me, but I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was a little confused at why Hannah had brought her down.

Hannah looked at her watch. "Two minutes, Mr. Hockey."

"I need your help." I got right to the point as I looked at Lia, "I need you to be my fiancé."