Page 151 of If You Love Me

“Do not get my daughter pregnant.”

He claps me on the shoulder. “I’d like her to have some time in her career, and I’d like to be married for a couple of years before we start that discussion. But it’s good to know where you stand.”

“I just want her to live a little.”

“I know. Me too, Roman.”

Hemi and Peggy are waiting at the end of the hall for us.

Peggy’s eyes narrow. “You two look serious.”

“You look beautiful,” Hollis says smoothly and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“You good?” Hemi asks.

“I’m good.”

Dallas pushes through the doors to our right. “Honey? There you are. You were there one second, and then you were gone.” Dallas adjusts his tie. He’s dressed in his typical plaid-suit uniform.

“You were too busy looking at your pretty face in the mirror.” Hemi wears a smirk.

“Hemi really owns your ass, doesn’t she?” I chuckle.

“One hundred percent yes. All day every day.” He stops in front of her. “Permission to put my lips briefly on your lips because I won’t survive until after the game if you say no.”

“You can kiss me. But don’t try to slip me the tongue or I won’t be nice later.”

“Oh, honey, that was the wrong thing to say.” He winds his arm around her waist and pulls her against him.

She laughs and tries to turn her head, but his other hand is in her hair. “I was kidding.” He kisses the end of her nose, then gives her a peck on the lips before he releases her.

“Where’s Ash?” Hemi asks.

“Heading down with Flip and the rest of the crew.”

The elevator doors open, and the four of them step out, along with Tally, Essie, Shilpa, and Nate, whose face is the color of a beet. Makes me wonder what kind of conversation the girls were having on the way down.

There are hugs and back pats before we make the short trip to the arena, where the girls and Nate split off, heading up to the box. Lexi’s already with the other coaches, and I’ll see her shortly in the locker room for the pre-game strategy talk.

We’re closing in on the end of the season, and tonight will be a tough game. The last time we played Boston, they handed us our ass. Every point counts when we’re this close to playoffs.

We suit up, and the mood in the locker room is tense but hopeful.

“I know this season hasn’t been an easy one,” Vander Zee begins. “We’ve seen a lot of change, and there’s more coming. But last year we took home the Cup. We’re still that team, and we can win against Boston. We did it last year, and we can do it again this year. The skill is there; the will is there. Dig deep and ignore the noise, because I know there’s been a lot of it this season. Focus on the goal, which is bringing Boston to their knees and securing the best possible spot in the playoffs again.”

“We’ll do you proud, Coach,” Madden says.

There’s a chorus of “yeahs” and “we got this” and a bunch of back pats before we leave the locker room and take the ice.

But the first period is rough. Grace ends up with a penalty in the first five minutes, and Boston scores a goal.

Madden makes up for it in the second half of the first period by tying the score, but we’re working hard to keep Boston away from the net, and the puck always seems to be floating around our net instead of theirs.

At the end of the first period, I’m feeling the pressure, just like everyone else. We head to the locker room and plan strategy for period two.

“We should front load the first line to give us the advantage.” Lexi crosses her arms. “And Grace, we need you to stay out of the penalty box. We can’t afford to give them another power play.”

Grace rubs the back of his neck.

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