Page 23 of The Hockey Contract

"Harrison, I need your head in the game. Playoffs are coming, and I can't have my top defenseman distracted by honeymoon plans."

"It won't affect my performance, Coach."

"See that it doesn't." He paused. "And Harrison? Congratulations. I guess."

The call that hit hardest came just after ten, my parents' number flashing on the screen. I briefly considered not answering, then sighed and picked up.

"Jackson?" My mother's voice sounded small. "Your father and I think you're rushing very fast into this marriage. We don't even know anything about the girl, and you haven't even invited us to the wedding!"

"Mom, it happened fast. I was going to call—"

"Your cousin saw a post online." Her voice wavered. "My own son getting married, and I find out the details about the girl through social media posts because you haven't told us anything about her."

I heard my father in the background, his deep voice asking for the phone.

"Jax." Dad didn't waste words. "What's going on? This isn't like you."

"I met someone special." The lie tasted bitter. "It's been a whirlwind, but when you know, you know."

"You don't know anything after two weeks," Dad said flatly. "Is she pregnant?"

"What? No!"

"Is she blackmailing you? Does she have dirt on you?" Dad asked, anger filling his voice. "Just say the word. I have connections so deep in police, she'll never see daylight for the rest of her life."

Somehow my father implying Sienna could do such malicious acts made me angry, but I tried my best to contain it. "No, Dad. It's not like that. She would never do that!"

"Then is this about the endorsement deal Leo's been talking about?"

I hesitated a fraction too long.

Dad sighed heavily. "Jesus, Jax. A marriage isn't a business transaction."

"It's not like that," I lied again. "I really care about her."

"Enough to build a life with her? Have children with her? Grow old together?"

Each question felt like a body check into the boards. "Can you just... be happy for me?"

"We want to be," Mom said, having reclaimed the phone. "But this feels wrong, honey. At least let us meet her before—"

"I have to go," I interrupted. "Early morning tomorrow. I'll call you after the ceremony."

I hung up before they could say more, their disappointment lingering in the silence of my living room.

Sleep was impossible. At midnight, I headed to my home gym, cranking the music loud enough to drown out my thoughts. I pushed through rep after rep, punishing my body, trying to exhaust myself into thoughtlessness. It didn't work. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Sienna's face—her expressive eyes, the defiant lift of her chin when she argued with me, the surprising softness of her expression when she'd slipped on the ring.

At three in the morning, drenched in sweat and still wide awake, I wandered through my house. It already felt different—pillows rearranged on couches, unfamiliar throws draped over chairs, those houseplants everywhere. Small changes that somehow transformed the space.

I stopped outside what would be Sienna's bedroom. The door was open, revealing the freshly made bed with new linens, the cleared surfaces of the dresser and nightstand. For a bedroom that had never seen a guest, it looked surprisingly inviting now.

The reality hit me then. Tomorrow, a woman I barely knew would be my wife. She would sleep here, live here, share my space, my kitchen, my bathroom. The careful isolation I'd built around myself would be shattered.

I'd spent years cultivating this controlled existence—no entanglements, no complications, nothing to distract from hockey. Now I was voluntarily inviting chaos into my sanctuary, all for an endorsement deal.

As I stood in the doorway, staring at the room that would soon belong to my wife, Anders' words echoed in my mind, "The heart doesn't always know what's real and what's pretend."

I shook my head, banishing the thought. This was a transaction, nothing more.

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