Page 113 of Pucking With My Head

Joey nodded seriously. “I am, though Saint isreallygood at doing spins!”

Bethany cocked her head at me in question.

“One of the young team members,” I said.

Bethany hadn’t been skating in a while, and I was unsure about her going on the ice, but she said she was going to stick to the edges and avoid any fancy footwork. She could glide around the ice in her sleep, plus we would be there, keeping a constant eye on her.

She had mentioned going back to work in response to her brother maxing out her credit card, but there was no way in hell we were going to let her go to work because her brothers were assholes.

In fact, as soon as Bethany had told us what her family had done, I linked one of our pack accounts to her credit card account and paid the entire balance. After that, we ordered her a new card and canceled her old one. Anything to save her the stress. She had clearly been avoiding looking at her account because she hadn’t said anything yet.

We all piled into two cars. We used to be able to take one car when we went out, but with the addition of a pregnant Bethany, that was a bit more difficult. Bethany, Joey, and I piled into one car, while Cullen and Gideon took the Lexus.

I was puffing my chest out in pride that I got to drive the girls. Any extra time with them was a win. Even when they begged to go through the drive-through to get ice cream cones.

“It’s December!” I exclaimed. “This is not the time of the year for ice cream.”

Bethany shot me a horrified look that almost made me laugh. “Jensen Noble! Ice cream is a treat year-round. I don’t know why you’re limiting yourself to seasonal pleasures. It’s just weird…” She trailed off, biting back a laugh.

When Joey shouted, “Yeah!” from the back of the car, Bethany broke, bursting into rambunctious laughter as I changed lanes so we could go get their ice creams.

Family skate was always a fun day. Many of the players had kids, and Joey loved seeing them all. Most of the wives and girlfriends weren’t skaters, so they would be doing their best impression of Bambi on ice.

My girls, on the other hand, were pros.

They took to the ice and started skating circles around everyone immediately. We were all content to watch them for a few moments before introducing them.

“Sainty!” Joey shouted as she made a beeline for one of the younger players. Saint McKnight was part of a pack whose members were all on the team. Though I knew all of them, it was Jasper whom I was closest to, because I had been helping him rehab a shoulder injury.

They were nice boys, young and probably quite stupid at times, but they got on really well with Joey. With all kids, really. I half expected them to be settling down soon—they were always messaging someone on their phones, so maybe they had a potential omega.

“Joseph!” Saint’s face lit up at the sight of my daughter, picking her up and spinning her around. Usually, if anyone else picked up my child while wearing ice skates and spun themaround, I would have been extremely concerned. But I knew that every member of the team had freakish control on the ice.

“How are your lessons going?” he asked when he finally put her down.

“Good!” She nodded enthusiastically. “We haven’t had as many lessons recently because Bethany is growing my little baby brother or sister.”

Next to me, my mate froze, her face flushing bright red.

Children had a beautiful way of blurting things out.

Saint’s eyes met mine before looking at Bethany, who was next to me, holding Gideon’s hand. Gideon and Cullen had both played hockey in their youth, so they knew the ice well.

“Congratulations!” Saint beamed, turning to Joey. “Little brothers and sisters are so fun. Are you going to teach them to skate when they’re a few years old?”

Joey nodded enthusiastically. “I will, and if I can’t, then Bethany will help me.” Joey turned to us expectantly, her eyes meeting Bethany’s.

“Of course I will,” Bethany agreed.

My hand instinctively reached for hers. The ice was full of team and family, and I wanted her close. Even though the team skate was a fun family day, it was also going to be the first time we introduced Bethany to everyone.

“I’m going to introduce her to the coach,” I said, cocking my head toward Bethany.

Saint nodded, before looking down at Joey, who was clinging to his hand. “Want to race me and Jasper? I bet you’rewayfaster than him!”

“Yeah!” She bounced excitedly on the spot, an achievement, considering she was wearing ice skates. She looked at us for a moment, waiting for our approval. Gideon nodded, and she was off like a light with Saint, her little skates clattering on the ice.

“He seems nice,” Bethany commented as I started pushing her toward a group of people.

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