Page 10 of Keeping it Real

“Sheri,” he whispered against her hair.

His plea seemed to do the trick because the tension seeped from her body, and she rested her cheek against his chest.She gulped a sigh as her fingertips gripped the back of his shoulders.Alek lowered his head and buried his face into her neck, inhaling her floral scent.

“It’s okay.I’ve got you.”He swayed side to side as he rubbed her back.

He had no idea how long they stood that way, and he really didn’t care.Having Sheridan in his arms felt like coming home from a long, stressful journey.Like a missing piece was suddenly put back into its place.

“I’m back!”

Sheridan jerked out of Alek’s arms at the sound of Finn’s voice.The boy stepped between them, grabbing hold of Alek’s wrist again.

“I want to show Alek around,” Finn told Sheridan with a touch of rebelliousness in his tone.“And to introduce him to the guys on Dad’s team.”

Sheridan bore it with another one of her soft smiles as she caressed her nephew’s cheek.

“I’m sure Alek would enjoy that.”

Alek wasn’t so sure.Not if it took him away from her.Except Finn was hurting, too.And if “distracting” her nephew helped them both, Alek would do his part.

He brushed his knuckles against the back of her hand.“We’ll catch up later?”

“Of course,” she replied with a guarded smile before she turned to a couple and thanked them for coming.

“This way.”Finn led him through the throng of people.

Several heads turned as he and Finn walked past.Alek nodded in acknowledgment while keeping pace with Jamie’s son.

“See!”Finn pointed to a collage of photos on the wall.“That one is when you and Dad were in college.”

Alek recognized the photo.It was him and Jamie right after they’d won the Ivy League championship junior year.Finn’s voice rose as he gestured to another one.

“And that one is when you shot a goal into the empty net when you played on Tier One hockey for Canada, and Dad played for the US.”Finn laughed.“Dad said he didn’t try to deflect it when it went past.That way you’d know what it felt like to actually score a goal.”

Of course Jamie was still making that claim all these years later.Alek bit back a grin as he shook his head.He didn’t bother to point out that Finn’s father hadn’t even been on the ice at the time.

He glanced at another photo from his college days.This one of a smiling Madison standing between he and Jamie at center ice, her arms draped around both their shoulders.It was one of many pictures the three took together.In this one, Madison and Jamie were sharing a smile.Feeling like a fool, Alek wondered how often they did that without him noticing.

“Dad put up some from your pro days over here,” Finn pointed out.

Alek tore himself away from the picture and wandered over to another collage.Just as Finn said, a series of photos of him defending the Mayhem net hung on the wall.He was surprised to see them there, given that he wasn’t drafted into the pros until after he’d cut off all communications with Jamie.

“Ed was very proud of you, too,” a familiar voice said behind him.

He turned to find Jamie’s Aunt Eileen standing with her hands braced on Finn’s shoulders.

“Although Jamie added to it, obviously,” she continued.

“Dad has a bunch of magazine clippings in a file in the office,” Finn added.“He hasThe Hockey Newswhen you were on the cover after you won the Vezina Trophy two years ago.It’s in a frame on his desk.I’ll go get it.”

Finn dashed off before Alek could call him back.Not that his voice was working all that well right now.He shook his head in bewilderment.

“I’m not going to apologize for Jamie and Madison.What they did was ...”Eileen sighed.“It was inexcusable and not what you deserved.But I honestly think Jamie was naive enough to believe you’d come around and he wouldn’t have to choose between the two of you.”She rested her palm against his biceps.“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the way things went.Had I known they were going to come back from the draft in Las Vegas married, well ...”

“Don’t,” Alek said as he pulled her in for a hug.“If I’m being honest, Jamie did me a favor.Playing pro hockey was a pipe dream for me.I always figured those games in college would be the end of my career.”He dropped his arms and returned his gaze to the photo of the three of them.“But I was so damn pissed at Jamie that I worked my ass off to get a shot at being drafted so I could stop every one of his shots on goal when we played against each other.”

Eileen chuckled.“It’s a good thing he didn’t know that because he would have been insufferable taking the credit.”

Alek laughed along with her because she was right.He gestured in the direction where Finn was fighting his way through the crowd to get to the office.

---