Page 108 of Keeping it Real

“To the bus!”Gunner shouted.

Alek sat aloneon the team bus.His stomach was still a bit queasy from last night’s bad decisions.He’d already had the embarrassing conversation with Coach suggesting he put Jordan in goal despite it being Alek’s night.Even if he felt better in the next two hours by some stroke of luck, he doubted he could concentrate on keeping the puck out of the net.

I’ll never, ever be able to forgive myself for Jamie’s death.

It wasn’t her fault.She should know that.Hell, he should have told her that right then and there.Except he’d been too absorbed in processing everything he’d learned in the past twenty-four hours to get the right words out.Rather, he’d been sulking, thinking about all the time he’d lost with Jamie this past decade.

He needed to shoulder some of the blame, too.Alek had let his pride get in the way.He could have confronted Jamie.Or Madison.Especially Madison.

And, Christ, the things Sheridan had overheard him say.He pinched his forehead so hard it was painful.Much less than he deserved, however.The truth was, he’d encouraged Sheridan’s attention all those years ago.He liked having someone who hung onto his every word.Who smiled at him with such adoration when he was having a bad day.Who believed him to be faultless.

Alek slammed his fist onto the empty seat beside him.He didn’t deserve her.

“Is he going to be okay?”Junior whispered from a few seats back.

His teammates had been giving him a wide berth all afternoon.They were still tiptoeing around him as they found their seats on the shuttle.

“I’m fine!”he shouted.“Fan-fucking-tastic, in fact!”

He wasn’t.And every guy on the bus knew it.Only he wasn’t sure how to make himself whole again.He slammed his head back against the high seat back.

The doors closed, and the bus lurched as the driver put it into gear.

“For crying out loud, Ice-Berg,” Gus shouted from up front.“Did you tell her you loved her?”

A heavy silence fell over the bus.Everyone froze.Even the driver.

“Well?Did you?”Valentine demanded.“Maybe if you took your own advice once in a while, you wouldn’t be so hang-dog right now.”

“It’s not too late,” Picard threw in.

Alek felt like all the air was seeping out of the bus.He watched as Henrik moved in what looked like slow motion, reaching over the driver to grab the handle for the door and pulling it until it opened.

“Do it,” the big Swede commanded.“You are no use to us on the ice until you do.”

He did love Sheridan.Alek loved her with every fiber of his being.She’d admitted to loving him.Hell, she’d shown him in multiple ways.Yet, for some reason, he hadn’t been able to get out of his own way and take that final leap of faith.

“Are you willing to risk losing her?”Gus asked.

He shot from his seat.She wasn’t taking Finn to Spain.Neither were they “figuring out logistics later.”His makeshift family wasn’t splitting up because one or both of them felt guilty about what happened to Jamie.They’d work through that together.Not apart.

Alek stormed up the aisle to the front of the bus.He and Sheridan were meant for each other.And no way was he rolling over and letting her walk away.

His teammates remained quiet.Their silent confidence propelled him forward and down the steps—where he collided with Sheridan.

“Oh,” she cried when he slammed into her.

Alek gripped her elbows, steadying her so she didn’t tumble backward down the steps.Finn and Gunner waited on the curb wearing matching smirks.Lori swept in and guided both boys back into the hotel.

“I found you,” she said.

“I was coming back for you,” he said at the same time.

Her eyes were bright with enthusiasm.A marked change from the dejection weighing them down earlier in the day.He took some confidence from that.

“I have something to tell you,” she insisted.

“No.”He tugged her body up against his.“Me first.”

---