Page 40 of Heart Checked By the Hockey Heartthrob

“Burn it,” I whisper.

“I’m burying it behind the rink.”

“Don’t forget the holy water.”

We’re both laughing like idiots when Abby walks in with Beck and a tray of brownies. She takes one look at the object in Wes’s hand and freezes.

“Is that a—?”

Wes holds it up triumphantly. “Relic of a bygone era.”

Beckett snorts. “Bet that thing saw more fights than I did.”

We’re still laughing when one of the kids grabs a brownie, turns to Wes, and says, “Coach Wes, is that your cup?”

Dead silence.

I lose it.

Wes turns bright red. “Kid, I am way too young to have fought in the Civil War.”

The kid shrugs. “You’re old enough.”

That sets everyone off again. Even Abby’s doubled over.

Later, once things calm down and the kids have been sent home with new gear and sugar highs, Wes and I stay behind to finish cleaning. The building is quiet. Peaceful. The kind of hush that invites honesty.

He stacks chairs. I fold jackets. And slowly, we drift into something deeper.

“You’re good with them,” I say. “The kids. The chaos.”

“So are you.”

I pause. “It scares me sometimes. Letting myself want something again. You. Us.”

He leans against the table, eyes steady on mine. “I’m scared too. But I’m here. And I’m not walking away this time.”

There’s a long pause. I stare down at my hands, tracing the edge of a folded sweater.

“I kept thinking it had to be perfect,” I admit. “That if I didn’t protect myself, I’d fall apart again.”

“You don’t have to be perfect,” he says. “You just have to let me in.”

I look up at him, and for once, I don’t try to run from the softness in his eyes.

“I’m trying.”

He walks closer. Gently takes the jacket from my hands. His fingers brush mine.

“I know.”

I open my mouth to say more, but it catches in my throat. I swallow it down. The ache of the past still lingers, but it no longer holds me in a chokehold.

Then he adds, almost quietly, “Beckett told me about the hospital offer.”

My head jerks up. “You know?”

He nods. “He said you turned it down. That it would’ve meant relocating. Starting fresh somewhere else.”

---