Page 70 of Dirty Puck

“I’m holding you to that,” I said softly. Tears rolled down my cheeks. God, I’d never imagined that deciding to trust him would make me so emotional. Reece hugged me tightly, kissing my tears.

Agreeing to trust him. Reece couldn’t know how huge that was. Hurt me, whatever. But hurt my kid and I’d make him wish we’d never met.

Or I’d like to think I would.

I hoped this didn’t come back to bite me in the ass.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

REECE

Planning for the fundraiser was in full swing. My lawyer told me to expect the timeline to pull it off by late next year, but when I told my mom about it, her eyes lit up, and I knew I couldn’t wait until next year. We had to get this up and running now. And because I worked with the best group of men in the league, every single one of them agreed. For my mom.Andfor the kids who’d have to wait another year to get treatments required to live better lives.

Amazing what six attorneys could accomplish when they worked together for a common cause and for a shit ton of money. We hired the best organizers in the game to spearhead this event.

I’d just gotten off the phone with Natalee. Yes, she spelled her name with two Es at the end, but she knew her shit when it came to organizing large events. Since this had been my idea, the guys voted me point man. That meant Natalee contacted me and I talked to my teammates.

We were about to take the ice for a final practice before we hit the road again. Our first stop, Vegas for a Saturday game against the Golden Knights.

Sweat poured down my face as shot after shot flew at me.Vegas was on fire this year and I needed to be on. Once Coach called practice, I skated over to Bishop and Bonner to tell them about my call with Natalee, but they had something else to discuss with me first.

“We chartered a plane for this weekend,” Bishop said and my chin jerked because we traveled as a team.

“Too good to travel with us peons now, Bishop?” I teased.

“Fuck you. We chartered it for the wives and girlfriends. Lexi arrived last night; the kids are staying with her parents. My mom will be in tonight to watch LJ, to give Jayce and me time away. Chesney and a few of the other team wives and girlfriends will be there. You weren’t with Bree when we planned this thing and truthfully, I’d forgotten we’d arranged this until this week and I got a call from the charter company. With everything happening with your mom, we weren’t sure if you and Bree could make it, but we think she should come too, if you can swing it.”

“Talk about last minute. I’ll see what Bree and Claudia say when I get home and I’ll text.”

“Well, there’s room. Jayce really wants her along.”

“Talked to Natalee. She said they’ve been working day and night to get us ready. Everything we asked for is happening. We’re good to go the Saturday after Thanksgiving.”

“This was a brilliant idea, man. We’ll be helping so many kids.”

They’d said similar stuff before, but it felt good every damn time. I still had a few good years in me, but the clock on my time in this game was winding down and I knew it. With this charity, my legacy in the league would mean more than my save record.

Once we got off the ice, I cleaned up and got dressed. The new custodian had been starstruck that first day in the locker room, and ever since, he’d acted like a punk. We all missed having Bree around so much that, as a team, we were quietly watching to see if we were unfairly taking out our frustrationover her firing on the poor guy. Still, we’d unofficially agreed: he had until the end of the season to get his act together before we started making noise.

He'd left his cart parked next to my locker when I walked out of the shower. “’Sup, goalie,” he said while tipping his chin up at me.

Goalie? Everything out of this guy’s mouth made me want to punch him in his pointy-nosed, beady-eyed rat face, but I kept my temper in check for the sake of the team and the charity. “You can call me Reece,” I offered, and I thought that was a fucking great offer, everything considered.

“Nah, I like goalie better.”

“And I like not talking to idiots. Turns out neither of us gets what we want.” Then I turned to Bonner, who stood nearby. “Can I? Just once?”

Bonner laughed. “I’d leave now if I were you,” he said, staring down the punk. The punk looked between me and Bonner, who cracked the joints in his neck, and decided to get the hell out.

“Good choice,” I replied to his retreating back.

“If Bree can’t go, I know some wild spots in Vegas, man. You’ll have a good time.”

“I’m not hanging out with some girl’s friend so you can get laid. Bree doesn’t need to see that shit and have people talking like I did something wrong.”

“Whoopah!” Bonner replied, flicking his arm as if cracking a whip.

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