She smirked at me.
“Go back to sleep,” I said and gave her a quick kiss. I pushed her back down into the bed, and she laughed.
“Have a good game,” she told me, and she seemed sincere about it.
Starting this thing with Veronica made me realize something about my previous relationship—Astrid never supported my career. She didn’t care about it, and even though Veronica said she didn’t like ‘sportsball,’ she understood how important it was to me. Why did Astrid stay with me for so long if she didn’t even care? Why had I?
I kissed Veronica goodbye, and she surprised me by not flinching at the gesture. That was kind of relationship-y, and we weren’t actually in one. We weren’t at my house where my dad or siblings were around and would think it was weird if I didn’t kiss her goodbye, but she didn’t pull away to remind me of that. It felt so natural waking up beside her and kissing her goodbye. Like it was something we always did. Like we really were together. I had to keep reminding myself we weren’t. Despite the way my heart was screaming at me.
I tried to push down the intrusive thoughts as I drove to the jet. Once I got there, I greeted my teammates while we walked on board. I took my seat and put my headphones on, trying to drown out all my conflicting thoughts. They only let up when I fell asleep.
After we touched down and settled into our hotel for the night, I got dinner with the boys.
“You ready for this road trip?” TJ asked and sipped his beer like he was in a hurry.
“Sure, just need to be good on the PK,” I told him.
Riley pointed at me. “True.”
“I feel like we barely see you outside the locker room,” TJ said and gave me a pointed look.
I grinned and shrugged while taking a drink of my beer. I had been spending a lot of time with Veronica. I wanted to savor every moment I could get with her since I knew we were going to expire soon. No wonder I had developed real feelings for her. All I did was play hockey and hang with her. Shit, I was getting clingy. That was exactly what she didn’t want.
Noah nudged me with his elbow. “Bro, what’s up?”
“Do any of your girls ever ask you not to go when you gotta travel?” I asked.
TJ nodded. “Yeah, Max has before, but I don’t think she means it. I think she just doesn’t want me to leave the bed.”
“Fi’s the only girl that understood what the hockey spouse life was gonna be like. She likes me to leave,” Riley explained.
I raised an eyebrow. “She does?”
Noah nodded. “Yeah. D said she gets a lot of writing done when I’m gone. Doesn’t mean we don’t miss each other.”
“The girls figure it out,” Benny explained. “They have each other to lean on.”
I nodded.
“What’s up, man?” TJ asked.
“Veronica was weird this morning. She was half asleep, though. I think she has abandonment issues.”
“Oh,” Riley breathed. “Shit, I understand that one.”
“You do?” I asked.
“Sure. Fi felt a little abandoned when I left for the league, and then we weren’t as close when we got older. All that shit changed when her asshole ex left her at the altar and I married her instead.”
I don’t think I knew that about their relationship. That was interesting.
I pushed my food around on my plate. “V’s ex left and took all his shit with no note or warning a week before their wedding.”
“Fuck!” TJ exclaimed.
“Shit, man. What an asshole!” Noah agreed.
“It gets worse,” I muttered.
“How?” Benny asked, and he had a scowl across his face.
“Pretty sure he was cheating on her and got another girl pregnant…we’re going to their wedding in two weeks.”
They all stared at me.
“Are you serious?” TJ asked.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re going to the wedding of the dude who cheated on her?” Riley demanded.
“Dude, why?” Noah asked.
I shrugged. “She asked me to go with her, and I said I would. She wants to show him she’s better off without him.”
TJ stared at me, confused, but Benny glared at me, and I didn’t understand his expression.
“Dude, what?” I asked.
He ran a hand down his face and then looked at Riley. “This sounds an awful lot like the plot to Fi’s romance book.”
Riley’s eyes hardened at me. “Wait…Holmsy, are you not actually dating?”
FUCK.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Of course we’re dating,” I lied.
Benny still gave me the stink eye.
“The traveling’s getting to her,” I tried to backpedal. “Her mom abandoned her as a baby, and then her fiancé did the same thing.”
“Oh, shit, dude, I’m sorry,” Noah said with a frown.
One of the things I liked about the Bulldogs over the Wolves was that it felt like a family. I could lean on my teammates both on and off the ice, but I hoped they hadn’t figured out what Veronica and I were playing at. I needed to distract them from finding out by diverting the conversation elsewhere.
“Can we talk about something less depressing now?” I asked.
Benny crossed his arms over his chest, still studying me with a suspicious look, but Riley came to my rescue by spinning it back to strategy for tomorrow’s game. He took a look around the table, giving us all his serious game-day face. “Let’s talk about tomorrow. I know all you fuckers aren’t watching game tape as much as you should be.”
TJ groaned. “Come on, man. Why you always got a hard-on for video?”
“Because we need to be better,” Riley argued.
Noah rubbed a hand across his beard. “Not wrong.”
TJ shoved Noah’s shoulder. “Like you need to say that. You’ve got a fire under you lately.”
Noah’s cheeks got pink. For a guy who earned his paycheck by how many points he put up, Noah was humble about it. On the ice, he was a beast that dominated in front of the net, but off the ice, he got embarrassed by the compliments.
“Need you two protecting the net,” Benny chimed in, giving me and Riley a hard look.
“We got it!” I razzed him back.
“That’s why I’m saying we gotta make sure we know our opponent for tomorrow,” Riley chimed in again.
TJ dramatically groaned. “BRO! Come on, we do! We got this.”
My lips curled up into a smile at how TJ fucked with Riley. Riley was always on our ass about being better; it was one of the things I loved about being paired with him.
I got distracted by my phone buzzing in my pocket. I was disappointed when I saw it was from my ex-girlfriend and not Veronica.
ASTRID: I miss you.
I clenched my jaw and ignored the current dinner conversation while I typed back.
ME: K.
ASTRID: B, don’t be like that.
ME: You broke up with me.
ASTRID: You don’t miss me?
ME: Not anymore.
ASTRID: Baby, come on.
I ground my teeth and shoved my phone back into my pocket. I didn’t have time for her bullshit. I pressed a hand against my chest, where Veronica had marked me with her artwork. I was done with Astrid, and it took having someone jab me with a needle to figure that out.