Center Ice (Boston Rebels Book 1)
Center Ice: Chapter 43

We’re standing in the hallway outside the locker room, waiting to make the walk to the ice. It feels like a hell of a lot more than a week ago that I stood here last, and I don’t let myself consider the possibility that it could be the last time I do this in a Rebels jersey. Audrey and I decided, and Jameson agreed, that the only thing to do was to have the best damn game of my life. I need to be focused and in control. I need to show AJ that I’m the type of player this team needs.

“You good?” Zach asks.

And this time, my answer is honest. “I’m ready.”

“Did Chloe help?”

Last night, after Audrey and I talked, I picked up the phone and made the call I’d been avoiding since Zach sent me the number of his sports psychologist. Her title really should be ‘miracle worker,’ though. I’ve never talked to anyone who was able to identify my fears and the ways in which I self-sabotage, and she managed it in a one-hour video call. She left me with some routines to try before tonight’s game, all of which I ran through with total fidelity. And she also gave me some strategies to use in heated moments on the ice. I feel calm, and ready.

“She did. I wish I’d called her sooner.”

“Keep talking to her,” Zach encourages. “You’ll be amazed.”

I’m about to tell him I already am amazed, when a hand grips my shoulder from behind me, and I turn to replace Jameson standing there. “I need you not to panic,” he says, and instantly my blood is like ice.

“What happened?”

“Audrey and Graham were in an accident on the way here⁠—”

Adrenaline floods my system, making me want to bolt out of here and go replace them. “Are they okay?”

“They’re at the hospital. Audrey’s shaken up, but fine. Graham’s hurt, but I’m not sure how badly. I’m on my way there, and I’ll text you updates that you can check between periods.”

“I’m coming with you!”

My teammates are turning to stare at us, but I couldn’t care less.

“You need to play this game. I only told you because I didn’t want you to look into the stands and worry about why they aren’t here.”

“If you think there’s any way I could go out there and play right now, while Audrey and Graham are in the fucking hospital, you’re insane. Give me two minutes to get this gear off while you explain to Wilcott that I’m not playing tonight.”

Jameson grips my forearm as I turn toward the locker room, pulling me back toward him. He drops his voice low. “Are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do?”

“Without a doubt,” I tell him, my voice clipped. I need to get out of here. Now.

I head into the locker room and am getting undressed so quickly that gear is flying everywhere, and I don’t even care. Someone else is going to have to shove it all in my locker space because I don’t have time. I’ve just pulled my sweats over my compression shorts, when the door swings open and AJ walks in.

“Why the hell aren’t you on the ice, Jenkins?” Her voice has a hard, a demanding edge to it.

“My son was just in a car accident, and I need to get to the hospital to be with him and my wife.”

AJ’s eyebrows are practically touching her hairline. “Your…wife? And son?”

I sit to pull my sneakers on quickly and the words tumble out in a rush, “Well, future wife—I keep telling her I’m going to marry her, but I have to actually ask. And our son, who’s hurt.”

She presses her lips between her teeth and nods. “Okay. You should go.”

My head snaps up. “Really?”

“Yeah. You should be with your family.” She pauses as I stare back at her. “Why do you seem surprised?”

“Because I was treating tonight’s game as my last shot to prove to you that you should keep me on the team. And by not playing…” I shrug as I stand and pull my hoodie over my head.

When I look up, AJ has her arms crossed over her chest. “By not playing, you’re showing me that you’re exactly the type of trustworthy and dependable man I want on this team. I need another goalie”—she lifts one shoulder—“but Almatrov’s save percentage could be better. And he’s just come off the IR List, so who knows how well he’ll play. Plus, the guy is kind of a douche. Wasn’t sure I really wanted to add him to our team, and now I’m certain it wouldn’t be the right trade. So, go. Be with the people who need you most.”

My throat is tight as her words sink in. I’m staying. It’s such a relief it makes my eyes water, but I don’t really have time to process the emotions because I need to get to Audrey and Graham.

My GM turns and starts to walk out of the locker room.

“AJ,” I call out, and she turns to face me. “Thank you.”

“Go,” she says. “Go be with your family. We’re good.”

As she walks through the door, headed back to the game, I grab my phone, wallet, and keys and am right on her heels. “I’m parked in the player’s lot,” I tell Jameson, who’s waiting outside the locker room door. “I’ll drive.”

“Lauren’s already got my car and is waiting right outside. Let’s go.”

I’m almost out of breath from how I sprinted into the ER after Lauren and Jameson dropped me at the doors before going to park, then demanded the hospital staff tell me where my son was and sprinted to his room.

I slow to a walk as I approach the open door, not sure what I’m going to replace there. What I don’t expect is Audrey sitting in a chair, while Graham sleeps in a hospital bed next to her. She turns when she hears me enter the room, but startles when she sees me.

“What are you doing here?” she whispers, tears streaming down her face. “You’re supposed to be at your game.” I shake my head.

“No, I’m supposed to be with my family.”

“Drew…” Her voice is anguished. “How could you just leave the game like that? With everything on the line, you needed to be there.”

I walk across the room toward her, and she stands to meet me. Taking her hands in mine, I pull her toward me and kiss her forehead. I want to wrap her tightly in my arms, I want to absorb her into me so she’s always with me, I want to do everything I can to keep her and Graham safe, and in this moment, I feel like I’ve failed them.

“Staying was not even an option I considered. Because no matter what the choice is, no matter what I stand to lose, I’m always going to choose you. There’s nothing that’s more important to me—you and me and Graham, we’re a family, and I’m always going to choose my family first.”

She wraps her arms around me and pulls me to her. I don’t know what to do except hold her to me as she sobs in my arms.

“Is he going to be okay?” I ask as nausea turns my stomach.

“Yeah, his arm is broken. No concussion or anything, though. They’re giving him some medicine for the pain, which is probably why he’s sleeping, and they want to do a few more tests to make sure everything else is okay.”

Thank God. “Are you okay?”

“I…I’m just a little shook up. It all happened so fast. The light turned green, and then as the taxi entered the intersection, a car came out of nowhere and T-boned us on the passenger side, where Graham was sitting. We’re lucky the airbags all inflated, and it wasn’t worse.”

“I’m going to rent you a parking spot at the arena so you can drive yourself there from now on.” Parking in Boston really is the worst part of living in the city, especially on game nights.

Audrey gives a little laugh in my arms. “Driving anywhere near there on a game night is a nightmare. That’s why we always take a taxi.”

“We’ll figure out a better plan. I’ll get you a driver for game nights. Someone with an impeccable driving record and an indestructible car who can be on call whenever you need them.” That makes her smile, even with tears still glossing her eyes. Funny how she replaces me amusing when I’m one hundred percent serious.

“You’re making an awful lot of plans for someone who doesn’t know if he’s staying in Boston.”

“For now, I’m staying.” I tuck her hair behind her ear as she looks at me with confusion written across her face.

“Even though you left the game tonight?”

“Yeah, when I told AJ why I was leaving, apparently that confirmed for her that I was the kind of guy she wanted on her team.”

“The kind who walks out of games?”

I think back to what McCabe said at dinner that night, about AJ wanting good men—honest, hardworking, dependable players.

“The kind you can depend on. And if my family couldn’t depend on me in a situation like this, if I’d chosen my job over my family, I don’t think that’s the kind of person AJ wants on her team. She was one hundred percent supportive of me coming here.”

A heavy breath leaves her, and she stretches up on her toes to kiss me. I’m so relieved she’s okay, and that Graham will be too, that I practically melt into her arms.

“Ewwww, why are adults always kissing?” Graham asks, and Audrey’s head snaps toward him, but I hold her to me.

“Because when you’re in love with someone, that’s one of the ways you show them how you feel,” I say, my body relaxing a bit at seeing him awake.

“Like Uncle Jameson and Aunt Lauren? They’re always kissing.”

“We’re not always kissing,” Jameson says, striding into the room.

“Just most of the time?” Graham asks.

“Yep,” Jameson confirms, as he slings his arm around Lauren and pulls her to him. “Most of the time.”

“Excuse me,” a nurse says from the door, and then she spots Graham awake in the bed. “Wow, you’ve certainly got a crowd here to see you, huh?”

“Yeah. This is my dad, Drew,” he says, pointing at me, and I wonder if I’ll always feel this sense of pride when Graham introduces me as his dad. “And my Uncle Jameson and my Aunt Lauren.”

“Well, even though your family is here, I’m going to have to borrow you for a little while,” she tells Graham, “because we need to do an ultrasound and make sure everything inside your body is okay. Alright, little man?”

“Can my mom come, too?” Graham asks.

“Of course,” she says. “I’m going to need the rest of you to step out into the hallway so I can move this bed out and get Graham down to imaging.”

My eyes and Audrey’s lock, because it’s then that we apparently both realize we were here in this very ER, while my mom was down in imaging, after the last home game. “Let’s not make a habit of this, eh?” I kiss her nose, and she squeezes my hand, and even though I don’t want to let go of her, I move out into the hallway with Jameson and Lauren.

As the nurse wheels him past, Graham waves at us with his good arm like he’s on a float in a parade, and Audrey turns and mouths “Love you” to me as she passes.

“You made the right decision tonight,” Jameson says once they’re gone.

“I know.” I appreciate his show of support, but this would have been the right choice even if he didn’t agree with it…even if Audrey had been mad that I left the game…even if AJ hadn’t decided it was a good reason to keep me on the team.

There’s no world in which this wasn’t the only choice.