Lucky Score (The Hawkeyes Hockey Series Book 6)

I wake to the sound of my phone ringing.

Rita

Reads over the screen.

‘Hello?’ I say, my voice groggy with sleep.

‘Morning, did I wake you?’ she asks in her chipper voice.

‘I’m up now, what’s up?’ I ask, looking over at the clock that reads just after five in the morning.

I’d usually be up around now if I were going to a morning run but with what happened yesterday, I gave myself today off. Besides, in less than a week, I’ll be back in Seattle and my workout regimen with the guys to resume its usual scheduling.

‘I need a favor,’ she asks.

‘I figured since you’re calling so early.’

I sit up in bed and sling my comforter off my bed. Whatever it is, I’ll likely have to be dressed for it.

‘I told Brynn that I would take her to the airport this morning but there’s an emergency at the restaurant and I need to go down and check it out with Miguel.’

Take Brynn to the airport?

That doesn’t seem like the best idea after our conversation yesterday.

‘What’s the emergency? Maybe it would be better that I stay and take care of that and you can take Brynn to the airport.’

‘It’s a supplier issue and the owner only likes to deal with me. I have a softer touch than Miguel… and you two minutes with you and the owner would shut down our accounts.’

I’m not always an asshole and I can be charming when I want to be but since this is connected to the livelihood of the restaurant, I don’t want to risk it.

‘Yeah, sure, I’ll take her,’ I say, standing up and heading to my closet.

Seeing her again before she leaves probably isn’t good for my mental health.

Leaving her in the sand yesterday took everything I had not to beg and plead with her to reconsider taking a chance on me. But I swore after Josslin that I’d never let myself be someone’s second choice again.

If her belief to my indifference toward having a serious and committed relationship is the only thing keeping me out of the top spot, I’d do anything that’s asked of me to prove that I can commit to her… that I’d give her anything and everything she wants.

Marriage.

Kids.

A house with a white picket fence.

A minivan with a stick figure family on the back.

She’d get it all, and then some.

‘I knew I could count on you. You’re the best,’ she says. ‘And don’t forget to pick up Daniel on your way through as well, Ok? Bye.’

She quickly hangs up and now I know that I’ve just been had… again.

The last thing I want to do is drive Daniel to the airport, but I agreed to it and now I’m stuck.

After dressing and knocking on Cammy’s door to let her know where I’m headed, I’m in the Jeep and headed to Scallywag’s first to pick up Brynn.

When I pull up, Brynn is standing outside of Scallywag’s with her baggage already to go. I jump out and start loading her baggage into my Jeep.

I load her luggage and then we’re off, headed for Cancun.

We keep our conversations around her second book in the series that she’ll have to start writing next and the hockey schedule for home and away games.

When Daniel sees us pull up, he stares back at me, a little surprised to see me. He must not have gotten the memo that I was driving instead of Rita.

He tosses his luggage into the back of the jeep and then gets into the back seat of the Jeep, not hiding the fact that he doesn’t like that Brynn is upfront with me.

The airport isn’t far and we make it there with just enough time for them to get checked in.

Daniel jumps out of the Jeep and yells over his shoulder at us.

‘I’m going to run in and get our seats moved so that we can sit together. Seven can load our bags for you on a cart.’

Then he’s gone behind the sliding glass doors of the terminal.

I find a cart and walk over, pulling it back to the Jeep and I load all of the items onto it for her.

‘You’re all set,’ I say looking over to find her double checks to make sure that she has her ID and everything she needs to make it through security.

She finishes and then glances over at the cart with all of her luggage and Daniel’s on it.

‘This is it then,’ she says back.

‘I guess it is.’

‘Thank you for the ride to the airport,’ she says. ‘And for everything else. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t opened your home to me that night.’

‘Brynn,’ I say, stepping closer and tucking a few lose strands of hair behind her ear. Goosebumps spread across her shoulders and down her arms from my mere touch to her ear. ‘This is probably the last time I’ll ever get to ask, and I need to know. Was I ever in the running?’

Her eyes cast down to the cement sidewalk of the terminal and she swallows.

‘No,’ she says, softly.

My heart drops the second she says it, but then I realize that she didn’t make eye contact with me when she said it.

‘Brynn, look at me and say it again.’

Her eyes shift off the cement floor but they still don’t connect with mine. She shakes her head, refusing to make eye contact. It’s the last bit of hope I have to hold onto.

‘Brynn!’ I hear Daniel’s voice from the automatic glass doors. ‘I got us seats together. Let’s go… hurry. We still have to get through TSA to make our flight on time.’

‘I have to go,’ she says and then grips the cart, pulling it behind her.

I watch as she walks away.

I don’t move until she disappears behind the airport’s glass door and further into the airport.

She’s gone.

I lost her.

Brynn

Just as we reach altitude, Daniel turns to me.

‘Are you happy to finally be getting out of there? I know I am. Australia was great, too, while it lasted, but I’m ready to be back in my own bed,’ he says, laying his head against the headrest and closing his eyes.

‘Right…yeah,’ I say, barely listening to a word he says.

All I can think about is the look on Seven’s face when I lied to him outside of the airport.

I wasn’t prepared for his question, and he hit me with it at the worst timing possible.

In front of an airport terminal with Daniel inside trying to get our seats assigned.

The real answer was yes.

Yes, he’s been in the running, but up until yesterday, I had no idea that he wanted to be. Why couldn’t he have told me sooner?

I hated lying to him but whether or not Seven sees it, his family needs him right now, and I think Josslin could be right. I think I could be the distraction that Seven could do without.

‘The first thing I want to do when we get home is take a hot shower with my gorgeous fiancé.’

‘Stop,’ I say finally. ‘Stop calling me your fiancé. It’s driving me crazy, and it feels like you’re forcing the issue. We’re not engaged, nor are we technically in a relationship.’

Hearing him call me his fiancé for those last two days when we haven’t even discussed our relationship status and then blindsiding me with a wedding venue tour when I show up for breakfast feels like he’s trying to push me into a marriage that only eight months ago he didn’t want. Instead, he wanted his freedom.

‘What are you talking about? We agreed that we’d get back together when I got home.’

‘Yes, I know we did, but a lot has happened since then and you’re not supposed to be back for another couple of weeks. I thought I had more time to reflect on us and what our relationship would look like moving forward.’

‘The project finished early, and they let us go sooner, so I booked a flight to see you because I missed you. I thought you’d be happy that I came.’

If he thought I’d be happy, why didn’t he tell me ahead of time what he was planning?

‘You missed me? Really? Because until you found out about Seven, your texts were once every other week, and your calls were even less frequent. Showing up here to surprise me feels more like you showed up unannounced to check up on me while using my parents as camouflage to your true intentions.’

It’s a stretch to assume all of that, and I have no real evidence, but there’s something about his impromptu visit that makes it feel self-motivated in some way.

‘Whoa… where is this coming from? I thought you’d be happy to see me.’

‘I am it’s not that—’

‘Does this have anything to do with Seven? Are you disappointed because I ruined your plans to be another one of his nameless puck bunnies on his roster for a couple more days?’

I can’t believe he’s being like this. He’s the one who had a woman in his bed before I ever slept with Seven, and I have no idea how many more besides her that he had.

‘That was uncalled for and harsh. And seeing other people was your idea, remember?’

‘No, of course, you’re right,’ he says, pulling his eyes away from me and staring over the seats in front of us. ‘I’m sorry… I guess I’ll call first next time to make sure he’s done with you before I show back up with your parents for a little vacation that they never get to take.’

He’s guilt-tripping me, something he’s been doing more and more frequently, and I can’t handle it. I need space from him to figure this out. This isn’t like him, but I’ve never seen him jealous before because I’ve never given him a reason to be.

‘I think you should stay in the guest bedroom until you can find an apartment of your own. We need some time to think about whether this relationship is still one that we both want.’

That gets his attention, and his eyes bolt to me, and he gently grips my hand across the armrest.

‘Hey, hold on… Brynn, I’m sorry if I offended you, Ok? I didn’t mean it. Maybe I got a little jealous and wanted to see what was going on between you, too. I’ll admit to that. And I promise I’ll ease off.’

‘I’m not ready to jump back into a full-fledged relationship with you. You hurt me when you broke it off and until I went to Mexico, I thought I deserved it. That I needed to fix myself to be worthy of our love, but I don’t believe that anymore. There’s so much that’s changed over the eight years together. We’re not those college kids anymore, and the last eight months since you’ve been gone have seemed like it created the biggest gap between us.’

‘Let me guess. Seven told you this?’ he asks, his eyes narrowed.

‘No… it was more of a team effort from all the people there who care about me.’

I think over Rita, Cammy, Maria, and Seven. They all helped me to see that I don’t need a fix-me list.

‘Can you slow down for a second? Before I left, you were practically in tears watching me pack my bags for Australia; now you’re kicking me out of the apartment.’

‘I’m not kicking you out. You can stay until you find something, but I want to take our relationship slow and casual and that will be easier if we don’t live together.’

He stops me. ‘No, it’s fine, I don’t need the guest bedroom. I want to make this work, so if space is the quickest way to get us back on track, then I’ll find a couch to sleep on. I know a couple of guys in the law firm who would put me up for a month or two. I’m serious about us, Brynn. I’ll be better from here on out, I promise. I love you,’ he says, pulling my hand up to his mouth and kisses it.

I appreciate that he’s willing to stay somewhere else while we work on things and that he agreed to slow things down and date for a little while, as if we’re starting over fresh.

‘Does casual mean that you’re going to date Seven, too?’ he asks.

‘No,’ I say simply.

He looks over at me, but I don’t see his eyes. Because the truth is, after this conversation and the last two days with Daniel, if I have to pick between Daniel or Seven…

…Daniel doesn’t stand a chance.