Face-Off at the Altar

by Toni Aleo

  Rolling her eyes, she held up one finger. “One, no one knows I can’t skate. Two, we aren’t married yet.”

  “Potayto, Potahto,” he said, saying it in different ways but meaning the same thing, which she guessed was his point.

  She was his.

  Plain and simple.

  The month since he had proposed had probably been the best month of their relationship. Markus was killing on the ice for the Assassins and had three more goals to his name. She had that mantel built for him, and his collection of pucks was sure to grow. The Assassins were doing the best they had in a long time. Elli was making moves every day, and the chances of bringing the Cup home to Nashville were looking pretty great. Everyone was really excited, Markus especially, since he was convinced he was the reason the Assassins were doing so well.

  She didn’t disagree, though she did tease him that it was all her since she was the team photographer. She loved her job and decided she should have been doing it her whole life. While she would forever be thankful to Libby for what she had taught her in the wedding industry, Mekena belonged at the glass, watching her boys on the ice.

  Things were great professionally for both of them, but they were even better at home. The apartment was completely done, and they owed babysitting for the rest of their lives to Lucy, but neither cared since the apartment was gorgeous. It was exactly how Mekena had envisioned it, and Markus even got his cowskin chair.

  Though Mekena hated that thing with everything inside her soul.

  But it would stay because it made him happy.

  And since he was happy, Mekena was happy, and things were good. Even when he was mooing like an idiot when he sat in it.

  Above all, they enjoyed each other immensely and were always having fun. Of course, they did have their bad moments, when they’d fight over who ate the last Pop-Tart or who deleted the last episode of Survivor, but they got over it. And when Mekena was having a bad day, where she thought too much about Skylar, Markus was there, lifting her back up.

  They just worked.

  Which was why she loved him so much.

  But she was rethinking that love as she shook in her skates on the ice.

  “I hate you for this.”

  “You do not, come on,” he called to her as she shuffled onto the ice.

  “I’m gonna fall.”

  “I’ll catch you,” he said, coming toward her. “No wife of mine won’t know how to skate.”

  She looked up at him, wanting him to take ahold of her, but his hands were out just in case she needed him to catch her. “So we aren’t getting married?”

  “Are you trying to tell me you don’t want to marry me?”

  “I mean, if I have to be a skater, I might reconsider.”

  “Shut up and come on,” he said, scooting back some. “Skate to me.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You can.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “You do.”

  “Markus!”

  “Mekena!”

  “I don’t want to die. Don’t make me die.”

  “Jesus, woman, skate!”

  With a loud screech, she started for him, and he urged her on. “There you go. Shuffle, shuffle…you’re doing awesome. Whoa,” he said, catching her as she went plummeting to her death.

  “Told you I was going to die.”

  “I caught you.”

  “But you won’t always be there.”

  “Yes, I will. Now come on, keep going.”

  With a loud huff as he put her on her skates, she glared up at him. “You’re a mean teacher.”

  “I know. I love you too.”

  “I didn’t say I love you.”

  “Yes, you did,” he said, smiling as he led her around the rink. She wanted to say that she became a great skater, that she made Markus proud, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, they yelled at each other the whole time, she almost died twice, and she was pretty sure she elbowed Markus in the eye…three times. And only once was on purpose. Falling to the ice for the hundredth time, she leaned back onto it, the coolness welcome. She was burning up. Who knew skating was so hard?

  “This is dumb. How about you be the skater, and I’ll be the cheerleader?”

  “I might just have to agree with you. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a black eye tomorrow.”

  “Sorry about that.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “No, really, the second time, I didn’t mean to hit you.”

  “Brat.”

  “Love you too.”

  He laughed as he reached out, taking her hand in his and kissing the back of her wrist. “Did you have fun at least?”

  “No, this was torture, and my feet hurt.”

  “Come on, it was fun. What else would you have done on your birthday?”

  She looked over at him. “Lie in bed and watch Netflix while stuffing my face. Maybe add in some sex. Lots of sex, actually.”

  He laughed. “We can still do that.”

  “Oh, we will, and you’re gonna rub my feet.”

  “That’s not all I’ll rub,” he said, waggling his brows, and she smiled.

  “Damn right. Birthday sex, here we come.”

  “Always about sex with you.”

  She giggled as she looked up into the rafters of the arena. It was completely quiet, just the two of them, and she felt whole. All because of the man she loved.

  “I do love you, though. Even if you planned a horrible birthday day,” she teased, and he laughed.

  “Hey, I never said I had a great plan for the day. But tonight, I got you.”

  She smiled happily at the endless possibilities the night would bring them. “We will see if you make up for it.”

  “Maybe this will make up for it now.”

  Confused, she looked over to find him holding a little blue box that made her heart flutter with excitement. “Ooh! A present!”

  He smiled as she took it, sitting up and opening it. “I had planned on giving it to you on Christmas, but I feel like you might need it earlier since this is your first birthday without Skylar.”

  She smiled sadly. She wanted to say she was doing better, and in a way, she guessed she was. But she did miss her sister. Thankfully, her mom was doing a lot better, and that was all Mekena could ask for. It was spotty for a little bit there, but luckily, much improved. She owed a lot of that to Markus; he made it a point to go over and just chill with her parents, which she thought was incredibly sweet. Libby had even come up too, staying with her mom and her dad, which Mekena was very appreciative of. Libby was still her angry self, threatening her father, but Mekena was convinced her mom needed her.

  Though she could never replace Skylar.

  No one could.

  Blinking past the tears that had appeared all of a sudden, her heart sped up in her chest. She opened the box to find a beautiful pendant that looked like a galaxy of colors. It was stunning.

  “Oh, Markus, it’s beautiful,” she said as she turned it over to find it engraved with “I’ll meet you in the stars.” “Oh, wow, it’s amazing. What does it mean, though?”

  “It’s crushed gemstones mixed with Skylar’s ashes,” he said, and she looked up quickly, tears sliding from her eyes automatically as she gazed into his.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I had one made for you and your mom. I figured you guys needed a piece of Skylar with you at all times.”

  Biting her lip to keep more tears at bay, she whispered, “That’s so thoughtful.”

  “Do you like it?” he asked, and she glanced up from staring at the gorgeous pendant that she had no clue she’d desperately needed.

  “I love it,” she whispered before crawling into his lap. “Can you put it on me?”

  “Of course,” he answered, taking it out of the box and putting it around her neck. Holding the pendant in her hand, she smiled before looking back at him and leaning against his chest.

  “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
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  “It’s not too painful, is it? I was worried about that.”

  She shook her head. “It’s perfect, just like you,” she said, kissing his chin, and he laughed.

  “I’m far from perfect, but you still have to marry me.”

  “Yes. June tenth can’t come quick enough.”

  “Agreed,” he said, kissing her jaw. “Think they’d let me drink our first drink out of the Cup?”

  She laughed. “I don’t know. Have to win it first.”

  “It’s on my list of goals for the year.”

  “You have a new list?”

  “I do.”

  “What’s at the top?”

  “Marry the love of my life,” he answered, holding her close. “That’s you.”

  “Me? Little ol’ me?”

  “You,” he said roughly against her jaw, kissing her. “And only you.”

  Closing her eyes, she leaned into him and couldn’t help but smile with her whole face. Life had a funny way of playing out. She’d thought for the longest time she’d be alone and unhappy, but that all changed in an instant. And now she was marrying the love of her life. The only person she knew she could love unconditionally because he loved her the same way. Their future would be full of unexpected things—that was life—but for once, she wasn’t scared of them.

  She was ready.

  Because she knew Markus would be right by her side.

  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

  Thank you for being you, thank you for being my reader, and thank you for supporting me over and over again. I just love you and can’t stop gushing on how much I love y’all. Really. I mean that.

  As everyone is aware, I suffer from depression and anxiety. I tried to hide this for a long time, but now, I’m proud of myself for getting through each day with somewhat of a smile on my face. Writing this book took me some time. I am constantly battling my issues, and then…my life is insane. My kids run me into the ground, I have a dog that is needy, and a husband who expects his wife to be just that, his wife. I have my fitness journey that is important to me, and somewhere in there, I have to make time to write, to make sure I keep my readers happy, and to put money in the bank. It’s a tough balance, but I’m working hard to continue doing what makes me happy and keeping the people I love happy.

  I say all this because I want you to know that none of this would be worth it without you. Y’all, along with my husband and children and my amazing best friend and my great editor/PA, are what keep me going on. I swear if it weren’t for Lisa sometimes, I would lose it. She keeps me sane in this business. My husband is so supportive and tells me I’m beautiful and amazing when I feel fat and worthless. My kids, man, they’re my biggest fans, and they don’t even realize how much they make me smile. And then my best friend is there when I have my breakdowns or my attacks where I’m in the middle of Walmart crying because I miss my mom so much.

  It’s hard being Toni Aleo, but I’m fighting, and I won’t ever give up. I have a life to make amazing, I have kids to raise and make successful, and I have a husband to love for the rest of my life. I won’t stop fighting, and neither should you.

  Thank you again for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed Markus and Mekena as much I enjoyed writing them. Thank you. Thank you so damn much!

  Love,

  Toni

  Copyright © 2016 by Toni Aleo

  This book, Face-off at the Altar, is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Editing by Lisa A. Hollett, Silently Correcting Your Grammar

  Cover by Regina Wamba

  Interior design and formatting by:

  www.emtippettsbookdesigns.com