Playmaker

by L. P. Dover

  They skated away and I waved at their parents as they left the rink. “Hey, Ledger!” Dallas shouted. He skated over to me and I saw Callie over his shoulder, dressed in her hockey gear.

  “What’s up?” I asked. Justin skated over to Callie as she finished lacing up her skates.

  Dallas nodded toward her. “Think you can take my place tonight with Cal? Kellan needs my help putting up a new door in the back.”

  Callie waved and I smiled. “Sure.” I had a lot I needed to talk to her about anyway.

  “Thanks, man,” Dallas said, handing me his glove and stick. “I appreciate it. You know how dirty she can be, so beware.”

  I waved him off. “Who do you think taught her that stuff? She is my cousin, after all.” Callie was a great hockey player, but she loved to throw some low blows.

  Chuckling, he skated over to Callie and kissed her head as he exited the ice. Once he was gone, she raced over to me. “Trying your luck at the goal?” she asked, laughing.

  I wasn’t about to tell Dallas no. Staying on his good side was important if I wanted Lacey. “What can I say?” I said with a shrug. “Dallas asked and I said yes.”

  Justin skated by with a mischievous smile. “We both know why, too.”

  Callie’s brows lifted when she looked at me, but I had a feeling she already knew what went on between Lacey and me. “You know, don’t you?”

  She took a quick glance over her shoulder before moving closer. “That what?” she whispered, skating a circle around me. “That you slept with your wife?”

  With a heavy sigh, I nodded. “She’s avoided me ever since. Have you talked to her recently?”

  Stopping in front of me, she looked sad. “A couple days ago. She’s been putting in a lot of hours. The last time I spoke to her she fell asleep on the phone.”

  Maybe that was why she hadn’t returned my calls, but I knew better. She was intentionally avoiding me. “Has she said anything about me?”

  She shrugged. “Not really. I told her you were here and that you were doing great with the kids.”

  Obviously, it wasn’t enough to impress her. “I’m flying up to see her this weekend. I need to see her.”

  Callie froze, her eyes wide in horror or shock. I couldn’t tell the difference. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mad.”

  “Why not?”

  Groaning, she closed her eyes. “You’re not the only one heading to New York this weekend.”

  I didn’t have to ask to know who it was. “You’ve got to be shitting me. What’s Braeden’s deal with her?”

  She pursed her lips. “They’re close friends. I know she doesn’t care about him in that way, but I think he’s a different story. He didn’t get to spend time with her the other weekend because she was with you. He wants to see her.”

  Gritting my teeth, I couldn’t ignore the jealousy piercing its way through my chest. “I’ll just get to her first.”

  Chapter 11

  Lacey

  “Lacey?” I heard my name, but I couldn’t get my voice to work to respond. “Lacey.” There it was again, but this time it sounded so far away. The next thing I knew, I jerked awake and almost fell out of my chair. Sophia grabbed my shoulders to steady me.

  “Whoa,” she said, laughing. “Sorry to wake you.”

  I rubbed my eyes and looked around. My granola bar was half eaten and there was no one else around the breakroom. Gasping, I glanced down at my watch. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I fell asleep. Thank you for waking me up.”

  “No problem,” she said, brows furrowed. “I knew you came in here to take a break, and when I couldn’t find you on the floor, I thought something might’ve been wrong.” Grabbing my bar, I swept the crumbs into my hand and threw it all away. Sophia touched my shoulder and I stopped at the door. “Are you okay? You’ve been a little off today.”

  Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly. With the amount of hours I’d worked, my body was exhausted. Not to mention the stress of my love life; it was a disaster. “I’m fine,” I assured her. “Just tired. I haven’t been sleeping well.”

  She laughed. “Hang in there for another hour. It’s Friday and we get to relax for the entire weekend.”

  “Got that right. Do you still want to meet Braeden and me for dinner tomorrow night?”

  Her light blue eyes brightened even more. “If you want me to. I’d love to meet him.”

  We walked out into the hall. “Good. I can’t guarantee you won’t be photographed by the paparazzi, though.”

  She waved me off. “I’m just a doctor, Lacey. Nobody cares who I am. I’m sure I’ll be cropped out.”

  Veronica, one of her nurses, hurried up to her holding a file. She swiped her golden locks off her forehead and blew out a tired breath. “Dr. Armstrong, I need you desperately.”

  Sophia nodded and grabbed the file. “If I don’t see you before you leave for the day, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” I replied quickly so she could leave. She raced off down the hall with Veronica. I loved working in the ER, but I wasn’t allowed to take the extreme cases yet, not like Sophia. I was under her supervision until I finished my residency. At the moment, I was glad I didn’t have to rush around. I didn’t have the energy.

  I walked over to the nurses’ desk where Maria Sanchez looked up from a chart and smiled at me. Her olive skin was smooth and her long black hair was always so shiny. “I was just about to come find you.”

  “What we got?” I asked, grabbing the first chart. There were three files total, which meant I couldn’t leave until they were all seen.

  Maria cleared her throat and tapped her finger on the chart. “That patient asked for you. I’m pretty sure you know who he is.”

  Looking down at the name, I felt my stomach clench. What the hell was Maddox doing in New York, and at my hospital, for that matter? “Yep, I know him,” I replied.

  “I have to say, I wish I was you. I may be a Rangers fan, but those Strikers are pretty hot.” Unfortunately, she was right, but the Strikers were about to have one less player. “I hope he’s okay,” Maria added. “He seemed to be in a lot of pain. Abdominal cramps.”

  “I’m sure he is.” Turning on my heel, I headed for his room. I was going to kill him. There were other nurses walking around, so I plastered a smile on my face and opened the door. Maddox stood, his arms crossed over his chest. As soon as I shut the door behind me, my smile disappeared. I tossed his chart onto the desk, knowing damn well there was nothing wrong with him. “What are you doing here?”

  With a loud huff, he uncrossed his arms. “Hoping to get a minute of your time. You seem to have a problem returning calls.” I had no doubt he’d stolen my number from my phone while I was at the beach house.

  There were nurses just outside the door so I lowered my voice. “I’ve been busy,” I hissed.

  “But not so busy for Braeden. Callie said he’s coming up here this weekend.” His eyes blazed and I knew I was in trouble. I should’ve known he wouldn’t give up on me.

  Lifting my head, I stared right into his bright blue eyes. My heart shattered. “Braeden and I aren’t together. Not that it’ll stop you from hooking up with other women.”

  “You can’t be serious.” The sound of his voice sent chills through my body. It was cold and dark.

  Eyes burning, I stood up straighter. “You can’t be coming around like this, Maddox, especially here. This is my job. Everything I do is being watched. If you screw things up for me, I’ll never forgive you.”

  He shook his head. “So that’s it?” he scoffed, throwing his hands up. “We spend a weekend with each other, and you expect me to let you go?”

  “I told you it was just one night. You agreed to it.”

  His jaw tensed. “I thought I could change your mind.”

  “You can’t.”

  “What do I have to do, Lacey? Can’t you see I’m in love with you? You’re my wife. You wanted this just as much as I did. We owe it to ourselves to try and
make this work. I’m not afraid to put everything on the line. The question is…are you?”

  Lips trembling, I stepped back toward the door. I closed my eyes and I could see all the tabloid pictures of him with other women. When I opened my eyes, they burned. “I may be your wife, but I saw all the pictures, all the women you paraded around with over the years. You say you didn’t sleep with any of them, but it’s too hard for me to believe.”

  He flinched as if I’d stabbed him in the chest. Hell, that was how it felt for me seeing him with other women. Maddox’s gaze never wavered from mine. “I swear to fucking God I didn’t sleep with them, Lacey. It was all a show to piss you off and make you come back to me. The joke was on me, though. I can’t take it back.”

  “You must really think I’m stupid,” I spat.

  “It’s the truth, believe what you want. I was wrong to do what I did and I’m sorry. I thought making you jealous would bring you back to me.”

  I shook my head. “All it did was make me hate you. It broke my heart. You’d proved exactly why I needed to leave you in the first place. Men like you can’t be faithful to just one woman.”

  He moved closer, his jaw clenched. “You never gave me a chance.” He pulled me into his arms and crushed his lips to mine. When he pulled back, he rested his forehead to mine. “Let me prove it to you.”

  “How?”

  He cupped my face with his warm hands. “I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out. You’re the only woman I want to be with. There hasn’t been anyone else other than you. You have my heart, Lacey. From the first day I met you, you’ve had it.” I wanted to believe him, but I just couldn’t. He searched my eyes and huffed. “You still don’t believe me, do you?”

  Tears fell down my cheeks. “I want to, Maddox. You have no idea how bad I want to.”

  Sliding his hands down my arms, he entwined his fingers with mine. “The next few weeks are going to be hectic with practice. All I ask is that you at least talk to me and try to work things out. Can you do that?”

  “Okay,” I replied with a nod.

  His eyes brightened and he kissed me again. “That’s all I ask. The question now is what are you going to do about Braeden?”

  By the look on his face, he didn’t want me anywhere near him. “He’s coming to see me this weekend, Maddox. I can’t send him away. He’s my friend.”

  That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “But I’m your husband.”

  “A husband nobody knows about,” I countered. “I’m not ready for people to know. I can’t be seen with you right now; not until we tell everyone the truth.”

  Huffing, he placed his hand on the knob. “You don’t trust me, but you expect me to trust you with Wallace? How is that fair?”

  He had a point, but it still didn’t change anything. The only thing I could do was stand there. Sighing, Maddox opened the door. “One of these days you’re going to trust me, Lacey. I’m not going to stop trying until you do.” He walked out and I wanted to run after him, but I couldn’t.

  Sophia happened to glance in the room as she passed and gasped. “Lacey, you okay?”

  She hurried in and slammed the door. Holding Maddox’s chart to my chest, I broke down. “I’m far from okay. There’s so much I have to tell you.”

  * * *

  —

  “Your friend’s meeting us for dinner tomorrow?” Braeden called out from the living room.

  I took off my scrubs and threw on a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt. “Yeah, she’s a doctor. You’ll like her. I wanted you to meet her.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yep. She’s beautiful and smart.” When Braeden met me at the hospital, I had a feeling Maddox was close by. It was like I could feel his eyes on us, or maybe it was the flashes of light as pictures were taken of us walking down the street by the paparazzi.

  “I look forward to meeting her.” Hearing him say that made me happy. The doorbell rang and I could hear Braeden talking to the pizza guy. My stomach growled. “Pizza’s here,” he shouted, followed by the slam of the door.

  I joined him in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator before sitting down at the table. He opened the first box and slid it over to me. “This one’s definitely yours.” I grabbed a slice that had nothing but onions and banana peppers on it. It wasn’t very often Braeden showed his smile in public, but with my brother and me, he never held back. His blond hair had lightened in the summer sun. Every magazine picture of him focused on his magnificent green eyes. It was what the women loved.

  “You okay?” he asked, sitting across from me.

  Clearing my throat, I focused on my pizza. “Yeah, just hungry. All I had today was half a salad and part of a granola bar.”

  With a loud huff, he shook his head disapprovingly. “You don’t need to be working yourself to death. I can see what it’s doing to you.”

  I snorted and met his gaze. “Is that your polite way of saying I look like shit?”

  He chuckled. “No, but you look tired. I missed you last weekend.”

  Thoughts of Maddox swirled through my head. All I could think about was our night together. Clearing my throat, I met his stare. “I’m sorry I had to leave.”

  “No worries. Once the season starts you know I’ll be busy with the team. I wanted to see you as much as I could before then.”

  A smile lit up my face. “You don’t know what to do with yourself now that Kellan and Dallas have wives, do you? You’re the last one in the trio who isn’t married.”

  He shrugged. “Things are different now, but seeing them happy made me realize what’s more important.”

  “So no more sleeping around now that your wingman’s out of the game?” I teased.

  His eyes darkened. “I haven’t been like that in a long time, Lacey.”

  There was a time when he, Dallas, and Kellan all celebrated their wins and losses by hooking up with women after the games. What made it even worse was that Maddox did the same thing, or at least, it appeared that he did. How the hell was I supposed to believe him? I couldn’t hate him if he did, since I was the one who left, but it still pissed me off. Especially since I didn’t sleep around with other men. I was too busy still being in love with him and trying to get through medical school.

  “I know,” I replied, my voice low. I had to look away from his piercing stare. “How did the kids camp go?”

  “It was a success. Kellan and Kristen are going to start organizing it every year from now on. We already have a wait list for it.”

  “Wow,” I gasped, looking over at him. “That’s amazing. What ages did you have?” I scarfed down my slice of pizza and grabbed another one.

  “They were twelve and very damn good at hockey. It’s crazy to think that one day those kids will be where I’m at now.”

  Mouth full, I stood and smiled. If I ate any more I’d get sick. “They were lucky to have you as their teacher.”

  Braeden chuckled and finished his pizza as he stood. I walked into the living room and he joined me, bumping me with his shoulder as he sat down beside me. “Our first game is only six weeks away. I can probably fly up here before then, but I’d love for you to come down and watch it.” He turned on the TV and I leaned against the couch pillow, hooking my arm around it.

  “If I can get off work, I will,” I said, knowing I probably could. I wanted to see Maddox again more than anything.

  “Good, it should be a great game. Kellan’s going to be a really amazing coach. He’ll turn this season around for us.”

  Closing my eyes, I could feel myself drifting away. Of course, all I could see was Maddox’s smiling face. “That’s wonderful,” I said with a yawn. “I have no doubt.”

  * * *

  —

  “Braeden is so freaking sweet. Maddox has to be amazing if you chose to marry him over Braeden,” Sophia said, stuffing a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

  Sitting with her on the couch, I pressed play on our movie. It was a Pitch Perfect kin
d of night. “I’m pretty sure Braeden thought you were amazing, too.” We’d just gotten back from dropping him off at the airport.

  She scoffed. “He was too busy paying attention to you.”

  I waved her off. “It takes time for him to warm up to people. Believe me, he was the same way when I first met him. It was like I didn’t exist. Now we’re best friends.”

  Grabbing another handful of popcorn, she stuffed it into her mouth. “I hope so. After the divorce, I was afraid a KEEP AWAY sign was permanently attached to my forehead. Plus, I’m older than Braeden. I’ve never dated anyone younger than me.”

  I threw a popcorn kernel at her. “Don’t be silly. Any man would be lucky to have you, younger or older.”

  About that time, the doorbell rang. Sophia’s brows furrowed. “Expecting someone?”

  I shook my head. “Not that I know of.” I stopped at the door and looked into the peephole, surprised to see Maddox standing there. Glancing at Sophia over my shoulder, I nodded toward the door. “Want to meet my husband?”

  She perked up and clapped her hands. “Is it really him?”

  I opened the door and Maddox was there, his baseball cap on backward with his hands in his jean pockets. He smiled and said, “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself. Shouldn’t you be heading back to Charlotte?” I stepped back so he could walk in.

  “I got a later flight so I could see you. We need to discuss a few things.”

  “That is so freaking sweet,” Sophia blurted.

  Maddox’s eyes widened and he stepped back. I shook my head and grabbed his hand. “It’s okay. She knows.” I pulled him over to the couch. “Maddox, this is Dr. Sophia Armstrong. She’s one of my friends. Sophia, this is Maddox…my husband.”

  His attention snapped to mine. “You told her?”

  “She’s the only one around here who knows.”

  “That’s a step in the right direction, especially after what you’d said earlier,” he replied with a wink.

  I rolled my eyes. “We still can’t reveal our secret yet. I’m not even sure if I want to.”