Myla pulled a few cards out of her bag and handed one to me, one to Griffin, and lastly, one to Gavin. “Open,” she instructed.
I started to read the handwritten note, in complete disbelief as to how awesome my sister was.
“Well?” Mrs. Hayes asked.
Myla explained, “Gavin didn’t get a bachelor party and Brayden is about to be a dad, so I figured a guys’ trip was in order. There’s a ticket for Sean too. The four of you are going to Costa Rica to fish for black marlin, and while the boys are away, Karla, Jordan, McBee, and I are having a spa weekend. It’s all set up for three and a half weeks before the baby is due.”
Gavin leaned over, kissing his wife’s cheek. “How’d you pull all of this off?”
Myla smiled sweetly at him then to me. “Simon is an amazing resource and a master at planning stuff like this. You should really be thanking him.”
Epilogue
Karla
“Myla!” I cried out in pain. “Myla!” I grabbed my gigantic belly as the sharp pain started to subside.
It’s time.
She’s coming.
Reaching over, I started to shake Myla’s shoulder, frantically trying to wake her up. “How the fuck do you sleep so damn hard?” I yelled.
“What?” Myla rolled over, stretching.
Jordan groaned. “Are you ok?”
McBee jumped out of bed, flipping on the light in our hotel room. “Karla?” she asked, concern lacing her tone.
Right then, a huge rush of water came from deep inside. “Holy fuck!” Ripping back the soaked sheets, I started to push up from the bed as another wave of pain twisted my insides into knots.
“The baby is coming. This is fucking happening.” I tried to breathe through the pain, but holy hell it was hard. No one could have prepared me for this. I was a damn nurse for fuck’s sake; I knew my water had broken and that I needed to get to the hospital right away, but dammit, Lilly was coming three weeks early.
Jordan grabbed the hotel phone as Myla sat up. “What’s going on?” She rubbed her sleepy eyes, yawning.
Jordan’s panicked voice shrilled into the phone. “We need an ambulance. My friend just went into labor and I think her water broke.”
McBee jumped into action. “How far apart are your contractions?” She got down on her knees in front of me.
“I think about six or seven minutes.” I cried out as another one came on strong.
Myla jumped out of bed. “That was faster than six minutes, love. Let’s get you downstairs.”
Jordan pulled on her robe. “Go. I will meet you there. I am going to pack up all of our stuff.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed her hand as she helped me out of the bed.
“Myla!” I started frantically looking around the room. “Where’s my phone?”
She grabbed it from the desk where she had put it to charge the night before. “Got it.”
She handed it to me as Jessica started to help me get my shoes on. I dialed Brayden’s number and it went straight to voicemail.
“Hi, you have reached Brayden Cox. Please leave a message.”
After the beep, I yelled, “She’s coming and you’re not here. Brayden! Our baby is on her way!”
Myla grabbed my hand. “I will keep calling all the guys until I get through, don’t worry. Let’s just get you to the hospital before McBee has to deliver your little girl in the bathtub.”
Brayden
I woke up to Gavin frantically shaking me. “Brayden, wake the fuck up man.”
Sean and Griffin were already up and moving around frantically, but it took me a couple moments to process what was going on. “What? What? I’m up.”
“Karla is in labor. Myla was able to get us on the next flight out.” Gavin’s words hit the air but they weren’t processing.
“Excuse me? What the fuck?” I lunged for my phone, hitting the button over and over. “Fuck, my phone died.”
“There’s plenty of time to charge it later. Get the fuck up and get some clothes on. We have to leave in five minutes to make our flight.”
“She’s three weeks early!” Panic started to set in. I knew our baby was healthy, but being early was something I had always been told was not a good thing.
“It’s going to be ok, man. Let’s just get to her.”
Gavin’s phone started to ring again and I ripped it from his hands. “Karla?” I yelled.
Myla’s sweet voice came from the other end. “No, this is your sister. Hold on.”
“Brayden?” Karla’s voice sounded so far away. “Baby, are you on your way to the airport?”
“We are just about to leave.” I hopped on one foot, trying to hold the phone and get my jeans on.
“Hurry. She’s coming fast.”
“I will be there as soon as I possibly can.”
We sprinted through the tiny airport, barely making our flight. It was the longest four hours and fifty-four minutes of my life.
When Gavin, Griffin, Sean, and I bolted into the maternity ward at Flushing, a nurse glanced up from behind the nurse’s station. “Mr. Cox?”
I threw my hands onto the counter. “My girlfriend is in labor.”
She smiled sweetly at me. “Actually, she isn’t anymore. Congratulations, you’re a father to a healthy little girl.” She pointed to the room right in front of us. “Just be quiet when you go in. I think they’re all sleeping.”
I rushed into the room to see Karla sitting up in the hospital bed, staring down at the pink and white bundle in her arms. Jordan, McBee, and Myla were all sleeping in chairs around the room, their luggage from the spa trip piled high in the corner.
Tears started streaming down my face as I took in the view for a few seconds. I never wanted that memory to fade. Those simple moments made me feel complete, and right then I knew exactly what it meant to love someone—or multiple someone’s—unconditionally, even I hadn’t even met one of them yet.
“Hello, gorgeous,” I whispered, walking over to Karla’s side.
Her face lit up. “Brayden, I’d like you to meet your daughter, Lilly Marie.” She lifted our sleeping baby, resting her in my arms.
I was speechless. I just stood there staring into the most precious face I had ever seen. She was so tiny and fragile but strong and mighty, all rolled into a perfect little package.
“Hi, Lilly,” I whispered. “Sorry I was late, but you decided to surprise us a little early.”
I knelt down, looking Karla in the eyes. “I love you so much.”
She put her hand on my cheek, wiping away an escaped tear with her thumb. “You have no idea how much I love you, Brayden.”
Our lips connected and a rush of emotion flooded me. It was the best kiss of my life—simple, quick, perfect. It was a kiss that started the rest of our lives together, a kiss that made my life complete.
The end.
Bonus Chapter: Cross Checked
“Fuck you, Brayden!” Karla was hysterical. Tears rolling down her face, snot dripping from her nose, red face, hyperventilating.
I threw my hands into the air. “I have no idea what I did.”
I had just gotten home from an away game and this is what I walked into. Our baby was asleep in the next room. The house seemed fine. I didn’t think I had forgotten an anniversary or a birthday, but with the look of sheer repulsion on my girl’s face – I fucked up royally.
“How could you do this to me?” She sobbed into a pillow as she rocked on the bed.
I sank to my knees at the foot of the mattress, my heart sinking as confusion took over completely. “Baby, you’re going to have to give me some sort of clue. I got nothing.”
She threw a tabloid at me as my phone lit us with text after text from Myla, Gavin, Sean, Jordan and Jessica. I shoved the vibrating phone into my duffle bag, and read the headline: The Ultimate Betrayl. The secret affair is the reason why Brayden Cox has never put a ring on it.
I could not contain my laughter as I looked at the picture of me holding the hotel door for Ch
ase Harding’s sister.
“Karla, seriously?” I laughed as I crawled up the bed next to her. “That’s Hannah Harding, Chase’s sister. She came to Boston to surprise Chase.”
“Who the fuck is Chase Harding? Why do I not know these people?” She threw a pillow at me as she yelled.
I caught the pillow, setting it just out of her reach. “Chase is our newest rookie, you’ll meet him soon. Hannah is his sister and she actually works at Flushing. She’s a new intern. I’m surprised she hasn’t been on your rotation yet. They’re new to the New York and are super sweet. I had dinner with them, along with Gavin. Do you really think, I would try to hook up with a chick with my brother-in-law there? For crying out loud, Karla. You know how whipped Gavin is, he’d tell Myla in two seconds if I even checked another woman out in front of him.”
Karla was still a mess. “So you’re not cheating on me?”
I wrapped her into my arms, holding her as tightly against my body was possible to try to calm her shaking. “How could you ever think that I would do something like that?”
She sniffled. “It’s been all over the news.”
“Most of the time, the papers couldn’t give a shit about hockey players, it must be a slow news weekend.” I started rapid firing kisses over her cheeks as she squealed a little.
“You might want to check all of your messages.” Karla blew her nose finally.
“I don’t care what any of them say, all I care about is that we’re good.”
Karla’s phone started ringing. I glanced to see my sister’s name scrolling over the screen. “Answer it, she’s not going to stop until we talk to her.” Karla handed me her phone.
I answered the call on speaker. “Hey, sis.” I barely could get the words out before Myla was yelling.
“Brayden, this better not be fucking true.” The octave that Myla’s voice reached was almost only audible to dogs.
I could hear Gavin in the background. “Myla, that is Chase’s sister, for fuck’s sake.”
“I didn’t cheat on Karla. I held the door open for her because I am a gentleman. Whatever fuck with a camera shot that picture, had no idea what he was seeing.”
“Karla?” Myla asked, “Are you all right?”
Karla took the phone. “Yeah, everything is fine.”
“We are going to sue those bastards.” I could tell that Myla was on a warpath and probably had been for a while. “I swear, they need to just mind their own damn business.”
Gavin took the phone. “Guys, I’m going to try to calm her down. Have a good night and for what it is worth, Karla, Brayden and I have shared a room on every away game since you two got together and he’s never even come close to doing anything remotely questionable.”
“Thanks, Gavin. Love ya, My.” Karla hung up the phone while Myla was still yelling up a storm about calling a lawyer.
“She’s been calling all day, hasn’t she?” I put Karla’s phone on the charger before getting back in bed.
“Of course, this is Myla, we’re talking about.”
“I’m surprised she wasn’t here, to be honest.” I remarked as I stretched out my tight back.
“She wanted to be, but I told her that I had to confront you on my own.”
“Smart.” Kissing Karla’s cheek, I whispered, “How about we call it a night and just forget this ever happened?”
“That sounds amazing.”
***
The next morning, I snuck out of bed as Karla snored quite loudly on the other side of the bed. My people would have been completely annoyed by the train horn of gurgles, but it was getting to the point that I couldn’t sleep well without it.
I tiptoed into Lilly’s room as the baby babbled to herself in her crib. “Good morning, princess.” I cooed as I scooped my little girl into my arms.
Kissing her soft hair, I bounced her as I made my way into the kitchen. After fixing her bottle, I sat on the back porch feeding Lilly. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon as I rocked Lilly. It was my favorite time of the day – the world was still quiet and peaceful. Looking down into my daughter’s light gray eyes, I fell in love all over again.
“I can’t believe Karla could think I would cheat on this.” I said to myself out loud.
My life was perfect. This was perfect. I could never jeopardize how happy I was.
I had my dream job, the perfect woman, the most precious little girl – there was honestly nothing I could have wanted for.
After burping and changing Lilly, I crawled back into bed with my daughter still in my arms.
Kissing Karla on the cheek, I gently woke her up. “Good morning, my love.”
She rolled over, smiling as she sleepily took Lilly from me. “Good morning to my two favorite people.”
Karla’s eyes welled up with tears.
“What is it, babe?” I asked as I pulled her up into my arms so she could lean on my chest and sit up to hold the baby easier.
She looked over her shoulder, up at me. “I am so sorry that I ever believed those damn tabloids. I feel so stupid.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Karla, it did look pretty fishy. I would have questioned it too.”
“You’re not mad?” She sniffled.
“There is nothing to be mad at. You’re good. I’m good. Our little princess is perfect. We’re in love. That’s all that matters.”
Low Blow
A Shots On Goal Standalone
By Kristen Hope Mazzola
“You know that crazy heart of yours? The one with lightning crackling and moonlight shining through it. The one you’ve been told not to trust because it often led you off the beaten path. The one so many have misunderstood your entire life. Trust it. Feed it. Grow it. It’s your greatest treasure and will point the way to your highest destiny. It is the voice of your soul.” ― Jacob Nordby
Prologue
Griffin
Deep breath in.
One…two…three…
Exhale.
I watched as my red glove connected with my opponent’s left cheek. His head ricocheted back and it took a couple seconds for him to shake it off. His eyes were a little glassy as he spit blood onto the mat from the busted upper lip I’d just given him, and he was completely punch drunk.
He’s going to go down easy.
I stepped back, watching his movements, trying to anticipate where he was going next. I saw him start to fake right and I rocked him in the side with a right rook that he leaned into perfectly.
I knew I should let it go on for a few more rounds, put on a bit of a show for the fans, but I was getting tired and that punk was going to be all too easy to knock out. He was predictable and slow—the perfect combination for an easy win.
Ding. The bell signaled the end of the round, and the crowd erupted with excitement. I hustled into my corner, slumping down onto an old wooden stool, where my coach, Omar, was waiting with our cutman, Skelly, to fix up a little slash over my right eyebrow.
“Take your damn time, Griff.” His advice fell on deaf ears, like usual. “Don’t be hasty. You don’t need to end this quickly for fuck’s sake.”
His fat, round bald head was bright red with sweat dripping from every pore. You would have thought Omar had been in the ring the whole time instead of me. I held back all the fat jokes I wanted to spew at him to bust his balls a bit, really rile him up, because there was no point. I just nodded my head while blasting water into my mouth and spitting it out. “We’ll see,” I slurred with my mouth guard in.
Omar hated when I knocked guys out early in the match, but I couldn’t give a flying fuck what he wanted. I was going to win, and that was ultimately what mattered. A win by knockout was still a win and I was there for the payout—we all were.
All I was to everyone was a punching dollar sign with a jaw-breaking right hook, the ability to anticipate two steps ahead, and quick-as-fuck response time.
Wiping the blood away from my brow with a cotton swab, the cutman shook his head. “Damn, thi
s one is fucking gushing.” Skelly’s voice was low as he mumbled a few more profanities under his breath.
I could feel hot blood trickling into my eyebrow and down the side of my face. “It’s nothing for fuck’s sake. I barely felt it.”
He smeared Neosporin over my brow, pointing his finger at me. “It might feel like nothing, but Greco got you good with this one. You need to be careful and not get hit there again.”
I wasn’t going to let my opponent get close enough to me to do any more damage. I hopped to my feet, bouncing in place to get my blood pumping again. “Am I good to go?” I glared at Skelly as he ripped latex gloves off his hands.
“Yeah man, that’ll hold for this round…I think.” He shrugged before ducking out through the ropes just as the bell rang again.
“Go get ‘em, kid!” Omar bellowed from ringside.
Time to end this.
I got nose to nose with Frederick Greco, a lanky kid from the Bronx. He had at least two inches of reach on me, but he fought like a high schooler. I had no idea how he’d gotten this far in that world—he must have gotten eaten alive every damn fight. The scar on his jaw made me laugh a bit—it was from the last time I got him good, when he’d face planted hard just under four years prior. I wasn’t one to relish in the pain of others, but that mark brought me back to when my career had really taken off.
We tapped gloves and the round began. I had to be patient, let him come to me. I let Frederick dance around, peacocking as I bided my time. Watching closely, it was only a matter of time before he would mess up and be face down on the mat just like last time. Greco tried to get me with a left hook and completely missed without me having to move too quickly. One swift uppercut to his jaw and he was down for the count.
The ref kneeled down next to him, pounding the mat as he yelled each number. Finally, I was declared victorious and could get the hell out of that place.
The Shots On Goal Series Box Set Page 21