The game got started, but I was too nervous to watch, so I was grateful to have Angie to chat with, even if she didn’t take her eyes off the rink.
Fifteen minutes before the end of the game, my phone rang, and I stepped away from Angie to answer it. It was hard to hear the woman from the clinic, but there was no way, I could leave the bleachers. I was concerned if José looked over and saw me gone, it could ruin his chances.
“Everything okay?” Angie asked as I made my way back over to her after I finished the call.
“Yeah, great, thanks.” I had a secret burning inside me, but José was going to be the first one to hear it.
After the match, it was almost an hour before José appeared at the dressing room door. I was sitting on the floor down from the locker rooms, my tush numb from the cold floor and trying to hold it together. Angie was next to me, leaning against the wall. We’d both been so nervous, we’d waited in silence.
When José eventually emerged from the dressing room, he was expressionless, and he looked a little pale. Kai appeared behind José with a huge grin on his face, and he pushed past and ran toward Angie, scooping her up in his arms and spinning her around. Huh, it looked like they had good news. I looked back at my man as he came toward me, still giving nothing away.
I couldn’t stand it any longer. “Well, what happened?”
“I… I’m moving to Charlotte.” He glanced over at Kai. “We both are.”
“That’s fantastic news!” I clapped my hands together in excitement.
“I’m being sent for conditioning with the Checkers, and then, well, we’ll see. The Hurricanes have strong goalies at the moment, so I doubt I’ll be called up, but if I work hard, who knows what will happen in a few years.”
I grabbed him and kissed him long and hard. Then I turned to Kai. “Congratulations. You going to Charlotte or Raleigh?”
Kai couldn’t keep the excitement off his face. “Same as José. We’re going to be together.”
When I turned back to José, he was still looking shell shocked. “Aren’t you supposed to be happy?”
The corner of his mouth turned up a little. “I can’t celebrate unless you give me your answer. Will you come with me? It’ll be tough, I won’t be getting paid much, but we could afford somewhere small and…”
Angie squealed in delight next to me. “Oh, my, God! We could share. Kai and me, and you and José. We could find somewhere big enough for the baby.”
I looked at Angie in Kai’s arms and then snuggled against José, wrapping my arms tight around him. I looked up into those deep dark brown eyes. “Of course, I’ll come with you.”
A huge fat grin appeared, and he squeezed me back. “You will?”
“Of course, I will, José. You need me, I’m your good luck charm.” I put my hand on his chest to stop him from kissing me again. “Um, by the way, the clinic called.”
The grin vanished, and he visibly paled again. “They did? Oh, God, what did they say?”
Stretching up on tiptoe, I whispered in his ear. The next minute, I had left the ground, and José had let out a huge whoop. It was so loud that Coach Peterson rushed out of the dressing room to see what was going on.
“It’s a boy!” José yelped, “We are having a boy!”
“Fucking hell, Estrada, you almost gave me a heart attack.” Coach then looked over at me. “Huh, congratulations. Nora, isn’t it?”
But I didn’t get to answer, as José was bouncing up and down the corridor, taking me with him. Above José’s excited whoops and yells, I just about heard Coach Peterson say to Kai, “He didn’t even act that excited when they presented him with the damn contract.”
Twenty
José
March 7th…
The last seven months had been a fucking whirlwind. I secured a contract from the Hurricanes, moved across the country, set up home with my soon-to-be wife—I couldn’t wait for June when I’d finally put a ring on Nora’s finger—and I became a dad.
Miguel Estrada was born February 9th, a couple of weeks early, surprising both Nora and me in the middle of the night. Kai and Angie came to the hospital with us, and I was grateful to my best friend for taking control of getting us there in one piece. By the time Miguel made an appearance in the late afternoon on the next day, Mia and Charlie were there to see their new nephew. They’d had a hell of a journey as their plane got diverted to Dulles and they then drove six hours through the snow down to Charlotte.
Nothing compared to holding my son in my arms for the first time, not even signing my name to that hockey contract or finding myself on the Hurricanes bench at that moment.
The Raleigh PNC arena was packed. The team was scrambling to secure a spot in the playoffs. They had made an amazing recovery after a really shaky first half of the season. They had to grab at least a point from every game they had left to play to make sure that playoff spot would be theirs. It was a Herculean task, but no one on the team thought they couldn’t do it.
Sweat glistened on my brow as I looked across the arena. I was only sitting on the bench, and there was no chance of me playing, but I was nervous as hell. Somewhere in the crowd, Nora and Miguel were watching. She’d bought him these little ear defenders, and he was dressed in the tiniest team jersey I could find. Nora had my name and number put on the back as soon as she heard I’d been called up yesterday. Estrada, 66. I’d been given the choice of three numbers but that one leaped out at me as being auspicious. It was Miguel’s weight at birth––six pounds, six ounces–and coincidently it was the date we had booked for our wedding–June 6th.
Sitting with Nora and my son was almost a whole row of friends and family. Even Mia and Charlie were able to be there. As luck would have it, they were in town because the Predators were playing the Hurricanes tomorrow. Angie was there, of course, helping Nora with Miguel, and my mom and Nora’s dad had brought a dozen relatives between them.
It was just two minutes into the second period when the Hurricane’s starting goalie was hit hard in his mask. The thing flew off his head like it was spring loaded, and he catapulted back into the net, hitting his head on the goal post. He collapsed in a heap, and the whole bench stood as the whistle blew.
Kai was on the bench not far from me. He was playing his third game on the fourth line. “Shit, is he out cold?”
I tried to peer around the officials to see if our guy had made it to his feet, but the next moment the coach was yelling at me to get my mask on.
The crowd stood while they carried the fallen net minder off the ice, and then they cheered raucously when he gingerly raised a hand to them as he disappeared down the tunnel. Coach thumped me on my back, and I grabbed my water bottle and skated out.
It was a damn long way to that net when all eyes were on you, and the crowd was chanting another man’s name. As I situated myself in the goal, a hush descended around the arena, and the centers lined up for the face off.
I couldn’t see past the front row on the bottom tier of the stadium, but I could sense Nora up in the nose bleed section yelling my name. I didn’t need to see her to know my lucky charm was in place.
The whistle blew and play resumed. Despite having no warm up, and never expecting to play, I settled in pretty quickly, which was a good thing. The Blackhawks weren’t about to let up on us just because there was a rookie in the net.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. Within the first five minutes, I made eleven saves before our forwards went on the offensive and squared away our first goal. Kai was on the ice for it, and picked up an assist. After that, any nerves that might have been hanging around my system were securely locked away.
I couldn’t recollect what happened much after that, except that by the time the final whistle blew, I was drenched in sweat, and my legs were like fucking jelly. A rush of adrenaline flooded through me when I realized I’d just secured my first shutout and win of my NHL career. We’d finished three up, taken the full two points, and as I walked off the ice, the cameras of the loc
al news stations were all pointing at me.
Inside the locker room, it was like a fucking zoo. Microphones were thrust at me the moment I sat down to get changed. Reporters jockeyed around me for a sound bite, asking me to describe my feelings about playing my first NHL game.
I’d heard at the end of the second period that our guy was okay, but the medics were checking him for a concussion. The Canes usual backup goalie hobbled into the room on crutches and came straight over to me to give me a high-five. The guy was the reason I got to play. He’d had an operation two days ago for a niggling recurring injury that the coaches decided needed to be sorted out. It was meant to give him enough time to recover if we made the playoffs. With our backup goalie on crutches, and our starting goalie on day-to-day, I might just see another game.
“Well done, José.” He pummeled his fist into my back. “Epic shutout, man.”
By the time I escaped the locker room, I was exhausted from retelling a magnificent save I’d made on the Blackhawks star forward. I stepped through the door into the reception area and found Nora and my son waiting for me. I grabbed them both and hugged them to me.
“Look,” Nora shoved her phone into my face. I grinned at the soundbite on the main news channel. Underneath my picture it said my name and stated I had recently celebrated the birth of my son.
“Congratulations, José and Nora.” As the soundbite ended, the announcer continued with a piece to camera, “I’m predicting we’ll be seeing more of Estrada in the not-too-distant future. That was a fantastic game, don’t you think, Al? How that must have felt for a rookie net minder making his debut in such a strong fashion…”
The interview played on, but all I wanted to do was take my son in my arms and kiss my future wife. I was under no illusions. I had one NHL game under my belt, but for the foreseeable future, the best I could hope for was to sit on that bench a few more times and watch our starting goalie lead the team to victory. The chances I’d play again this year were slim, but I didn’t care. Down in the AHL, I was learning my craft and had already proved myself. Since I’d started with them, I was getting regular plays and earning myself a reputation.
I took Miguel, who was sound asleep and quite oblivious of his father’s debut. “We should get him home.”
Nora took my hand, and we headed to my car. “Don’t you want to go and celebrate with Kai and Angie?” she asked as we reached the vehicle.
I shook my head. Since we’d moved, I’d given up going to after parties. I preferred to spend my time with Nora. “No, let’s go home.”
I thought we’d only been asleep a couple of hours when Miguel woke us up. “I’ll get him,” I said as I leaped out of bed. I carried him from his crib to Nora, and while she set about feeding him, I went to make us some tea.
I knew most new parents moaned about the interruptions in their sleep, but I kind of liked the three a.m. wake-ups. Everywhere was quiet, and I enjoyed watching Miguel feeding. Nora looked so beautiful with him in her arms. She was a natural mom, and I had no clue how she kept so calm.
She wasn’t just my lucky charm any more, she was also my anchor. It had taken me long enough to realize that what I thought might be a distraction was actually what I needed to help me focus.
“Mmm, I love you, you know?”
She looked up at me, and shifted slightly so she could reach across the baby and kiss me. “I love you too, José. Always have, and I always will.”
The End!
Read more in the Hockey Boyz Series…
Hat Trick (1)
Game Over (2)
Also by Angela Stevens
Contemporary Romance Series
Thrill Of The Chase Series
Catching Saul
Catching Gabe
Catching Nate
Catching Luke
Catching Noah
Catching Adam
Adult Steamy Romance
Hockey Punk Series
Changing On The Fly
Spin-O-Rama (Book 2)
Dump And Chase (Book 3)
Yard Sale (Book 4)
Home Ice Advantage (Book 5)
Light The Lamp (A companion Novella and prequel) Get this novella free when you join Angela Steven’s Romance subscribers on her website www.AngelaStevens.Net
Hockey Punk: The Complete Series Box Set
New Adult Sport Romance
Hockey Boyz Series
Hat Trick (Book 1)
Game Over (Book 2)
Shut Out (Book 3)
Romantic Suspense:
Hell Bent Series
The Devil’s Own (Book 1)
See No Evil (Book 2)
Highway To Hell (Book 3)
Multi-author Hot Hunks Contemporary Romance Series:
Angela Stevens is one of the regular Hot Hunk authors and has a series within a series…
Nolan’s Resolution (1)
Miles' Christmas Round Up (2)
Logan’s Blind Date Curveball (3)
Every Day Hero, Caleb (4)
Author’s Billboard boxed sets:
Angela Stevens is now a member of the Author’s Billboard Group and you can find her work in the following Boxed sets to be released in 2020
Unforgettable surrender
Irresistible Fall Into Romance (irresistible Romance Book 5)
Summer Shorts (The Shorts Series Book 2)
The Players - Winner Takes All (Sports Romance Book 3)
The Players - All Or Nothing (Sports Romance Book 2)
Unforgettable Joy: Unforgettable Pleasure (The Unforgettable Book 16)
Sexy and Seductive
Angela Stevens writing as Sadie Collins
The Vargr Clan series
The Wolf You Feed
Hold On
An Unbreakable Will
The Splits In My Skin (Standalone. Johan’s missing years) Get this novella free when you subscribe to Angela Stevens
Blood Or Destiny
Blood Brothers
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my wonderful editor, Kim Burger from Grammar Owl, who works tirelessly to marry my English heritage with writing for an American audience, as well as my proofreader, Maggie Truelove, who has done a marvelous job in catching those tricky blighters that slip through the net. Without them this project would not look so polished.
About the Author
Angela Stevens is the author of steamy contemporary romance and contemporary fantasy.
A sucker for emotional happily ever afters, she devours romance books at the rate of three a week. When she isn’t reading romance, she also loves indulging her freaky side and feeding her inner nerd with contemporary fantasy and magical realism.
Although British born, Angela has adopted America as her home and has resided in Northern Virginia since 2004. Since moving to the US she has become a rabid fan of ice hockey and can often be found rocking the red and cheering on her beloved Washington Capitals team. Her extreme love of hockey and a passion for emotional romances led to the creation of her first romance stories, Hockey Punk Series (formally known as The Cocktail Series).
Whether you pick up one of her romances or fantasies you will be treated to strong characters and emotional journeys. Find out more about Angela Stevens romance books at her website
Or join my mailing list to claim the brand new, not available anywhere else, Catching Robert short story about Margaret and Robert Chase’s Happy Ever After.
Shut Out: Contemporary Sport Romance (Hockey Boyz Book 3) Page 14