by Avery Flynn
The truth of it all landed like a solid punch to the gut that made it almost impossible to breathe. She pressed her palm to her belly as emotion clogged her throat.
“Shit,” she finally managed to croak out. “I really fucked up.”
“Yes, you did.” Her mom took a sip of her drink. “Also, watch your language.”
Her mind blank and her heart aching, she looked around at the smartest women she knew. “So, what do I do?”
Four concerned faces stared back at her. No one said a damn thing.
Finally, Lucy spoke up. “You go fight to make this right.”
The effervescent bubbles of maybe-this-will-work had her sitting up straight again as she glanced at her mom and three best friends in the world, certainty filling her. “Okay. Somebody call me an Uber.”
“Honey, I think you might need a shower first,” her mom advised wisely.
Yes, first stop, get this mess off her face. Next, go get her man back.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Fallon had washed Zach’s hoodie and it didn’t smell like him anymore. It was just a sweatshirt with a vaguely floral scent. Still, she took one last inhale before walking up to his front door. There was noise coming from inside and a handful of cars—including Caleb’s truck—parked in the usually empty driveway. Steeling herself for whatever would come next, she raised her hand and knocked on the door.
Nothing happened.
She looked back at her Uber driver, who’d been amazing and had given her a pep talk on the way here and a second one when they drove through the open gate. Now he gave her a thumbs-up. That was a good sign, right? The kindness of strangers and all that?
Turning back around, she tried to calm her jangly nerves by clutching the hoodie a little tighter and knocked on the door again.
“I’m coming,” someone hollered from inside.
A few moments later, the door swung open, revealing Caleb holding a bowl of chips and an Xbox remote. His gaze dropped from her face to the hoodie she was holding on to like it was the only thing she had left in the world then back up before lifting an eyebrow in a question.
“Hey, Caleb.” Okay, this wasn’t awkward at all. “Is Zach here?”
He turned his head and hollered behind him. “Blackburn, someone’s here for you.”
Someone? Yeah, that probably was all she was now, just someone. To get past the sharp pain in her chest, she pressed her lips together hard enough to hurt and inhaled a deep breath through her nose to calm her heart.
“Thanks.”
Caleb, usually so chatty, nodded. Really, she couldn’t blame him. If their places were swapped and someone had acted toward one of her girls the way she had toward Zach, she’d be righteously pissed, too.
A noise behind Caleb must have alerted him that Zach was coming because he relaxed his posture before whispering, “Don’t fuck it up” and clearing out of the doorway.
She didn’t have time to freak out about the warning, though, because Zach was standing there in the next heartbeat. It wasn’t fair that he looked so good when she was standing there with her breath probably still smelling of raw cookie dough. Or maybe it was fair. He wasn’t the one who’d betrayed the other’s trust. And no matter how valid her reason may have seemed at the time, that was what she’d done.
“I know you’re mad,” she said, her voice shaky and higher than normal. “You have every right to be. I was wrong. I should never have disregarded your wishes. I hope someday you’ll be able to forgive me. Until then, I brought your hoodie.”
Too nervous after that babbling word vomit, she shoved his hoodie in his direction, hitting him square in the chest. When she started to let go, he clapped his hand over hers, holding her in place and sending a jolt of electricity through her.
“Why did you do it?” he asked, his tone as inscrutable as his expression.
She’d practiced what she’d say in her head in the Uber. It had all made so much sense then. But now? It was just a jumble of emotion-soaked words swimming around her head and making her heart ache.
“I didn’t want anyone to believe your parents’ lies.” The words came out in a rush. “I didn’t want them to be able to hurt you anymore. I know that’s probably the last thing you want to hear from me, especially after that dig I made about how dumb it was for you to ignore what they were doing, just to protect your pride. Oh God, that sounded so much better when I was planning out what I was going to say in the Uber.”
He stroked his thumb over the top of her hand pressed to his chest before letting it go so it dropped back to her side. “You thought a lot about this?”
“Not enough, obviously.” She let out a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and looked him straight on. “I never meant to accidentally start dating you, and I most certainly didn’t mean to fall in love with you, but I did. The fact that I messed it all up will be one of my biggest regrets. I couldn’t help it, though. I thought, and I still do, that you’re worth fighting for.”
When he just stood there staring at her, that last little shred of hope that this crazy idea would work out, that somehow, he’d be able to forgive her, died. So much for that.
“Well, that’s what I had to say. Good luck tomorrow night. I’ll be rooting for you.”
And since there was nothing left to say, and she was about ten seconds away from falling apart, she turned and started toward her Uber.
Her driver gave her a sympathetic smile.
“Can you take me back where you picked me up?” she asked, her chin trembling as she dug her short fingernails into her palm to keep the tears at bay.
Her driver nodded as she reached out to close the door—but it wouldn’t shut.
“So that was your plan?” Zach asked as he stood there holding the door open, his gaze thunderous. “Say all of that and walk away?”
“I wanted to give you time to think about it.” Without her standing in front of him crying.
“I thought about it,” he said, his tone rough and hard.
She got out of the car and braced herself for the worst. Still, she managed to keep her gaze on him; she owed him that.
“You are always so damn sure you’re right, and that you can take on anyone’s battles, that you never give anyone else the chance to fight for you. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is?” He threw his hands in the air. “Very. Do you have any idea what it’s like to love someone who can do the wrong thing for the right reason, which makes it impossible to be mad? I’ve spent most of my life pissed off and guarding against other people. Right until this bossy woman arrived on my doorstep and demanded I let her in.” He took a step closer so there was only the slightest space between their bodies, his hands going up to her face, cupping her jaw. “And now you want to go so I can think about things? Forget that. I just need to know one thing. You say I’m worth fighting for, but what about us? Are we worth fighting for? I think we are. I want to be my best with you, not because you’re my Lady Luck, but because you’re the woman I love.”
Fallon couldn’t talk. All of her emotions were blocking the words, so she nodded, tears pouring down her cheeks.
Using the pad of his thumb, he wiped away her tears. “Then let’s fight for us together.”
He dipped his head lower and kissed her, and it was like the world started rotating again. Everything came back in a whoosh as he slanted his mouth over hers, his tongue sweeping across her lips and demanding entrance. The rightness of it all nearly overwhelmed her in a rush of joy, possibility, and the promise of forever.
By the time they broke the kiss, she’d forgotten the rest of the world existed—something the other Ice Knights players reminded her of by immediately beginning to clap and holler.
“Party’s over, boys,” Zach said with a laugh. “Go home.”
They hustled off the porch, delivering a few catcalls and offering up unsolicited advice. Caleb and the other first liners claimed her Uber, since they’d been drinking, while Svoboda gave them a cheery wave, s
aid something in Czech she didn’t understand, and took off in his car.
“So what now?” she asked Zach as the cars’ taillights faded into the darkness.
He swept her up in his arms and started toward the house. “I have new furniture to break in.”
She would have said something smart in return, but then he kissed her, and talking became so much less important than getting inside the house so they could start forever right now.
…
Ice Knights Said What
On the heels of an amazing comeback season that saw the Ice Knights get all the way to the finals, it seems a new group of players has stepped up to take the mantle of most troublesome players from defenseman Zach Blackburn.
This morning, news broke of a video showing the rest of the Ice Knights first line talking smack in an Uber about one another’s love lives, their teammates, and their off-ice foibles. Word is that Coach Peppers is none too pleased about the distraction, and has set defenseman Caleb Stuckey, and the forward line of Alex Christensen, Ian Petrov, and Cole Phillips up with crisis communications guru Lucy Kavanagh to help them course correct.
So will it work?
I have my doubts, but Kavanagh is known to be a real ballbuster in her own right. She was the one who helped guide Blackburn through his recent troubles with his parents. Bobby and Donna Blackburn are currently serving time for embezzlement and taking out fraudulent loans in a scheme where their son was the victim. If she can help Blackburn deal with all of that, then she should be able to fairy godmother her way through the latest Ice Knights trouble. Personally, hockey fans? I’m rooting for an HEA for all four of these guys. What can I say? I’m a fan.
Epilogue
Three Years Later…
The little black box in Zach’s jacket pocket weighed a million pounds. Okay, the ring inside the box weighed about three carats and sparkled, but it felt like more. He’d been carrying it around ever since the Ice Knights had won it all for the second time.
Fallon might not be his Lady Luck, but being with her had made him the luckiest man in Harbor City, and he didn’t want that to end. Ever. So when she’d invited him to meet at the bakery near the clinic after her shift, he figured it was the perfect time to ask.
Fallon was waiting for him at a small table in the corner with two huge blueberry muffins sitting on it. His stomach did the Pavlovian jolt and twist at the sight of the muffins. Even if that gut-roiling case of food poisoning was the beginning of him and Fallon being together, he still couldn’t stand the things.
“Hey there,” she said, standing up, her hand going to her rounding belly, which was only now starting to be noticeable.
He stopped dead in his tracks, his lungs squeezed tight with a kind of unexplainable joy that superseded everything else he’d accomplished—or ever would. The endorsement deals that put him back on the right side of the financial ledger, and his happiness at how Fallon had flourished in her new position as a full-time nurse at the Beacon Clinic, were good, but this was better. Even after four months, he still couldn’t get over the mind-blowing awesomeness of the whole thing. He’d found the woman who’d changed his world, they were happily together, and they were having a baby.
“Are you going to stop doing that every time you see me?” she asked, raising herself up on her tiptoes, pressing her palm to the spot where he’d added an LL tattoo over his heart, and giving him a teasing smile. “We do have five more months to go.”
“No.” He dipped his head and gave her a quick kiss. “I’m in awe every time I see you.”
“Well, you better feed me while you stare because this baby is hungry.”
She sat back down, and he followed her lead—right up until she picked up one of the crumb-topped blueberry muffins. Yeah. He was not going to do that. She may be over her morning sickness, but he wasn’t over his muffin sickness.
“You aren’t going to try yours?” she asked.
“I’m kinda full.” And he was never having another muffin again in his life. “We can take it home and you can have it after I get you naked so we can play doctor.”
Even though he’d said it quietly, Fallon’s cheeks turned a vivid shade of pink with embarrassment. He looked around. The bakery was full, but no one was looking at them. In fact, everyone was turned completely away. Since #TeamZuck had turned every Harbor City hockey fan into a matchmaker and the Ice Knights had won two cups, he’d gotten used to people staring, so this was nice but a little weird.
She pushed the plate with the remaining blueberry muffin closer to him. “Just try it, you’ll like it.”
His stomach gurgled. The one thing he’d learned in the past few months was not to argue with a pregnant woman about food, but eating a muffin wasn’t gonna happen.
“Fallon, I love you, but I’m not gonna eat that.”
Someone behind him let out a groan. He turned his head so he could glare at the jerk so obviously eavesdropping, but the guy in a dark hoodie quickly turned away before Zach could get a good look. The hairs on the back of his neck spiked as he took a closer look around at the bakery. The clerk was behind the counter, grinning at them as if watching Fallon scowl at him while she ate her muffin and he refused to eat his was the best entertainment there was. However, no one else was giving them even a glance. They were all glancing away, even if the location of their tables made it a game of human twister to look in the other direction.
“Fallon, what’s going on?” He zeroed in on one guy wearing a baseball cap low and sunglasses—inside—who had the same been-in-one-too-many-fights-on-the-ice nose as his defensive partner. “Is that Stuckey?”
“Eat the muffin, Zach,” she said in that cut-the-bullshit tone that reminded him of that first night when he was sick.
When everyone in the bakery except the clerk continued to keep their back to them, he turned to Fallon. “What are you up to?”
Instead of answering, she tilted her chin toward the ceiling and let out a long-suffering sigh. “Would you just try the muffin?”
“Fal—”
A loud clattering from behind the counter yanked his attention away from the woman he loved, who was most definitely involved in shenanigans.
Lucy poked her head out of the kitchen. “Oh my God, Blackburn, pick up the stupid muffin.”
He turned and looked at Fallon. Her cheeks were red, she was twisting the end of her braid around her finger, and her mouth was uncharacteristically shut.
Welcome to the Twilight Zone.
“Fine,” he said, picking up the muffin closest to him. “I’ll eat the muffin.”
It was almost up to his mouth when he noticed the shining gold ring sitting dead center in the middle of the crumb topping.
“Zach Blackburn.” Fallon got up from her chair and then kneeled beside him. “Will you marry me?”
Okay, that was not how he planned on this whole proposal thing going. He was going to get down on one knee and ask her. She’d fan her face and get a little teary because pregnancy hormones were no joke, then she’d say yes. However, she’d pulled a fast break on him. He really should have expected it.
He helped her up before reaching into his pocket. “Only on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
He withdrew the little black box from his pocket and flipped the lid open, revealing the diamond engagement ring. “You always stay one step ahead of me.”
She grinned up at him. “Consider it done.”
Unable to wait another second, he pulled her close and kissed her, promising all of the tomorrows and forevers he could, as the friends and family who’d packed the bakery cheered them on.
Later, after everyone had given them their congratulations and Fallon’s brothers had shot him death glares of warning to not fuck this up, they stood alone at their table. He glanced down at the muffins and chuckled.
“Did you really have to put the ring in a muffin?”
She shrugged and winked at him. “It made me laugh.”
Becaus
e of course it did. That was his Fallon, always there to bust his chops just as much as she was there to have his back, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Acknowledgments
A huge thank-you to the readers who make all of my books possible. Without you guys, I wouldn’t be lucky enough to have the best job in the world. Y’all are my Lady (and Dude) Lucks. xoxo. I couldn’t have written Tomboy without the support of my editor Liz, who rolls her eyes at my pronouncements that this is my worst book ever and my promises to actually meet a deadline. Thank you, thank you, thank you, going out to the entire Entangled team for everything that they do behind the scenes. Y’all know exactly how to make an author look good. Thank you!!! A hug and a promise to Jenn at Social Butterfly that we will actually get to have that drink together. You amaze me with every book. Thank you! And, as always, I couldn’t do hardly anything without the support of my girls, Robin Covington and Kimberly Kincaid, and my family. All together, we’re probably about as loud the Hartigans, if not quite as much fun. LOL
And don’t worry, readers, there will be more Hartigans coming. We are just taking a short break for some hot hockey players. Get ready for the Ice Knights! Turn the page for a sneak peek at the first Ice Knights book, Parental Guidance.
xoxo,
Avery
Parental Guidance
Ice Knights 1
Just when Caleb Stuckey thought it couldn’t get any worse, his mom walked in.
Now, some people might think getting an ass-chewing by Ice Knights coach, Winston Peppers, and the team’s oh-my-God-our-players-fucked-up-again public relations guru, Lucy Kavanagh, was about as bad as it could get. They would be wrong. Having his mom join the ass-chewing party in Lucy’s office on the fifty-sixth floor of Harbor City’s Carlyle Building brought the entire shitstorm to a whole new level of misery.