Only One Regret (Only One 5)

"One time!" she shouts, holding up a finger. I skate away to do some drills, then come back over and bend to kiss the glass where the girls are.

"I’ll see you guys later," I tell them, and Erika holds out her hands for the girls. I see they are wearing black tights just like her, and the three of them are wearing the same sneakers. If anyone were looking at us, they would think we’re a family. I guess, in a strange way, we are. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her.

"You ready?" Manning asks as we stand in the hallway to get on the ice, and I nod at him.

"Press is going to be all over your ass," he says, and I know he isn’t wrong. This is the first game since the divorce, and even though it was mentioned in the news, I haven’t had to talk to the press yet. "The boys will have your back, and the minute you don’t want to answer questions, you just walk away." Manning went through his own divorce a while ago, but no one fucked with him because he never gave any interviews unless it was after the game. The press has been watching me for what feels like my whole life. Knowing they are waiting for me to fuck up only pushes me harder.

"Grant," my coach says, "you’re on with Miller and Manning." I nod my head. We walk out of the hallway, and I get on the ice starting at center. The national anthem plays, and I shut it all down.

I skate in a circle, waiting for the puck to drop. I bend, getting ready for the puck to drop. The referee stands there with his legs open wide. "Clean game, boys," he says, and I look over at other centerman nodding my head.

The puck drops, and I win the faceoff, sliding the puck toward Manning, who takes the puck and moves it up. I skate past the centerman going to the blue line and looking to see that Manning passed the puck to Miller, who skates into the zone with it. He moves it toward the net and takes a shot on the net. It bounces off the pad of the goalie, and I pick up the rebound, sending it over the pad and into the net. The horn blows loud as I turn to smirk at Miller and Manning.

"Fuck, that felt good," I say to them as we skate to the bench, and I take a second to look up to the box at my girls. My father high-fives my uncle Max as they celebrate. "Let’s do that again."

Chapter 6

Erika

I shoot out of my seat when he scores the goal and yell. He is on fire tonight. This is his second goal. "Look, Daddy scored again," I tell Emma, who is sitting in the seat next to me.

I look over at the luxury box I own, seeing that it’s finally full. To be honest, it’s only full when his family comes to visit. The rest of the time, I give away the tickets to people in the office.

"Who is number forty-seven?" Franny, Cooper’s sister, asks from in front of me. "He looks like he needs someone to talk to." Franny, Vivi, and I spent the day shopping. She didn’t have anything to wear to the game tonight, which was bullshit, but I had fun hanging with them.

"That is Brad Wilson, and trust me, he has his share," I look over at her, and she just smirks. "Forget about it," I say, and she shrugs. She wears her black jeans and matching black tank top with a jean jacket and a scarf. "He’s the biggest player out there.”

"Good," Franny says. "Which means I don’t have to deal with the needy."

"Heaven forbid you actually catch feelings for someone," Vivi goads. "If you want to get with her, you have to do it with an ice cube as a heart."

"Exactly," Franny confirms.

"Auntie." I hear a soft voice beside me. "Can I sit on your lap?" Mia asks, rubbing her eyes, and I know what that means.

I hold out my hands, and she climbs onto my lap, sitting with her back to my chest. Her shoes are the same as mine. Something I picked up while we were shopping today. I see Emma is sitting with Karrie, who just smiles at me. "Are you hungry?" I ask Mia, who shakes her head. She never used to come to the games since Julianne hated the thought of it. She would usually send Emma with him, and I would have her all night long and wait for him to finish, but never Mia. When they got separated, I started bringing them to the games on Saturday nights, and she loved it.

I look at the ice and see that Cooper is back. He moves along the board, looking at Manning passing it to Ralph, who then tips it to Brad. Cooper sneaks in there, and I see that no one is watching him. Brad looks like he will take the shot, but instead, he passes it to the side where Cooper is waiting and tips it into the open net. The goalie was not able to slide back in time.