Wheeler (Seattle Sharks 8)

“Something crazy…but something so true.”

“Okay,” she said again, wary.

“I just hope we’re on the same page,” I said, before diving into the most outrageous but most sensible plan I’d ever had in my entire life.

A game changer.

Something big enough to shock the power player.

Something, I hoped, would be enough to win him back.

Chapter 21

Lukas

It had been two weeks.

Two fucking weeks.

She’d stood there in Sawyer’s doorway, looking like I’d broken her heart, and broke mine.

Two weeks. We’d started preseason. The line had launched. She’d missed it all. Moved on. Forgotten about me. Continued on with her life while mine burned around me.

The doorbell sounded, and I made my way over to it like a zombie.

Eric stood on the other side with a bottle of green juice. “Drink that. You look like shit,” he said, pushing past me.

“Don’t hold back,” I said, but I popped the top and started to swig. Fucking thing had pears in it. God, did everything remind me of Faith?

Faith.

Had Eric seen her? How was she? Did she miss me? Had she gone back to the frat boy?

“I’m not going to. You look like shit. Launch go okay?” He sat on one of the stools that lined the kitchen bar.

“After you left?” I clarified. He’d been there all night as the line debuted.

“No, asshole. I meant sales. Figured you already had numbers.”

I took another swig and nodded. “They sold out here in Seattle, and five other markets around the US.”

“Damn.”

“What can I say?” I shrugged, trying to act normal. “Americans love some Swedish style.”

He didn’t smile.

“What?” I questioned.

“Ask, for fuck’s sake. It’s getting awkward.”

I swallowed. “How is she?”

“Miserable,” he answered truthfully. “Still in love with you.”

His words punched me in the stomach with the force of a truck. I marched past him, throwing the empty bottle into the recycling bin.

“Yeah, okay.” I shook my head. “I tried. She said it didn’t matter. She knows I didn’t cheat on her and still won’t come back to me. It’s not even that she doesn’t trust me, Eric. She doesn’t trust herself. She doesn’t have the confidence to know that I want her and only her.”

“She’s always struggled with that,” he said softly. “And that guy did a number on her.”

“Well, I didn’t!” I shouted. “I showed up. I loved her. I did everything I could to show her in every possible way that she was the only woman in the world I could ever want. I can’t change my past. Hell, she knew what it was when we started this, and then she went and changed the rules on me. She walked away.”

“Yeah, she sucks sometimes.” He sighed.

My jaw dropped. “What?”

He curved the brim of his baseball hat. “You heard me. I love Faith. I’d die for her. But she can be so damn stubborn sometimes. And once her shields go up?” He shook his head.

“So what am I supposed to say to that?” I threw my hands up. “What am I supposed to do?”

He assessed me. “You still love her?”

“What the fuck do you think?” I fired back.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I still love her. That’s not going to die because she shut the door in my face. I loved her before she ever gave me a chance, and I’ll love her for the rest of my life, even now that she’s taken that chance away. But it doesn’t matter.”

“It does.”

My eyes narrowed. “How the hell do you think it matters?”

“It does. Trust me. You can get her back. You just have to want her badly enough.” He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees.

“Oh really, and how the fuck am I supposed to do that?” I hated the small piece of hope that crammed its way through my numbness. Numb was good. Numb was safe.

“You have to fight for her.”

“What the fuck do you think I’ve been doing?” I shouted at him.

“You’ve been fighting with grenades. Valiant, and brave, but not enough firepower. Not to get through Faith’s insecurities.”

“Her insecurities? That’s what you think this is?”

“Yep. That’s exactly what it is. She loves you. She saw how easy it would be for it to all crumble away. She doesn’t think she’s enough to hold you. Doesn’t have the experience, or the looks, or the body, or any of the thousands of lies women tell themselves. You’re paying for frat boy sins, and it’s not fair, but love never is.”

“And what exactly do you recommend?” I hissed, hating him for thinking there was a chance, and hating myself for wanting to believe it.

“You need a nuke. If you want her, you’ve got to come at her with every weapon in your arsenal and do it in a way that leaves zero doubt how you feel about her.”

“I’ve tried that! I’ve told her over and over—”

He put his hand up to silence me. “But have you shown her?”

I blinked. “What?”

“You have to show her. Words only go so far with Faith.”

I blinked. “And you...have an idea.”

“Yep.” he grinned.

“And were you thinking of sharing it with me?”

“It’s crazy. Utterly and completely insane, and could either go really well or really badly.”

What did it matter if it could go badly? How much worse could it possibly be? Whatever it was, the risk was worth even the chance that I could get her back. God, I missed her so damn much.

“I’m in.”

“I haven’t even told you what it is.”

“Don’t care. I’m in.”

Eric nodded. “That’s the spirit.”

“This had better work,” I muttered to Eric as we stood in the bench a week later.

“No guarantees,” he said with a shrug. “That’s why you’ve got a better chance.”

“She’s here?” I couldn’t bring myself to look at the family box.

It was the first preseason game of the year. The arena was packed with fans, and I’d never been so nervous in my life. If she didn’t show up...it was all for nothing.

“She’s here,” he said, and I didn’t have to look at him to know he was smiling. I could hear it in his voice.

Relief warred with hysteria for control of my entire body.

She was here. This might work.

She was here. This might not work.

One by one, they called our names, and we skated out to the roar of the crowd as the spotlights swirled around us. I came to a quick stop, spraying snow with my skates, and the crowd went nuts.

I wasn’t stupid. I knew I was a fan favorite. Hell, that was all part of being a wheeler.

Didn’t mean it was going to save me once the expansion draft hit.

And with the changes Paulson was making, I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay, either.

I only knew one thing: I wanted Faith.

The rest was gravy.

Intros were finished, and the red carpet was rolled onto the ice for the National Anthem. We stood in place while it played, and my heart sped up with each measure that we came closer to the end. It was almost time.

“You ready?” Eric asked.

“Nope,” I answered truthfully.

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” He glanced over to the family box. “I’m feeling pretty good about your chances, given what she’s got on.”

It took everything not to look. Not to seek her out. I hadn’t seen those green eyes in almost a month. I was liable to fall on my ass the minute she looked at me and forget what the hell I was doing.

Too much rode on this moment.

“It’s a Hail Mary,” I said.

“Yep.”

“Grab your balls and make it happen,” Noble said from my other side.

“What the hell would you know about it?”

“Myself? Not much, honestly. But I know what it’s like to watch someone lose it all because they were too stubborn to do what was right. That’s not you. That will never be you, Lukas.”

I sucked in a breath, savoring the smell of the ice and the chill in my lungs.

“And if you’ll turn your attention to center ice, we have a special pregame presentation on behalf of your Seattle Sharks!” the announcer called out.

“You’re up,” Gentry urged. “Don’t puke.”

“Fuck off,” I muttered. Then I took Noble’s advice, grabbed my balls, and skated over to the red carpet, where he’d promised he’d bring her.

“Ladies and gentleman, give it up for tonight’s fan of the game, Faith Gentry!” the announcer called out.

The crowd roared, but I kept my eyes on the ice, fumbling inside my glove. I didn’t need to look up to know what was happening. I’d seen it plenty of times. The jumbotron would show the fan’s shocked face, then follow them down to walk onto the red carpet.