Max (Cold Fury Hockey 6)

I give him an amused smirk. Take a drink of beer.

Garrett takes a swig of his own and points the bottle at me. "So I'm kind of expecting the next words out of your mouth are going to be something like, 'Well, you see, Garrett...there's this girl.' Am I right?"

"Freakishly so," I mutter. "You got all that from me looking happy and mellow?"

"No, I got that because you've been checking your watch about every five minutes and you were studying Hawke and Vale tonight like you were trying to analyze something."

"Not analyzing them," I correct him. "I'm just happy for them. I hope they work through all their shit."

"Not even going to ask," Garrett says, and I wince, as I realize Garrett doesn't know the backstory about the two of them.

But he's cool and not nosy in the slightest as he grins at me and asks, "So tell me about the girl."

"I kind of want your perspective because...well, Olivia had some major battles while you two were starting out, and I know it was a struggle for you when we'd be on the road and away from her. I'm just curious how you coped with it, because I know with our life...being away half the season sucks for both sides."

"Still doesn't tell me about the girl," Garrett pushes me.

"Girls," I tell him with a direct look, emphasizing the plural nature, and watch as his eyebrows shoot up. I laugh and then clarify, "I had a pretty serious relationship when I was young and it followed over into the NHL. The distance is part of what killed it. And now I've met a woman who I think is amazing, but she's got her own set of problems she's battling, and I worry about her. This is the first away game, and honestly...it's driving me a little nuts."

Garrett nods and a flash of pain crosses his face, and there's no doubt he's remembering that time almost two years ago when Olivia got really sick after one of her treatments and had to be hospitalized while the team was on the West Coast playing hockey. He went apeshit and I remember I seriously wondered whether he would come back with the team on the road until Olivia finished her treatments.

"Wish I could tell you there was an easy way to wrap your head around it, but there's really not. There's one thing that makes it easier, and that's knowing what a great support system Olivia had here with Stevie and Sutton."

I shake my head dismally. "Jules doesn't have anyone."

"Pretty name," he tells me.

"Really fucking pretty girl," I tell him back.

"Another thing that helped is that I know Olivia is strong. I mean, really, really strong. She's one of those women that will stand against a storm because that's her inherent nature. I just knew deep down she'd be all right and no amount of worrying on my part was going to make it better."

Now, this I can understand and I nod. "Jules is strong too. She doesn't like to take help and insists on doing everything herself. She's a survivor and yeah...she'll be fine with or without me."

"What's her deal?" Garrett asks with curiosity.

"Her sister died a little over four months ago from cancer," I tell him, and Garrett winces hard because I know that strikes close to his fears with Olivia. "Jules is raising her niece and two nephews."

"How old are they?"

"Annabelle's four, Levy's six, and Rocco is seven," I tell him.

Garrett's eyebrows shoot up and he gives a low whistle. "Damn...that's a handful."

"Tell me about it," I say in amazement. "She works two jobs and then cooks and cleans for another woman in exchange for watching the kids after school. She is literally busting her ass from the time she gets up until she goes to sleep well after midnight, and I'm not talking easy jobs. She works in a nursing home full-time as a nurse's assistant and then at a convenience store at night."

"Jesus fuck," Garrett mutters.

"She doesn't even have time for herself," I mutter back.

"Then how does she even have time for you?" he asks.

"Yeah, that's also a problem I haven't been able to fully figure out," I tell him before I take another swallow of my beer.

"Well, I can only tell you my experience, and that's trust in the strength of your girl and she'll be fine when you're away," Garrett says wisely. "It will get easier with time. But dude...she's got to cut something out of that hectic schedule or there isn't any relationship."

"That's for fucking sure," I say with a laugh.

"One other thing, Max," Garrett says, and his voice turns serious. "I think it's fucking great you're interested in someone and I can tell by the way you talk about her that she's something special. I also get you're worried about her. But don't forget your job, and the fact that your job especially out of all of us on this team requires your head to be in the game fully. Figure a way to compartmentalize because you cannot afford to have your game affected. You're coming off two injuries and you had to battle to get that number one spot back again. Whatever you do, don't lose it."

I blink in surprise at Garrett because, honestly, I had not even thought about that. I mean, my head was in the game tonight. It was in the game on Tuesday night too. I played fucking fantastic. But I also knew that Jules was in a fairly good spot. While she insisted on giving Chris two weeks' notice, she at least had a game plan that once put into effect would help make her life a little easier. I was feeling pretty damn good about her situation, and I think that translated into my game in a positive way.

But Garrett's words hit me hard, because he's pointing out that it could easily go to shit.

--

"Hey you." Jules answers her phone on just the second ring, but although I can hear the pleasure in her voice that I've called, I can also hear the exhaustion.

"On your way home?" I ask as I prop myself up against the headboard. Garrett left about ten minutes ago, and I'm exhausted, but no way I was going to go to sleep without talking to Jules. It's five after midnight and I imagine she's in her car and on the way home.

"Yeah," she says, and then punctuates it with a yawn. But then she immediately says, "I watched your game tonight."

"You did?" I ask in surprise.

"I did," she says with a laugh. "Turns out that little TV in the break room that Chris has includes the NHL package. I kept the door open and watched when I could. You were awesome tonight."

Her voice is soft, definitely tired, but there's such pride in it, it sort of humbles me. That she would even have the resources available within herself to show me that pride and excitement when I know she's probably beyond exhausted.

It makes me goddamn ache with the need to just touch her. Kiss her again.

I definitely want to fuck her, but that will come with time.

But we'll have to make the time.

"I want to take you out," I tell her in a low voice. "Just you and me. No kids."

"What did you have in mind?" she asks, and I definitely hear a sexy purr inside that question. She'd probably shoot me if she knew some of the things I'd been fantasizing about.

But I don't go there. Not yet. "Maybe just out to dinner or something. I'll handle the cost of a babysitter."

"Okay, then," she says, and I can't see her face but I can hear the smile in her voice. "It's a date."

"It will be," I say with a laugh. "Now, when is your last day at the convenience store?"

"Not next Friday but the one after," she says. "He asked me to stay until the end of the month and that was only a few more days so I said okay."

I grit my teeth. I'd like her out of there yesterday, but I know Jules has to do things the way it makes her feel the best about her choices.

"Then we'll go out that Saturday," I tell her firmly.