Power Play (Nashville Assassins Next Generation 2)

“Boon—”

“No, Mom, seriously. Listen to me. She is it. When I started to fall in love with her, I realized that I have never loved anyone like this before in my life. My love for her is so different from what it was for Julia. She isn’t my girlfriend. She’s my best friend. We legit have a blast together, and fuck, Mom, I want to wash her hair. I mean, come on. This is real. I love her.” I’m answered with silence, and I take in a deep breath. “I want you to love her. I want her to love you. But at the end of the day, I’m choosing what makes me happy, and it’s her.”

“So, I don’t make you happy?”

“Right now? No. You’re pissing me off.”

“I am your mother. I was there for you when no one was.”

“And I will never be able to fully thank you for that, Mom, but you are choosing to dislike the one person who completes me.”

“Because you’ve been hurt by someone like her—”

“Mom, if you got to know her, you’d know she isn’t like Julia. Please, for the sake of our relationship, go into this with no jaded feelings. Give her the chance to prove to you that she is absolutely amazing.”

I hear her swallow. “I don’t know if I can. I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

I exhale heavily. “Then I don’t think we have anything else to say. Let me know if that changes.” With that, I hang up. My heart breaks in my chest. I told Posey I was sure my mom would come around, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe Julia fucked her up more than she did me, and that sucks. I wish I had never given my heart to that woman. Thank God I got it back and Posey owns it now, but damn it, I wish my mom would get her heart back. Posey is so loving and amazing. I wish my mom would accept her with open arms like Elli did with me. She would find out how great Posey is. How much she loves me. And how great we are together.

I lean back in my locker, and when Wes pats my knee, I sigh.

“It’s okay, man,” he encourages, and I close my eyes.

“I’m not fucking up, am I?”

“I’m a bit jaded—bad childhood and all—but I don’t think you are.”

I feel another pat to my knee. “You aren’t,” Aiden says then.

At that moment, I’m thankful for these two.

Sometimes, family isn’t blood. And that phrase couldn’t be truer when it comes to my boys.

And sometimes, family isn’t given, it’s found.

Which reminds me, I need to text my girl.

Me: My mom and I got into it. I’ll tell you more at breakfast.

When she doesn’t text me back, I’m confused. Maybe her phone is dead. She sometimes forgets to plug it in. It’s starting to make me nervous, but I’ll see her on the ice in a matter of minutes. Or maybe she’s already on the rink. With that thought, I hurry to get ready. When I hit the ice, though, she isn’t there. I skate around, watching the locker room doors for any sign of her. When Wes and Aiden hit the ice with me, we play around with the puck, but still, there is no sign of her.

“Where is she?”

Wes looks around, and Aiden shrugs. “I don’t know. I’m surprised she isn’t out here yelling at us yet.”

“Right?” Wes asks. “We didn’t do shit on the power play the other day. I was sure she’d rip us a new one in the locker room.”

My stomach drops. “She hasn’t been feeling good lately. Surely she’s okay?”

Aiden waves me off. “Yeah, she’s fine. Don’t think like that. Shelli would have said something this morning.”

That’s true.

But then Coach Titov comes out onto the ice. Alone.

Not good.

“Special teams,” he hollers before blowing his whistle.

My stomach feels like it’s twisting into a knot as I skate toward him. My heart kicks up, and my body starts to tremble as sweat gathers at my neck. Something isn’t right. When we stop in front of him, he claps his hands together, and I notice he has Posey’s tablet.

Shit. I think I might puke. Did her mom fire her? I couldn’t live with myself if she chose me over her coaching job. Damn it. My heart jumps up into my throat as he clears his throat, and I feel Aiden’s and Wes’s gazes on me. They know something is wrong too.

“Okay, guys, before we get started, keep Coach Adler in your prayers. I don’t have any details, but she was taken to the hospital a little over an hour ago—”

I feel like I’ve been hit square in the chest, and breathing isn’t an option.

He doesn’t even get to finish before I’m racing off the ice with no cares about who sees.