Worth the Risk (Carolina Rebels 5)

I inhale a shaky breath. I’m two seconds away from a breakdown because I can’t handle all the love and sweetness in this room. Elias squeezes my hand before getting up to try to put Bree down for her afternoon nap before he leaves.

My heart slows, but it feels fuller than ever. Elias eventually leaves and Henry comes over. We eat at home because I don’t want to go out somewhere. It’s too cold and when I leave, I want to go straight to the arena for the game. I wait with bated breath for Jackson to mention his knowledge of my relationship status to Henry, but he hasn’t so far.

We make it to the arena and to the suite. The only familiar faces are Meredith’s, Sydney’s, and Deanna’s. I knew Deanna would be here, as I asked her if she would come tonight if she could and would. I know her the best and I don’t want to be up here without an ally. Henry and I take a seat next to Deanna with Bree in my lap and Jackson walks straight to Deanna.

“Ms. Deanna! Can I sit with you?”

“You sure can!” She lifts him into her lap.

They start talking while I wave and say hello to Meredith and Sydney and introduce Henry. Meredith wiggles her fingers with her arms outstretched in a silent question and I hand Bree over to her.

“How have you been?” Deanna asks me.

“Good. Busy. You?”

She grins. “Good. I’m living with Brayden now.”

“What? That’s awesome!”

“It does feel good.” She leans forward a little to look at Henry. “Who are you again? I missed the introduction talking to this little guy.” She tickles Jackson’s sides, making him giggle.

“Henry, Jackson’s dad.”

Before she can say anything, Jackson looks at Henry. “Dad, she has this big dog.” He holds his arms out as far as he can. “His name is Otis.” Jackson faces Deanna. “When can Otis come over to my house? Can my dad meet him? Mr. Brayden can come over too.”

We laugh at that. I don’t think Brayden would willingly stay behind. Deanna promises to figure out when they all can come over. Soon, the game starts and Jackson moves to my lap to sit between Deanna and Henry. Henry seems to relax when he does that because his whole reason for being here is Jackson and now, Jackson will talk to him some more.

And he talks.

I, however, focus on the ice and the game I only somewhat understand. I smile when I catch sight of Collin Kessy, who oddly feels like a bit of a friend to me now, but I grin when I find the number twenty jersey of my boyfriend. For the most part, the players remind me of the little people on a foosball table. They all kinda look alike. They all move around the ice in this odd and chaotic sort of synchronization, obviously having more leeway than those on the foosball table, but it reminds me of them nonetheless.

“EJ will score, Dad. Watch,” Jackson tells Henry. “I bring him good luck.”

I try to find Elias, but the Rebels charge down the ice toward us to defend their net. They aren’t going to score right now, that’s for sure. Liam Irving makes a save that has the crowd in the lower level standing. My eyes flick to the big screen since I obviously missed it. The puck was sailing through the air, looked like it was going in, and at the last second, his glove moves up to where it needs to be, the puck slams into it, and he captures the little black object.

A minute later, Jackson repeatedly hits Henry on the leg as the Rebels on the ice set up to make a play. Elias is on the ice. One of his teammates passes the puck to him. His stick rears up seemingly so high in

the air, swoops down, and thwacks the puck to send it flying. My eyes don’t know whether to watch Jackson or the ice. Jackson holds his breath. The goalie looks briefly defeated the moment the horn sounds, signaling a goal. His arms shoot up in the air with wild enthusiasm.

“See? I told you! Yeah! Go EJ!”

I check Henry over for his reaction to not only my son’s obvious love of the game but his affection for Elias. Henry smiles and he fist bumps Jackson when he holds up his fist to celebrate the goal. Bree cries, taking my attention away from them, and Meredith reluctantly gives her back to me. I step away for a diaper change and while I’m gone, I miss another Rebels goal.

But I get some looks from a few of the women I don’t know as well. Maybe it’s because I’ve brought another man in here with me? As long as Meredith, Deanna, and Sydney treat me well, I guess that’s all that matters.

Jackson brims with excitement from the second goal. He crawls over into my lap, causing me to shift how I hold Bree, who really wants to sleep. Bree takes Jackson’s hand and he lets her hold it. These two are adorable.

It’s now intermission, so I ask Henry, “Having fun?”

“Yeah. Do y’all come often?”

“We try to come to the weekend games and watch those during the week at home since he’s in school and has a bedtime.”

Henry nods. Things with Henry have improved in the past week. I think what snapped him out of it was comparing him to his parents. As long as they are better, that’s all I care about. I’m almost surprised the girls aren’t grilling him like they did me, but then, Sylvia isn’t here.

“How are Sylvia and Lizzy?” I ask them.

“Ready to have those babies,” Meredith answers. “Everything is still going well, though.” Meredith leans in and speaks quietly so the other women don’t hear her. “Sylvia demands a get-together. She wants us all over for lunch.” Meredith rolls her eyes with a smile. “She wants the latest gossip.”