Worth the Risk (Carolina Rebels 5)

Brayden watches me for a moment and then shakes his head. “You need to keep running, and this time, don’t think about your woman. You can do that when you get home and see her after she’s spent all this time with her ex.”

I groan again, but follow after him since he’s running again. This is just what I need, to think about Raelynn spending all her free time with Henry until I come home. But I follow my captain’s advice and shut it down. Compartmentalization is easy for me. What I need to focus on is the game ahead and that’s just what I do.

Later that night, I focus on pumping my legs as I skate down the ice to chase the puck and a player on a breakaway. He’s about three seconds ahead of me. I reach out with my stick as he takes a shot, but it’s useless. Savage is ready for him, though. He squares him up, but constantly adjusts, always watchful, and when that puck sails in the air, he lifts his body to block it. The puck deflects off his shoulder and lands on the ice behind the net.

I get to the puck first and send it along the boards to Bruiser before getting off the ice as my shift ends and a new guy, Luukas Lathi, takes my place. Aaron Peters was traded and Luukas Lathi came in his place. He’s nice enough so far. He seems to easily fit in right off the bat on the ice. How do I know this?

Because I watch him make a pass to Tommy Boy without even looking and the puck hits his stick like there’s some magnetic force snapping it to the blade. With the puck now in his possession, Tommy makes a U-turn to haul ass down the ice, weaving around the traffic of people in his way. The goalie skates out to the top of the blue paint, but he ends up falling to his knees during Tommy’s quick approach and Tommy shoots high to score the first goal of the game.

“Yeah, Tommy Boy!” someone shouts from next to me.

Everyone stands to fist bump him and the other guys on the line as they skate by the bench. The rest of the game is a constant battle for possession, of skating from zone to zone, or absorbing hits and dishing out just as much contact. Savage stands on his head, making save after save, but their goalie does the same thing, not letting another mistake happen to allow the puck to get past him.

Tommy Boy’s goal ends up being the lone goal of the game.

When we make it back to the hotel for the night, I think about calling home, but something stops me. I know they’re okay because Raelynn texted pictures of Bree throughout the day, up until two hours ago. I stare at her name on the screen before putting the screen to sleep and setting it aside. I’ll see her tomorrow.

When I park in the garage, I sit in my car for just a moment before forcing myself to get out and walk to the door that will open into the kitchen. Nerves knot my stomach and I hate it. I feel like a wuss. I open the door and sitting at the kitchen table is Raelynn. She quickly closes her laptop, picks Bree up from her highchair, and walks toward me with my princess on her hip and a big smile on her face.

“You’re home,” she breathes.

I drop my bags and her arm is around my neck a second later. I hold her close, smiling as Bree says, “DaDa!”

“Where’s Jackson?” I ask as we both pull away to look at one another.

“With Henry. They went out for lunch and to buy Jackson a new jacket. I wanted to be here when you came home, so I stayed behind,” she explains. She lifts onto her tiptoes to kiss me. “I’m glad you’re back, Elias,” she adds as I take Bree from her.

“Me too,” I half-lie. She shows me the damage to the front door, but before we can sit down, I blurt out, “Can we talk?”

Her smile disappears and her body tenses, but she nods. We move into the living room and sit on the couch. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her and Henry, and I’m not entirely sure what I’ll say, but my gut says this needs to come off my chest sooner rather than later. Raelynn watches me expectantly, waiting for me to start the conversation I obviously wanted to have.

“Did you ever get closure with Henry?” is the question that glides out of my mouth. “When he came back and you talked?”

Raelynn frowns with confusion. “You want to talk about Henry?”

“Sort of. So, did you?”

Her mouth opens, but no sound comes out at first. “I guess,” she says weakly. “I’m not hung up on him, if that’s what you’re after. We parted ways when I left home. Did I think about him some? Sure, while I was still pregnant and for maybe two months after Jackson was born. I knew Henry wouldn’t be a part of my future, so I left all of my past behind.”

Okay, but... “Then he came back. He is in your life when you didn’t think he would be,” I point out. Bree leans against my chest, content with simply being held.

“I don’t understand why we’re talking about this, Elias.”

“I’ve been wondering if maybe you would want to talk with Henry more.”

“About what?” she interrupts.

“About what happened. About any possible feelings.” Raelynn stands and stares down at me with her hands propped on her hips as I continue, “About whether you’d want to make it work as family.”

“Is this your way of breaking up with me?” Before I can answer, her outrage doubles and she points at me. “You! Who had to go and tell my son we were dating! Are you kidding me, Elias? Where is this even coming from?”

“I’m not breaking up with you,” I cut in before she can continue on her rant.

“It sure sounds like it!” She throws her hands up. “You’re pushing me on Henry, Elias.” For a moment, she looks completely baffled. “What the hell?”

The front door opens and Jackson runs into the living room. “Momma! Look! I have a Carolina Rebels hoodie!” He tugs on the new hoodie he wears.

“Awesome, Jackson.” He turns to show me and she says to Henry, “Did you get him an actual jacket too?”