Learn Your Lesson: A Single Dad Hockey Romance (Kings of the Ice)

June 29th

Chloe

“Wait a hot damn second,” Livia said, steepling her long, sparkly nails on the cocktail table between us. “You mean to tell me that you asked strangers on fucking Reddit for advice when you had us literally chomping at the bit to know what had you all dopey and smiley?!”

I chuckled, sipping my martini. “Listen, it wasn’t my brightest idea. But I couldn’t exactly tell you the truth of what was happening.”

“Yes, you could have, bitch!” Livia stomped her heel. “Don’t you understand? We’re like a vault, this group.”

“That’s true,” Grace confirmed, stirring her gin drink. “They kept it locked down when no one knew about me and Jax.”

“Okay, well, I know that now,” I said. “But I wasn’t sure back then! I’ve never had girlfriends, okay? But I’ve learned my lesson, and I promise to never withhold juicy details again.”

“Better not,” Livia said with a pointed look, but she was grinning despite her stern warning. “I’m just glad to see you two so happy. I’m happy to see that one happy at all,” she added with a nod toward Will. He was taking photos with the guys, all of them in tuxes and balancing a dazzling Maven in their arms. She laid across them like their arms were a chaise lounge, queen energy radiating off her. “I wasn’t sure he had that emotion capability.”

“And let’s not forget about this rock,” Grace chimed in, grabbing my wrist so she and Livia could fawn over my diamond. I flushed and pulled my hand away, waving them off.

“It was an interesting road,” I said, but my heart swelled when I looked over at Will just in time to see him laugh. The photographer snapped away, and I melted, because those smiles and laughs came so easily to him now, as if they’d never left. “But it was well worth the ride.”

“What about you, little miss?” Livia probed Grace. “Think there will be a ring on your finger any time soon?”

“Better not be,” she said. “Listen, don’t get me wrong. I love that man. I know he will be my husband. But I’m in absolutely zero rush to get married, have babies, and settle down. I’ve got too many adventures to have first.”

“Fair enough,” Livia said.

“What about you?” I asked Liv, waggling my brows. “Will I ever get to see Doctor Young settled down?”

“Listen, the only jewelry you should ever hear me talking about are nipple clamps and dog collars. If I start babbling about anything else, check my temperature.”

I flushed a deep red while Grace stifled a laugh, and then a pair of slender arms draped around my shoulder and Livia’s, Maven joining us at the table.

“Okay, I know I’m usually the one with a camera around my neck, but I swear to God, if I have to smile for one more picture, my cheeks are going to divorce my face.” She rubbed her cheeks but couldn’t help still grinning. “Why does smiling hurt so much?!”

She was absolutely stunning.

Her dress was a sparkling A-line boho dream, the base of it cream, the fabric draped over it white, and every inch of it studded with the most beautiful crystals. The neck of it cut deep between her cleavage, and the bodice hugged her slim waist before flowing down to the floor in the most gorgeous flowy skirt I’d ever seen. It made me jealous of the designer who’d dreamt it up, even more so of the seamstress who got to bring it to life.

The sleeves of the dress were long, hugging her all the way to her wrists. Her hair was slicked into a chic bun, the baby hairs framing her face in intricate designs, and though her makeup was stunning, it was soft so as not to hide her freckles or the natural beauty she held so effortlessly.

From the diamonds studding her ear lobes to the candles on each cocktail table, every detail of this wedding had been so meticulously thought out and brought to life.

I’d gasped when Will and I had walked into the boathouse arm in arm earlier after the ceremony. It was like walking into an enchanted forest.

Plants lined every glass wall of the boathouse, the natural light from the setting sun casting a soft glow that was only enhanced by the candles floating everywhere. Pottery of all shapes, colors, and sizes held those plants — a beautiful combination of the two souls wedding one another.

It was a boho dream without being too much, elegant and earthy without being pretentious. It felt as cozy as it did magical, and from Maven’s breathtaking entrance to Vince’s teary-eyed vows, I’d been enraptured.

“Here, drink this. It’ll help.” Livia offered her martini to her best friend, and once she took a long drink, Maven sighed, flashing us her dazzling smile.

“I love you bitches. I’m so glad you’re all here.”

“Love you, too… sister!” Grace squeezed Maven tight with a squeal. “God, I’ve always wanted a sister. Now we can team up on Vince.”

“Oh boy,” said a deep voice, and Vince joined us with his eyebrow arched high. He looked as handsome as ever, his suit a rich brown like the earth, his golden hair styled, the hair on his jaw trimmed to perfection. He could have walked out of a GQ magazine. “Why do I feel like I walked into a trap I didn’t realize I set?”

“Don’t act like you don’t love it, brother,” Grace said, pressing up onto her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “You’d be lost without us.”

“I won’t argue that,” he said, and his arm slid around his wife’s waist, a dopey-eyed smile on his face. “How’s my wife?”

“Ready to dance with you.”

“Shall we let the band know?”

“We shall,” she said. “By the way, when are we going to the courthouse to change your last name?”

She smiled with the tease, and all of us grinned because we were in on the joke from when they first met. Vince had thrown all his lines at Maven in his pursuit of her — including that when they got married, not if, he would take her last name.

“First thing Monday morning, if that’s what you want.”

Maven shook her head, a sexy grin aimed at her husband as she leaned into him. “You know I’d never let you. I love wearing your Tanev jersey too much.”

“That makes two of us,” he growled, nipping at her neck as she playfully shoved him away. And then Maven was blowing kisses at us while Vince toted her toward the band.

Jaxson and Carter joined us then, and as they chatted with the girls, my eyes scanned the room for my fiancé.

Fiancé.

I didn’t think I’d ever get used to that.

When I found him, he had Ava on the dance floor, doing some goofy dance that looked more like he needed to pee than anything else. I smiled on my way over to them, and as soon as I joined them, Ava grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me in to join.

“Daddy’s doing the running man!”

I arched a brow at Daddy, who was still hopping around like a loon. “Is that what that is?”

Ava giggled as Will let his hands fall to his sides with a slap. He feigned insult, and then he was tickling me, wrapping me up in his arms with kisses running up and down my neck while Ava laughed and attempted to tickle my stomach.

It was impossible for my heart not to swell in moments like these, when I was all too aware of how perfect things were, of how my life had done a complete one-eighty in six short months.

I loved these two more than I loved anything in the world.

The band announced the first dance, and so we cleared the floor, hugging the edge of it and watching as Vince and Maven swayed to a French song I wasn’t familiar with.

Soon, others were joining in, and Carter took Ava out on the floor to dance while Will swept me into his arms.

“So,” he said, his eyes drinking me in. “Is this what you want, too? A big, elegant wedding?”

He was dressed in the same suit as Vince, all the groomsmen matching, and I loved the way the rich brown of the suit and the dark green accents played with the honey color of his eyes. His hair was pulled back in a neat bun at the nape of his neck, his jaw peppered with stubble.

He was so hot. Would I ever stop drooling over this man?

“Is it what you want?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Nope, I asked you first.”

I sighed, looking around at the unspeakable beauty. “It’s… stunning. But I don’t know. I think I would die if I had this many people to entertain. And this many people looking at me when I said my vows.”

“So, something smaller?”

“Much smaller,” I said. “As in… maybe just us and Ava?”

“What about Arushi and Mitch?”

“Oh, of course. I mean, especially since the way they’re moving, they might be asking to do a double wedding.”

“No way. They can get their own,” Will growled, but he smirked despite it.

“And of course your teammates. And the girls.”

“Your mom and grandma.”

“Yes, and your father.”

He frowned at that, silent for a moment before he nodded. “I’m going to ask if he wants to come spend some time with us in the offseason,” he said. “He hasn’t seen Ava in so long.”

“Will,” I said with a smile. “I love this idea. Think he’ll go for it?”

“I don’t think I’ll give him a choice. It’s hard for both of us, always has been, but… he’s the only dad I have, you know? The only parent I have left. I don’t want to live separate lives anymore.”

“My bet is he doesn’t want that, either.”

He shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out. You know, it’s you who gives me the courage to do this. After seeing how much you’ve opened up to your mom and grandma recently, how much progress you’ve made with them…” He shook his head, awe in his eyes. “You amaze me.”

“Easy, it’s mostly the therapist doing the hard work,” I said.

“No. It’s you,” he argued. “And them, too. It makes me excited, thinking maybe my father and I could make the same strides.”

“You will,” I promised, and I kissed him for good measure to seal how much I believed it.

After Will and I made things official, I realized I had a lot of things to work through when it came to my family. By some miracle, I convinced Mom and Grandma to do therapy with me. I wasn’t sure if they agreed because they were bored or because they knew we needed it, too, but I was thankful either way. We’d all made such great progress — together and separate — and every day, we worked toward a healthier family dynamic.

One that didn’t involve so much men are trash talk.

They’d even started hanging old photos, ones I was surprised they kept. Mom showed me one of my father, with me sleeping on his chest, that nearly brought me to tears.

I hated that he didn’t stay, but I was old enough now to understand that maybe he just wasn’t ready for me. Maybe he wasn’t ready for any of it. I found grace and forgiveness for him even if I also still held pain.

And that healing was for me — not for him.

Will and I swayed for a while without another word, laughing at how Ava was dancing circles around Carter — literally.

“What else do you want?” Will asked after a while.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what do you want in your life, Chloe soon-to-be- Perry? Do you like the house we’re in now, or do you want something different? Do you want more cats? A dog?” He swallowed. “Kids?”

My heart jolted in my chest, cheeks heating as I smirked and tangled my fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. “I love our home. Our three asshole cats are plenty for me. No dog.”

He nodded with each one, his eyes flicking between mine. “And the last one?”

I rolled my lips together on a smile. “If you’re asking if I want your babies one day, the answer is yes. But for right now…” I added, leaning in close so I could whisper in his ear. “I’m having more fun practicing how they’re made.”

Will groaned and pinned my hips with his gargantuan hands, nipping at my bottom lip as he kissed me. “Consider me available for practice any time.”

“Such an overachiever.”

“Gotta stay in shape somehow in the offseason.”

After the first dance, dinner was served, and then we watched as Maven danced with her dad and Vince danced with his mom. Will held my hand through it as I willed back tears knowing we’d never get that same chance.

But it was okay.

Our family was different, it was born of both tragedy and magic.

But it was ours.

In just a couple short weeks, we’d be celebrating Ava’s birthday. Then, we’d be taking her to hockey tryouts. We’d have the whole summer to spend together before another season started up, before the school year was in full swing again, and I intended to make the most of every second.

As we danced the night away, surrounded by our family and friends, I didn’t fidget nervously even once. I didn’t try to hide behind my hair. And I knew without a doubt that there wouldn’t be a midnight existential crisis waiting for me once my head hit the pillow.

I was living in a world better than any I could have ever dreamt.

I was wide awake.

And I couldn’t wait for what came next.