Legend (Arizona Vengeance #3)(29)

Bishop leaves the locker room and I grab my game duffel. Rather than leave, I head over to Coach Perron’s office which sits just off the locker room. He chose this office rather than one over in the executive suite because he told us on the first day of training camp, “I’m not a mahogany desk and leather chair kind of guy.”

I find him sitting at his desk, typing notes into his laptop. I know he’s memorializing his immediate thoughts postgame and I’m hesitant to interrupt him, but he takes away my worry by saying—without even looking up to see who is standing in his doorway—“What can I help you with?”

“Got a minute to talk, Coach?” I ask.

He glances at me, then nods toward a chair opposite his desk. “Just give me a second to finish this thought.”

I take a seat and he types for a minute more. When he’s done, he pushes the laptop to the side but doesn’t close it, indicating to me that he has more work to do tonight before he leaves the arena.

    Coach Perron clasps his hands on the desk and gives me a smile. “Great job tonight. You’re on fire, Legend.”

I seize onto that, hoping that will make him amenable to my request. I smile in acknowledgment of his compliment, and just launch right into my plea. “I’ve got a personal situation going on with my daughter and her birth mother. I’m hesitant to leave for the away game on Saturday and would like to request to stay back. Baden’s been playing well as backup and Winnipeg’s not been overly strong this year—”

“You thinking to tell me how to coach this team?” he growls, interrupting my flow.

“No, sir,” I reply, but I don’t offer more. I laid out my issue as succinctly as I could. No sense in going into detail that I’m beyond nervous at the thought of leaving Charlie. Granted, it would be just over twenty-four hours with a flight to Winnipeg that would return early the next day, but given the uncertainty of what’s happening with Lida, I don’t want to go.

This could be career suicide but I’m prepared to insist on it.

Coach Perron stares at me, his face stony.

Totally unyielding.

I stare back, not willing to admit this was probably a dumb idea asking for a night off, which you just don’t do in professional hockey.

Instead, he shocks the shit out of me by saying, “Bring your daughter along.”

I blink at him, not sure I heard him right. “Excuse me?”

“Bring her along,” he says offhandedly and pulls his laptop back over. He starts typing again, but then stops and looks up. “You can’t do it all the time, but I realize you have unusual circumstances going on. We’ll help get you through this, but you are not going to miss Saturday’s game. Not when you’re playing the best hockey out of any goalie in the league.”

    I clear my throat. “You mean…on the team plane?”

“It’s a big fucking plane,” he says, like I just said the dumbest thing ever. “And you know we’ve sometimes let family members travel on special occasions.”

That’s true. One of our veteran third-line left wingers brought his parents to New York a few weeks ago on the plane. They were in visiting and he got permission for them to ride back with the team to New York, where they were from.

Again, that probably boils down to the generous nature of our owner, Dominik Carlson. He did, after all, loan his private jet to Bishop once to travel cross country to hunt Brooke down when things got intense between them. And Blue…he’s the one that ultimately pushed through her raise and helped get her parents’ life insurance money.

But still…we’re talking about a baby.

I don’t think on it overly long, though, and push forward my advantage. Coach really wants me to play. “I need three seats on the plane,” I blurt out.

Coach Perron’s eyes narrow at me in question.

“I have a new nanny that I’m not quite comfortable with yet, and my good friend that’s been helping until we get the nanny up and running.”

He stares at me a moment, then says, “Done. Now get out of here and get some rest.”

    I pop up out of the seat, eager to leave to get home to Pepper and before coach changes his mind.

His voice stops me when I reach the doorway.

“I trust,” he says slowly so that I’m forced to turn around and give him my eyes. “This will take away your worries about your daughter, which means you better continue to play some fantastic fucking hockey for me. Got it?”

“Got it,” I say with a confident nod.

As long as Charlie is with me, that will ease my worries.

Now I have to figure out how to convince Pepper to come to the game in Winnipeg with me, and not because I think she’s crucial to be there to watch over Lucy. I could get one of the hockey wives to do it, but because admittedly…I’ve gotten used to having her in my bed and I’d like to keep her there.





Chapter 13


    Legend


Pepper is supposed to be waiting for me in the hotel lobby and my eyes perform a slow crawl around the area looking for her.

When I find her, my lips curl upward. She’s wearing a Bay jersey and something about seeing the woman I’m sleeping with—who has been helping to care for my newborn daughter—not only fills me with a sense of peace, but it makes me anxious to be inside her.