I Want You Back (Want You #1)(108)

Gabi had separated the kids—Mimi on one end of the players’ bench and the kid she’d supposedly bodychecked on the opposite end.

I withheld a groan. Of course the kid in question had to be Thomas, the biggest boy on the team. My gaze scanned the spectators’ area, but I didn’t see his parents.

Before I stepped onto the ice, I looked at Lucy. “Stay here.”

“Like hell, Lund. This isn’t a coaching problem or an owner’s problem but a parenting problem.”

Gabi stopped me right off the bat. “Two things, Stonewall. First, you’re a parent in this situation and understand that I cannot give Mimi special treatment. Second, I don’t know why your brother was here for just a practice, but he caught the incident on his camera if you want to look at it.”

Nolan ambled down, leveling animosity at Gabi before he looked at me, then Lucy. “It’s cued up to the right spot. Hit play.”

Lucy leaned in and we watched on the small screen as Mimi skated, hell bent for leather, right at Thomas, slamming him into the boards with a perfect body check. He went down; she skated around him and added insult to injury by spraying ice in his face.

Jesus.

I watched it again. Then I said to Nolan, “Could you forward that to me, please?”

“Of course. But you should know why—”

“You aren’t a parent, pretty boy, so your comments are irrelevant,” Gabi snapped. “Thank you for your assistance and take your seat. Or leave.”

“You’re welcome, Gabriella.”

“Coach Welk,” she snapped.

“Where are Thomas’s parents?” I asked Gabi.

“He said his dad is out of town this week and his mother dropped him off because she had to get his sister to dance class. She should be here shortly.” Gabi pointed to the seats off to the left of the bench. “We’ll deal with this when practice is over. The other players shouldn’t lose ice and coaching time when none of them are at fault.”

I muttered my agreement.

The next forty-five minutes were as hellishly long as I suspected they’d be.

At least the other kids were having a great practice. They’d shown dramatic improvement.

A harried-looking woman I remembered from the showdown with Dennis seemed confused as to why her son sat on the bench. When she tried talking to him, he ignored her.

Mimi hadn’t looked at us even one time either.

Not that Lucy would’ve known if she had, as she was furiously texting with someone. Casually I said, “Remember our first meeting and I was annoying cell phone guy? You’re about there, babe.”

“Wrong. I’m not talking at a thousand decibels. I’m having a silent discussion with your brother.”

“That’s so much better. Now I have to think about you and Nolan text fighting about him warning Gabi off Saturday night. It’s not like I don’t have enough to worry about, with Mimi getting suspended the first week I own this facility. Or the deeper issues of her sudden aggressive behavior on the ice stemming from her unhappiness at home. And Margene asking if Lakeside is still hosting a huge holiday party for all the members. Which reminds me that Thanksgiving is next week, then it’s Mimi’s birthday and Christmas will be here before we know it. So do we spill the beans to our daughter about the fat man in the red suit? Because are kids still supposed to believe in him at her age? Then it’s New Year’s and Gabi is gone to the Olympics in South Korea for three weeks, which puts me right back in the coaching position that Mimi doesn’t want me in. Will that give her an excuse to revert to this behavior we’re dealing with today that she knows is wrong because she needs my attention?”

Two cold hands landed on my cheeks, and I found my face being turned toward Lucy’s.

“Breathe with me,” she said quietly, but firmly.

“Lucy—”

“Do the thing with your hands. Open, close. Open, close. Come on, Jax.”

“How’d you know about that?”

“I watch you, man of mine, just as closely as you watch me.” She brushed two soft kisses across my lips. “Now, unless you wanna make out with me, right here, right now, to take your mind off all this stuff you finally shared with me, take a deep breath in.”

I did and curled my hands into fists.

“Good. Let it out.”

I released the tension and my fists on the exhale.

We did that two more times until she dropped her hands and I could do it on my own.

Pushing me toward that structure helped me sort through my chaotic thoughts and compartmentalize what I could. The rest of it . . . I let go.

Lucy reached for my hand. “Better?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you. I’d started adapting that technique when I was stressed at home, instead of reaching for booze, which is a good habit now that we’re living together.”

I squeezed her hand. “I don’t expect you to give up alcohol.”

“I’m not. I’m fine being an occasional social drinker. But our home will be booze-free.”

I brought our joined hands to my mouth and kissed her knuckles. “I love you.”

The whistle blew, forcing our attention away from each other.

Gabi dismissed the rest of the team and signaled for us to come in directly behind the bench.