I Want You Back (Want You #1)(99)

Yet, being on the ice with a player of his caliber also made me realize how much I missed playing. I couldn’t be the only former NHL player who longed for a game.

There were senior leagues and men’s leagues I could join. Ego aside, it wouldn’t be fair to play with those guys, even though I knew some semipro guys did. Just like with coaching, I didn’t want the time commitment of joining a league. I wanted to round up old warhorses like me, who wanted to play for fun.

That was something I’d look into now that I had a vested interest.

Axl clapped me on the back as we skated back over to where the Lunds sat.

“You didn’t show off too much, Axl, but you beat this old man and I’m beat. Skating with kids . . . no comparison.”

“Speaking of . . . when can we come to one of Mimi’s hockey games?” Walker asked. “Is it true you’re coaching?”

I looked at Gabi. She gave a slight shake of her head. For some reason it didn’t feel right to discuss Mimi’s emotions about me coaching her team or disclose what had gone down at the meeting since it affected the Lakeside staff and we hadn’t talked to them yet. “I’m the temporary coach. It’s still up in the air as to who will take over and when.”

“We haven’t been introduced,” Ash said to Gabi. “I’m Ash Lund. Jax’s cousin. And you are?”

“Not buying your charm, cuz, if she’s not buying mine,” Nolan said crossly.

Gabi removed her hand from her glove and offered it to Ash. “Pleasure to meet you, Ash. I’m Gabi Welk.” Then she offered her hand to Walker and Brady. “You Lunds really are all for one and one for all like Jensen warned me.”

“You met our little brother Jensen?” Walker said.

“When we were over at Jax’s place in Snow Village. I’m not a huge football fan because . . . hockey, but it was cool to meet The Rocket.”

A phone buzzed and Brady pulled his cell out. “Workday is over. Lennox is on her way home. Later, guys.”

Before I could ask Brady how Lennox was feeling, Axl piped up, “That means Annika is out of there too. Thanks for the game. See ya.”

“Anytime.”

Gabi skated to the women’s locker room, and it was just me, Ash, Nolan and Walker.

I pointed at Walker’s phone. “No urgent messages from Trinity?”

“Nah. Liam has been crabby and teething all week. Trin probably crashed. She’s tired.” He smiled. “Since she’s pregnant again.”

“Christ, Walker, Liam is barely a year old.”

“I know. We want to have our kids close together. Wasn’t planned, but whatcha gonna do?”

I muttered, “Climb off her?”

“Never,” Walker said with a laugh. “Besides, she loves being a mom.”

That made me think of Lucy. She was a great mom, but she’d never been one of those “I can’t wait to have kids” kind of women. Our accidental pregnancy had freaked her out, and she hadn’t told me about it until hockey season ended.

I hadn’t blamed her, but at the same time, I had resented her. Especially when she’d refused to move to Chicago. How was I supposed to be supportive to her and the baby when we didn’t live in the same state? Since my team had reached the semifinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs that year, our off-season had been shorter than usual. The coaching staff, management, my teammates—we’d been under even more pressure to make the next season a winning season, which we had because we’d won the cup the next year. I couldn’t spend much time in Minneapolis and that had marked the beginning of the end for us.

When Walker said, “Listen, Jax,” my attention returned to him. “I’m sorry I put you in the position that you had to fire my company.” He scratched his beard. “There’s no excuse for how unprofessional I acted. None.”

“Everyone fucks up, Walker. Yeah, it sucks that your screwup was on my dime and my time, but I’ve moved on. I’m not gonna hold a grudge, especially not against family.”

“Man, I appreciate that. And I’ll throw it out there: If you keep buying these weird places and need restoration, call us.”

I flashed him a feral grin. “Don’t push it.”

“Even if I give you an ‘I was a judgmental asshole’ discount?”

“Now we’re talkin’. I won’t rule it out.”

“I appreciate the second chance.” He stood. “See ya.” He slapped hands with Nolan, Ash and then me.

Before I headed to the dressing room, Ash said, “Dallas really loves working on your projects. Thanks for looking out for her.”

“She’s earned her spot running the team. She also knows anytime it becomes too much, she can bail. No harm, no foul. I just want her to be happy in her work environment, because I know how much it sucks when you’re not.”

Ash gave me a considering look. “Think she’ll ever return to LI?”

“No idea. I don’t think she knows the answer to that, Ash, but do me a favor and don’t bring it up. Let her be my shining star for a while.”

“I will, because she needs that.”

“Thanks for coming tonight, guys, and for the support. Wasn’t expecting an audience.”

Nolan said, “I wasn’t expecting to see you playing alone with Gabi, Jax. Think that was smart?”