Pucking Strong: An MM Workplace Hockey Romance (Jacksonville Rays Book 4)

Ifollow Poppy as she leads the way up out of the tunnels and over to the lower-level VIP area. “Wait … we’re not going up to the seats?”

“I thought you might want a moment of privacy to greet your family. I had my staff bring them over to the press area. You’ll get a bit more privacy there.”

“Privacy in the press room?”

She waves her hand dismissively. “Oh, no one will be in there before the game except maybe a few interns taping down cords.” She flashes the guards her badge, escorting me through. Then she stops, placing a hand on my arm. “Do you want me to stay with you? You just say the word, and I will.”

I shake my head. “No,” I finally croak out. “I think I need to do this alone.”

With a nod, she drops her hand from my arm. “Well, then … good luck, honey. And hey—” She stops me again. “I know I don’t know them like you do, but they sure do seem to love you. Honor that. But honor yourself too.” With that, she really does let me go.

Taking a deep breath, I turn the corner and enter the press corral. Through the jungle of camera stands and sound equipment, I see my family huddled together on the other side. My sisters and their partners, my mom. Natalie bounces baby Gianna on her hip, while my nephew Baz chases his sister Camila around the press table. Jayla calls their names, warning them to act right. To a person, they’re all wearing Henrik’s jersey, a big number seventeen on their backs.

They’re here. They came. Even mad at me, they came. And they’re wearing my partner’s jersey. I all but trip over the bundled camera cords as I call out, “Mama!”

They all turn.

“Mom, Teddy’s here!”

“Hey, Uncle Teddy!”

The youngest niblets rush to greet me first, but I have eyes only for my mom. After everything I’ve been going through with Karro, helping her grieve her mom, I feel the tears stinging hot and heavy. My sisters step back, making room for me.

“Mama, I’m sorry.” They’re the only words I get out before I’m hugging her, pressing my face to her shoulder. My senses fill with the familiar scent of her rosewater perfume. Awash with shame, I cling to her. “I’m so sorry. I should have told you. I’ve been so messed up. I never meant to lie.”

Her arms go around me. Returning my hug, she pats my back. “It’s okay, Teddy baby. Mama’s here. You can tell me now.”

I hold tighter to her, not ready to let go.

“We deserve an explanation,” Shae says at my shoulder to mutters of agreement from my other sisters.

I finally pull away, sniffing back my tears.

My mom has worn the same style of bobbed wig for almost twenty years. The tight black curls frame her round face as she smiles up at me. “Boy, look at you. You’re a mess.” She pulls a tissue from her pocket and hands it to me.

I dab at my eyes and wipe my nose, trying to catch my breath.

“We need to know what’s going on,” says Jayla.

“It’s not like you committed a crime, right?” Nat says at the same time.

“Except the crime of fashion,” Jayla mutters. “Teddy, what is this jacket?” She plucks at it with a manicured hand.

I swat her hand away. “It’s a WAG jacket. And no, I haven’t committed any crimes.”

“Well, so … you’re married?” Shae crosses her arms, one brow raised, waiting for me to deny it. “That’s the big secret?”

Jay pushes in, arms crossed too. “Last thing we knew, you were in Sweden with that hunky hockey player.”

“Yeah, then you went radio silent,” Nat adds with a glare. “Darius had to take my passport away to stop me from flying to Sweden to come find you!”

“I told you I was back,” I mutter with a shrug.

“And you adopted that little girl?” Jayla says over me.noveldrama

“What, you’re so famous now?” Shae adds. “You can’t talk to your own sisters? We need to go through a publicist to get to you?”

“What happened to you, Ted?”

“You better say something.”

“We deserve more—”

They all press in, talking over each other until I shout, “I’m sorry, okay? What else can I say?”

“Sorry means nothing right now,” says Shae. “We want answers.”

Nat steps in, still bouncing baby Gianna on her hip. “You gotta fill in the blanks. Who even is this guy?”

“Raf looked him up,” says Jay. “Beyond his hockey stats, there really wasn’t much to find.”

Reeling from all their questions, I glance over Jayla’s shoulder at my brother-in-law. Rafael and Jayla both work in banking IT, handling stuff like theft and fraud, so I’m not surprised their solution was to try to dig up dirt on my fake husband.

“’Sup, Ted,” he says. “You sure know how to make an entrance.”

“For the record, I like the jacket,” Shae’s husband, Marcus, teases.

Shae just waves him back, eyes only for me. “Tell us what’s going on, Teddy.”

“And tell us why the team flew us out here—”

“Do we get to keep these jerseys?”

“Can we get some popcorn?”

My niece, Camila, steps in, tugging on Jayla’s sleeve. “Mom, I have to go to the bathroom—”

“Alright!” I throw up both my hands. “Everyone, can you just stop? I feel like I can’t fucking breathe!”

Mom tsks, finally breaking her silence. “Language, Teddy. Come on now, I know I raised you right.” Placing a hand on my shoulder, she looks in my eyes, rooting me to the spot. “Just take a breath. Then start at the beginning.”

I wrap my hand around hers, giving it a squeeze. Then I take that deep breath and let it out. Then I start at the beginning.

Well, I start at a beginning.

They don’t need to know that Henrik is the player who swept me off my feet six years ago. Like I told him after the ESPN interview, that story is just for us.

And they don’t really need to know about my deep and abiding, totally one-sided crush. Again, what does it really add to the narrative? They want to know why I married him, and that reason hasn’t changed. Slipping my phone from my pocket, I hold it up and press the little green camera button under Hanna’s name.

“What are you doing?” asks Jayla.

“You all want to know why I married Henrik? I’m showing you.”

Before they can respond, Hanna picks up the call. She’s in the kitchen. I can see flour dusted on her chin. “Hey, Teddy. Everything alright? We were worried before—”

“Hey, Hanna,” I say, cutting her off before she can recount for my entire family how freaked I was at finding out they were here. “Can you pass the phone to Karolina? I want her to meet my mom.”

“Of course.” The phone jostles as she moves over to Karolina’s side.

“Hej, Teddy.” Karro waves with her good arm. She’s propped up on a bar stool, sticky whisk in hand. “We’re making hallongrottor!”

“Yum. Save me some?” I have no idea what a hallongrottor is, but Hanna is an amazing baker. And it’s great therapy for Karro. Just seeing her sweet little face makes me feel so much better. Henrik may want us to be temporary, but me and this little girl? In a few short weeks, she’s become the ketchup to my freaking mustard. “Hey, honey bun. Would you like to pause your baking for a sec and meet a real queen? She’s the most beautiful queen in all the lands.”

She practically flings the whisk aside. “Yes!”

Laughing, I wrap an arm around my mom’s shoulders and angle the phone down, fitting us both in the frame. “Princess Karolina, fairest in all of Swedenhamshire, may I present my mother, Queen Keziah of … Atlantia.”

Mom nudges my ribs, lips pursed in annoyance, as the rest of the family chuckles. But her expression softens as soon as she takes in the little girl with the casted arm and the sad, faraway look in her eyes. “Well, look at you,” she coos, reaching up to wrap a hand around mine on the phone. “Hello, Karolina. I’m Teddy’s mama. But you can call me Miss Ziah.”

Hanna translates everything, even though I know Karro can understand just fine. Unsure of what to do, Karro holds up her stuffed purple bear, showing it to the camera.

“Isn’t that a pretty bear?” says Mom. “Does she have a name, honey?”

Letting her nerves get the best of her, Karro says something in Swedish. She’s always nervous around strangers. So different from the fireball who giggles with me on the couch.

Mom glances to me, clearly worried she’s upset her.

I just smile. “The bear is a boy, Mama. And his name is Teddy, just like me.”