Playing for Keeps (Indianapolis Eagles #3) Read online

  “I know, Scott and I both think his little body just doesn’t catch up to the idea that he’s hungry until he’s already in the hangry stage,” she says on a chuckle. “He goes from content to pissed off at the snap of your fingers. But thankfully, he settles down pretty quickly. Now that we’ve got the whole nursing thing down, he’s a pretty happy baby.”

  “Was that hard to adjust to?”

  “Somewhat. He was tongue-tied, so once we got that diagnosed and it clipped, nursing got a whole lot easier. Before that, it was kind of a nightmare. He wasn’t latching correctly, which was hurting me and affecting my milk supply. Thankfully, the pediatrician figured it out pretty quickly and the pediatric dentist they sent us to was able to laser it really quickly, and he fully healed within a few days.”

  The game returns, pulling our attention back to it as the guys take the ice. Both teams are hungry for that win, and out to draw blood, with everyone taking any chance they get to slam an opponent into the boards. Both teams play hard, crashing the net, doing their best to score again, but they end the second period still tied at one. The same happens throughout the third period and they head into a sudden death three-on-three overtime for five minutes.

  With only three-on-three hockey, they tend to play two forwards and one defensive player. That puts Richard, Scott, and Eric out on the ice together for the first shift. They dominate the puck for the first few seconds, but just as quickly lose it from a poke check from one the of the Sharks’ players.

  They successfully keep the Sharks from scoring during overtime and head into a shootout. The tension is high, and I can see the determination in the guys’ faces. Coach taps Eric’s shoulder and he jumps over the boards to take the first round. He circles behind the puck as he waits for the signal from the ref before he skates toward the goal. He swings out wide, before cutting in close, and flicking the puck with a wrist shot just over the Sharks goalie’s glove, hitting the back of the net.

  The first player for the Sharks skates straight toward Soaps, trying to pull him out of the net, but it doesn’t work, and Matt is easily able to deny his attempt at a shot.

  The next three rounds on both sides are blocked by the respective goalies. The fifth player to jump over the boards after the tap from Coach is Richard. He sets up similar to how Eric was, waiting behind the puck for the signal from the ref. He skates down, not swinging as wide, dekes the puck and successfully pulls the goalie from the crease, shooting the puck past him and into the back of the net.

  The camera zooms in on him, and the smile that fills his face as he skates back to the bench, accepting the praise from his teammates, melts my heart just a little bit. As much as I hate the nervousness that comes with shootouts, I’m so excited for him that he was able to score when his team needed him to. Before the camera switches off of him, he looks directly at it and winks.

  “Did you just see that?” Kinley squeals, excitement filling her voice. “That was totally for you.”

  “You think so?” I ask, knowing that she’s right.

  “Um, yeah. He’s never done something like that before. That man wanted to send you a message for sure.”

  “I have to agree with Kinley. That man is a goner when it comes to you,” Jessica adds.

  I sit back in my chair, a smile plastered across my face, as I watch the Eagles bench erupt and clears as the guys celebrate their win.

  With the game finally over, we all help Becca clean up and clear out of her house. I make it home to an excited Max. I push past him to sit on the couch, him fast on my heels. After sitting down, he practically climbs in my lap, looking for some loving. I give him what he wants, petting him until he’s content. He hops down, toward his dog door, and heads outside for a few moments.

  With Max outside, I fill up my water bottle and head for the bedroom. With the game having been played on the West Coast and going into overtime, it’s late and I’m ready to get to sleep.

  Just as I’m laying down, my phone pings with an incoming text.

  Richard: Hey, you still awake?

  Madison: Yes, just got into bed.

  My phone rings a second later, and I answer it immediately. “Hi.”

  “Hey, I won’t keep you on the phone long, I know it’s late there.”

  “It’s okay. How are you? You played great tonight.”

  “Tired. But feeling pretty good. That was one long ass game.”

  “Are you guys staying in San Jose tonight, or heading down to LA?”

  “We head for LA here in just a little bit. They’d rather go tonight than in the morning. We’ll still have a morning skate, but it will be short. We’ll all need our naps with the late night tonight. But I wanted to at least hear your voice for a few minutes before you went to bed.”

  “I hope you get a good night’s sleep once you make it down to LA, and you know you can always call me,” I tell him, yawning as I get sleepier.

  “How did things go at the condo today?”

  “Really good, we started by going through all my furniture and larger items. I tagged them all either as keep, sell, or donate. Becca then went around and took pictures of everything I want to sell so that I can list it online. Kinley and I started going through everything else but packed it into boxes and totes that I bought. When we left, I took a carload to the Salvation Army to drop off. Tomorrow, Kinley is going to meet me over there to help me load up the boxes and containers of stuff that’s coming over here. I figured I’d leave the furniture that I’m keeping and needs to be moved here until you get back.”

  “Sounds like you had a productive day.”

  “It was, all thanks to the help from the girls,” I tell him, yawning again.

  “Why don’t I let you go and I’ll call you tomorrow after our morning skate,” Richard says.

  “Sounds like a plan. Text me when you make it to your hotel so that I know you made it safely.”

  “Will do, babe. Get some sleep and I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “G’night. Love you,” I tell him before he tells me the same and we both hang up.

  I make sure my phone is plugged in and turn off the bedside lamp.

  “Max, come!” I call out, needing my cuddle buddy next to me as I drift off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Richard

  We finally made it down to LA and to our hotel at around 1:45 a.m. I’m dead ass tired after the long day. We have to be ready for a morning skate by ten, so I head straight to bed once in my room. As I climb under the sheets, I remember that I promised Madison I’d send her a text letting her know we made it safely, so I grab my phone off the nightstand and shoot off the quick text to her.

  Richard: Hey babe. We made it to the hotel. It’s late and I’m exhausted. I’ll call you after we’re done with the morning skate.

  I hate back-to-back games with travel required between them, and such a quick turnaround time. This is the part of the schedule that is getting to me and making me start to think about retiring. I put my phone back on the nightstand and roll over to find sleep.

  Our morning skate is a little sluggish, as everyone is still tired from last night. Thankfully, the coaching staff is just as tired, and understands we need to conserve our energy for tonight’s game, so they don’t ride us very hard this morning. After an hour and fifteen minutes of scrimmage and a few drills, we hit the showers and call it a day, so that we can get in a good nap and lunch before tonight’s game against LA.

  Once we’re back at the hotel and I’m alone in my room, I call Madison to check in with her as promised.

  “Hey, babe,” she answers, sounding out of breath.

  “Hey, what are you doing? You sound winded.”

  “Just finished carrying down a load of boxes. Kinley’s still helping me. We’re on our second carload, and I think this will be the last one for the day. My condo is starting to look a little empty.”

  “That’s great. Do you think we’ll have much to do to it before you can get it listed for sal
e?”

  “Not a ton. I’ll probably just hire a cleaning company to come in and deep clean it for me. I might also have it painted. How was your morning skate?”

  “It was good, Coach kind of took it easy on us. He needs us to conserve our energy for tonight.”

  “I’ll be watching the game from home tonight. I plan on getting all my furniture listed tonight while I’m watching.”

  “That sounds like a good plan. Where are you going to list it?”

  “Probably just in some of the groups on Facebook or in the marketplace they have. None of the furniture is super fancy, so I think it will all sell quickly. Are you back at the hotel for your pre-game nap?”

  “Yep, I’m about to go grab some lunch with the guys but came back to my room to drop off my bag and call you first. The team has arranged for the hotel’s restaurant to cater lunch for us today in one of the conference rooms, so we can just come and go as we wish. “

  “Okay, well, why don’t you call me if you have time after your nap. Otherwise, just call me once you’re back at the hotel tonight. I need to finish up here with Kinley.”

  “Sounds good, babe. I’ll call you later.”

  “Love you.”

  “Love you, too. Don’t feel like you need to get everything cleaned out and moved in one weekend. I can help you once I’m back.”

  “I know. I’m not moving any of the furniture until you’re back.”

  “Okay, sounds good. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  We disconnect our call and I head out to find some of the guys. Scott’s still talking to Becca and says he’d just meet us downstairs when he finished up, so Brian, Mark, and I head down.

  After we finish up with lunch a little while later, we all head to our respective rooms for our naps. We have to be up and ready to go to the arena by 5:30, so that leaves me with three and a half, maybe four, hours to sleep.

  With the way we played tonight, you wouldn’t have known we got in late and were working on little sleep. We were on fire tonight and easily beat the Kings five-two in regulation. I ended the night with an assist and a plus-2 ranking. Since we’re playing Anaheim in two days, we’re staying at the same hotel tonight, and will move to a closer hotel tomorrow on our day off.

  It takes over an hour before I’m back at the hotel and able to call Madison, which once again has me calling her really late. I hate to wake her up, but a promise is a promise. She texted me after the game to congratulate me on the win, and to tell me she was looking forward to talking to me tonight. She also said if I was a good boy, maybe we’d have a repeat of our FaceTime call. That got my blood pumping and had me itching to get back to the hotel before she could fall asleep.

  “Hi.” Her raspy, sleep-filled voice fills my ear as she answers her phone.

  “Crap, you were asleep already, weren’t you?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I fell asleep reading, waiting on your call.”

  “I can let you go and just talk to you tomorrow.”

  “No, it’s okay. I can talk to you now. I’m awake.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yep,” she says on a yawn. “I’ll be fine.”

  “How was your evening? Sorry I didn’t call before the game. I slept a little late and had to rush to get on the bus over to the arena.”

  “It was good. I think I have both the living room furniture and my guest room furniture sold already. I’m meeting the couple tomorrow night to look at it.”

  “Wow, that was fast.”

  “Yep, within a few minutes of having everything posted, I had multiple comments and messages about them. So even if this couple passes, I have a waitlist of other people who want to possibly buy them.”

  “That’s great, babe. How’s your dad today?”

  “He’s good. I talked to him a little bit on the phone during the game. I called him just to check in. I think he’s a little nervous about the radiation treatments, just doesn’t want to admit that to me yet.”

  “I’m sure he is, babe. But you just being there is what he probably needs most. He’s also probably not telling you, so that you don’t worry that much more about him. He’s trying to protect you.”

  “I know.” She sighs. “I’m just ready for all of this to be over with already, and it hasn’t even really started. I’m just ready for my dad to be healthy again.”

  “I know you are, baby. But give it time. He’ll be healthy and back to normal before you know it,” I try telling her to maybe cheer her up just a bit.

  “What are your plans for tomorrow?”

  “I need to go into the office, probably for most of the day. I’m starting to feel like I’m behind, even though I know everything has been taken care of for me while I’ve been out. Then I’m meeting that couple around 5:45.”

  “Is anyone able to be with you when you meet them? I just hate the thought of you being by yourself, meeting strangers like that.”

  “Laura is going to meet me around 5:30 to look at some of my smaller tables. She said she’d hang around until after the couple left, so that I’m not by myself.”

  “As long as you have someone you know with you, I won’t worry too much.”

  “I’ll be fine, Richard. I am a big girl, after all,” she tells me.

  “I know you are, but I am allowed to worry about you. Comes with the territory,” I remind her.

  “I know, and I appreciate that you do. Sorry if I kind of snapped at you. I’m just tired and stressed out. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

  “No worries, babe. Why don’t I let you go, and you can get back to sleep. Call me when you can tomorrow. We have the day off, so I’ll be available all day. The only thing I know of that’s happening for sure is we’re moving hotels sometime tomorrow.”

  “Okay, talk to you later. I love you,” she tells me.

  “I love you, too. Good night, Mads.”

  With today being our day off, I took advantage and slept in. We don’t have to be on the bus that will take us to our new hotel until eleven a.m. Once I was awake, I shot off a text to Scott, Brian, and Mark to see if they wanted to go grab breakfast somewhere together. Once plans were set, I went about getting ready for the day and repacking my suitcase, so I’d be ready once it was time to leave.

  “Hey,” Brian says to me, as I exit my hotel room. “How’d you sleep?”

  “Like a rock. Felt good to sleep in today. My body needed the break.”

  “Same, man. I could go for a few days’ rest, but that isn’t in the cards just yet,” he muses.

  We walk toward the elevators as Scott’s door opens. “Hey, hold that for me, would you, please?” he calls down the hall at us.

  “Yep, hurry up, man,” Brian replies, as he hurries down the hall.

  “Thanks, sorry, I was trying to calm Becca down. She had a bad night with Michael and was kind of freaking out.”

  “That sucks. I’ll text Kinley to go over and give her a break, if you want,” Brian says.

  “That would probably be a good idea, as I don’t think she’d ask for the help right now. She’s trying to prove that she can handle everything when I’m gone. I was also thinking of calling one of our moms and seeing if I could fly one of them down to stay with her for the rest of the road trip, so that she has some help. I don’t need her getting so stressed out. It isn’t good for her, or him.”

  Brian pulls out his phone, tapping away on it.

  “When I talk to Mads, I’ll mention something to her about possibly checking in on her, as well. She might not be able to today, but I’m sure she can at some point this week, if things are still not going well.”

  “Thanks, guys. It’s just stressing me out, with being so far away and feeling so helpless. Hopefully, a day of naps will have them both back to normal soon. He’d been doing so well, with only waking up once or twice to eat before I left, so for him to be up most of the night screaming and not calming down, had her freaking out.”

  We walk into the restaurant and are seated right awa
y by the hostess in a back booth. A couple booths over is Matt Soaps and Tyler Jacobson, our backup goalie. I nod in their direction before taking a seat in the booth.

  “Can I get you anything to drink?” our server asks.

  “Do you have a carafe of orange juice you can just bring to the table?” I ask, opening the menu she handed me.

  “Sure, would anyone like coffee this morning?”

  Scott and Brian both flip over the coffee cups in front of them and she fills them up.

  “Do you have anyone else joining you?”

  “We might have one more, but if he doesn’t show up by the time we’re ready to order, we don’t need to wait for him,” Scott tells her.

  “I’ll be right back with your orange juice, and to take your orders.”

  “Is Mark coming down?” I ask Scott.

  “He said he’d be down when I texted him this morning.”

  We’re quiet as we all look at the menu and decide what we want to order. Our server returns with the carafe of orange juice just as Mark shows up at the table.

  “Are you ready to order?” she asks.

  “I’ll be ready by the time they’ve all ordered,” Mark tells her.

  “What are your plans once we’re down in Anaheim?” Mark asks the group, after the server takes our orders and walks away.

  “I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,” Scott says.

  “Me either,” I add.

  “Let’s go do something. I don’t feel like sitting around in the hotel all day. I want to get out, enjoy this nice California weather.”

  “We could Uber it somewhere, what did you have in mind?”

  “Let’s go find a golf course,” Mark suggests.

  “I’d be up for that,” I say.

  I pull out my phone and search for golf courses around the hotel, finding a few within a short distance.

  “Want me to call them to see if we can get an afternoon tee time?”