Page 138 of My Husband Problem

“Is it different with Declan playing?” Iris asks.

Stupidly, yes.

He’s filling in. It’s not even real hockey. It’s not even real bonkers hockey. It’s a scrimmage.

And I wouldn’t call what I’m feeling stress.

More like… fine, it’s arousal.

I love hockey. The game itself. I don’t love a lot of the professional US hockey players. I definitely don’t love the politics of professional US hockey. But the game itself is fun to watch.

I have never, however, watched it when I’ve cared about one of the players. Sure, I care about Alex, and I would watch his games and want him to do well. But my brother always did well. I didn’t watch his games with any extra buzz zinging along my nerve endings.

Not the way I’m watching Declan.

The way he moves on the ice is powerful and graceful.

He skates and shoots with that same take-charge air that he brings to everything he does. That take-charge air that makes my entire body jumpy and tight. In a good way.

Am I stressed or nervous about the game?

Not at all.

Do I want to go back up to my office, strip off my clothes, and lay myself out on my desk for number seven to do whatever he wants to me?

Hell, yes.

I know he will be hesitant about trying again. He will hate that I had pain and that he was a part of it. It’s going to take some convincing. But we are going to have sex. Wehave to. I have to see if I can make it work. Before we go to Cara for the annulment.

The clock continues to tick down, and it looks like we’re going to end in a tie.

Tiebreakers are fun. There are no extra periods or shootouts. Instead, the fans decide how to determine the winner if the score is tied after three periods.

Usually.

Tonight it’s different. For a reason that Nora did not share with me, the teams have apparently each prepared a mystery performance to use in case of a tie. Mysteriously. As if they knew there would be a tie…

Hmm…

The final buzzer sounds and the one-to-one score flashes on the Jumbotron.

The crowd acts as if their team won the final championship.

No one even stands up to stretch. There’s an excited buzz in the arena.

“This tie seemsverycoincidental,” I say to no one in particular.

“It’s a tie!” Nora announces just then, unnecessarily but excitedly, to the crowd. “And first up in the mystery performances is… The Otters!”

Quinn Trahan skates out to center ice.

I sit up straighter. Quinn hates the spotlight. She never volunteers to perform and only agrees when it’s a group number.

For a moment, I think this might be a group number. JD, Zeke, and Ingrid skate out with her, but it’s quickly clear that they are the backup singers.

Her voice is a little wobbly when she starts, but she hits her stride surprisingly quickly on Queen’s “Somebody to Love”. Then another singer skates out for the second verse.

The crowd goes wild.