“Oh my God, I’m dying,” Lacey proclaimed as Karl and Regina sat down beside her.

“Give me my baby then,” Karl said, taking Mena and cuddling her into his chest. “You watch hockey with Pawpaw.”

Wiping her face, Lacey shook her head. “Oh my, to be a fly on the wall. I’d pay, I’d seriously pay to see that.”

“It was humorous,” Kacey decided, crossing her legs. “I think I almost died from smoke inhalation though. I almost puked everywhere.”

“That happened to me when I caught the chicken on fire a couple weeks before I had Mena. Remember that?”

Kacey nodded. “I do! We were both so sick.”

“Yeah, I hate that. Thank God y’all didn’t burn the house down.”

“Right!” Kacey agreed as the lights went dark. “Give us a few weeks though. We are so hot when we do it.”

Lacey scoffed. “Jeez, get over yourself.”

Kacey grinned as the light show started before the guys hit the ice. Cheering along with the rest of the crowd that was there, Kacey got the little flutters in her stomach that she always got at the start of the game. It used to be for Karson, or even herself, but now it was for Jordie. She loved watching him play, but this was his first real game since being hurt. She was excited to see him hit the ice, to see him back to full Jordie mode. Hopefully, this will help, she thought to herself. He craved the smell of the ice, the feel of the ice beneath his skates, and the feel of his stick in his hands. So surely, those cravings would cancel out the ones of drinking. He hadn’t told her lately that he wanted to drink, but he had mentioned it in AA, and it honestly scared her. She felt like she should follow him around, make sure he wasn’t doing it, but she told herself she wouldn’t do that. She’d trust and believe in him until he proved her wrong, and he hadn’t done it yet.

He wouldn’t.

“Number Three! Jordie Thomas!” the announcer said and the crowd lost it. Smiling, she watched as he held up his stick, his grin unstoppable. He looked like her Jordie.

He looked happy.

Leaning over, Lacey said, “He looks good.”

Kacey nodded. “He’s home.”

“Yeah, Karson said they had a talk the other day and that his momma messed him up pretty bad.”

Looking over at her, she nodded. “Yeah. She’s a bitch.”

“Agreed, but Karson’s worried.”

Kacey’s heart stopped. “He is?”

“Yeah, he’s been okay though, right?”

She shook her head. “I can tell he’s hurting, but everything seems okay…”

“Yeah, that’s what Karson said. We just need to be there for him.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kacey said and Lacey nodded.

“I know, but he really needs to cut that woman out of his life.”

“You’re right.”

As the puck dropped, Lacey looked away, her attention on the ice as Kacey looked on too. The Assassins were hosting the Panthers, and within seconds, Kacey knew it was going to be a good game. They both wanted that first win of the season, that was easy to see, and soon Kacey was on the edge of her seat. As Phillip Anderson sent the puck back to Jordie, she watched as he skated around the net, watching at his forwards got into position. Sending the puck to Karson, he skated up as Karson whizzed it up to Anderson, who passed it quickly to Erik Titov. He shot, hitting the goalie’s leg pad, which gave off one hell of a rebound. Anderson got it, sending it to the goal again, but again it was rebounded back to the corner. Brooks rushed the boards, getting the puck and sending it out to Karson, but he didn’t put his stick down in time and it went out of the zone. They changed up, and the game continued as Shea and the new kid, Sinclair, sent puck after puck at the net. The goalie was giving up huge rebounds, and when one came back, right onto the stick of Baylor Moore, Kacey held her breath as she shot top shelf, scoring the first goal. She had forgotten all about Baylor because of Jordie, and her stomach fluttered as Baylor held her arms up, everyone hugging her, and the crowd losing their shit.

“That should be you!” her father yelled, but Kacey didn’t agree. She was where she was supposed to be. In love and happy with Jordie. She sent her dad a smile as everyone cheered but then it dropped when Mena started crying. Taking her from Karl, Lacey cuddled her as they lined up for the next puck drop. Winning the puck back, Jordie was the first to pick it up, sending it quickly up to Anderson, who was rushing the net. He was stopped though, and the puck was swiped from him. But Jordie got it, shooting it hard to the net. The goalie blocked it though, sending it back to Erik, who sent it fast to Jordie, who acted as if he was going to shoot, but instead, sent it to Karson, who went five-hole, getting another goal.

Kacey was the first one to say that she loved hockey. Lived and breathed it. And when her brother scored, with the help of her boyfriend, she was so proud. But when she saw the grin on Jordie’s face, it wasn’t the goal Karson scored that brought her to tears, it was the happiness in Jordie’s eyes. The guys were wrapped up in a huge bromance hug and Lacey was hollering beside her as she just stood there, tears rushing down her face. Wiping them away, she shook her head and knew that this was what Jordie had needed. He’d needed to be on the ice to help push him along the road to recovery.

And now he was.

Moving her nose along Jordie’s jaw, Kacey let out a long breath.

She didn’t want to let him go.