The First Intermission

by Samantha Lind

“You have to think that,” I tell him.

  “No, I don’t. But I do. I don’t care what you weigh, if you have six-pack abs or a squishy belly. You’re beautiful, no matter what, in my eyes, as I see what’s on the inside. That’s what made me fall in love with you. Not the outside. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think you’re sexy as fuck and I’m counting down the days until I can fuck you again, but you need to be kind to yourself and give your body time to recover. You just had a baby, an eight pound one at that. I’d be crying like a freaking baby if I had to give birth to a baby that size.”

  “I love you,” I tell him, holding back the damn tears that are threatening to fall. The pressure I feel to bounce right back to my pre-baby body is huge. I see all these other celebrity women who, just weeks after giving birth, look like they never had a baby. I didn’t put on a ton of weight with my pregnancy, but enough I can tell a difference.

  “You’ve got time, babe. You don’t go back on tour until next summer, so give yourself the time you deserve to figure out everything that we’ve still got to learn about being new parents. And if you want a workout partner, I’ll be right by your side, helping you along.”

  “Ugh. You’ll kill me in the gym,” I tell him, knowing damn well he can outlast me in the gym, especially since I haven’t seen the inside of one in a few months.

  “Okay, enough about working out and body issues. Come relax with me on the couch while we have a little longer before Nicole is ready to eat again. I need to hold you,” he tells me sweetly, bending down to kiss me.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Scott

  “Thank you all for coming tonight!” Becca says to the large group of friends who have all descended on our house. “We’ve got a lot to celebrate in this group. Retirements and new positions.” She motions to both Richard and me. “New babies,” she says, smiling at Reese and Austin, who’s holding their little girl, and Madison, who’s no longer able to hide the fact she’s expecting. She also drops a hand to her own stomach, which has just started to pop out, holding our third child.

  “We wanted to get together before the season starts next week, before the craziness of the next six to eight months that is also known as the hockey season,” she finishes, and we all laugh.

  “Eight months, for sure!” Brian pipes up, causing us all to laugh again.

  “That’s always the hope,” she tells him. “Thank you all for being our tribe. We’re so thankful to have all of you in our lives and we look forward to the many more years to come. Cheers, everyone.”

  I slip a hand around her waist and pull her close to my side, dropping my lips to the crown of her head where I place a kiss.

  “Please, help yourself,” I tell everyone, motioning to the buffet of food we’ve got spread out on our kitchen island.

  “I can’t believe she’s so big already!” Becca says, gushing over Nicole.

  “You and me both!” Reese tells her. “She’s already a month old. Please tell me time will slow down at some point.”

  “I’m sorry to tell you it doesn’t. Since Michael was born, I’ve said you never realize just how quickly a year passes by until you have a baby, and then it just flies by.”

  “It’s like I snapped my fingers and this past month just went, poof, gone,” Reese tells her.

  “Would you like me to hold her so you can get a plate?” Becca offers. I know, really, she’s just jonesing to hold the baby.

  “Oh, sure. Thank you.”

  “You ready to do this all over again?” I ask, looking over my wife’s shoulder and down at the baby in her arms.

  “So ready,” she says, sliding a fingertip along the smooth skin of Nicole’s cheek. “How about you? Are you ready for it?”

  “Of course.” I’d add a few more kids to our family, if she’s up for it. Becca is an incredible mother, and we’ve been blessed with some pretty kickass kids, if I do say so myself.

  I look over this crowd—from the guys I’ve been friends with for years, who are more like brothers to me, to their wives, and now, kids. The newer additions we’ve added, as they were traded to the Eagles or matured out of the rookie and single guy status when they found the loves of their lives. I think back on the last eight seasons and everything that has been accomplished in that amount of time. How much has changed. It’s amazing to reflect on all that time.

  “So, Scott, how were your first few weeks being an assistant coach?” Madison asks from across the table.

  “Great so far. We’ve got a good group of guys. The new ones have done a fantastic job adjusting to our systems. It might take us a little bit longer to get back into a normal rhythm that we’ve grown accustomed to the last few years with the little turnover we had.”

  “Is it weird not suiting up with the guys?” Kinley asks.

  “Not as weird as I thought it might be. For the few preseason games we played, I’ve found I’ve got so many other things on my mind on game days that I haven’t missed it. Only adjusting I’ve had to do is staying in a suit the entire game. Not that I haven’t had to watch a handful of games from the press box before, but definitely not something I did on the regular over my sixteen-year playing career.”

  “Any standout players so far this year?”

  “Matt’s new goalie is going to be a beast. I’m glad he’ll be protecting our net and not another team’s,” I muse.

  “He sure is,” Matt pipes in. “If Tyler isn’t careful, he’ll lose his starting spot to Beckett. He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

  “Good goaltending is important,” Murph adds.

  “That it is,” I agree.

  “And congratulations, Mark, on being named the new captain,” Becca calls down to the other end of the table.

  “Thanks. I wasn’t expecting that, but I’m happy to lead this team. I’ve just got some big shoes to fill,” he says, motioning my way.

  “I’m sure you’ll do just fine. No one wants to piss you off with who you go home to every night.” I laugh.

  “I’m not that brutal,” Laura interjects. “I leave trade decisions up to Daniel. He’s the real brains behind this operation. I’m just the pretty face.”

  “Don’t tell him that, it might go to his head,” I joke back.

  “Oh, I’m well aware of that. But with all the time I’ve been out of the office since having Bella, he’s done a fine job keeping everything running smoothly. I’m even contemplating only going back part-time because of it.”

  “Oh, that’d be a nice change for you,” Madison says. “I, myself, am looking forward to slowing down and staying home once the babies are born.”

  “I can’t wait for you to be home with those babies!” Becca exclaims. “Think of all the playdates we can have as a group while the guys are all out of town. You’ll be in town most of the season, right, Reese?”

  “For the most part, yes. I’ve got to head to Nashville for the CMA Awards next month, but I’ll only be gone a few days for that. Then, after the holidays, I’ll be recording the new album, but we plan to do that here in Indy. Stacey and Lee are going to fly here for a few days. Once we’re closer to the start of the tour, my band will have to assemble so we can start practice, but I’m hoping we can do that here and not in Nashville.”

  “Is your mom going to travel with you on tour to help with Nicole?”

  “Yes, she’ll be with me at the start, then head home for a little while during the summer when Austin can be with us. Then, once he’s due back for camp in the fall, she’ll re-join me to close out the last few weeks. I wanted a little lighter of a tour schedule for this first tour after having Nicole, so we’re sticking to only North America, and a little more time between each concert date. Instead of four to five shows a week, we’re only doing three, sometimes only two.”

  “That’s great that you were able to find a balance that will work for you guys,” Bridget says. “If you ever need another babysitter, I’m always just a phone call away. I’d gladly hop on a plane and come to you to s
nuggle that baby of yours.”

  “Please, do. She’s got grandbaby fever and our kids are nowhere near ready to have kids of their own,” Matt teases his wife.

  “I do not,” she protests, smacking his shoulder.

  “Mhmm,” he replies, shaking his head at his wife.

  “While we’re all here, we’ve got something we’d like to tell everyone at one time,” Brian speaks up, looking at Kinley next to him.

  “You’re all like family to us, so we thought we’d share that we’re finally expecting!” she says, tears sliding down her cheeks.

  “Oh my god, yes!” Becca shouts, jumping out of her seat and going around to hug her best friend. “When, how far along are you, when are you due?” she says, her questions coming out in rapid fire.

  Kinley just laughs at Becca’s antics. I know Becca has cried many tears over the troubles Kinley and Brian have had adding to their family over the years.

  “We just found out yesterday, so it’s early. We went back and forth on telling everyone so early, but knew that if something was to go wrong, we’d be leaning on all of you for support. That, and I’ve already started puking my guts out, so I don’t think I’d be able to hide it much longer anyways,” she says, her tears drying up.

  “Congratulations, man,” I tell Brian, slapping him on the back.

  “Thanks, we’re pretty excited.”

  “So many babies coming in the next few months,” Bridget muses, a huge smile on her face. “I get to practice my grandma skills.”

  “We’ll dub you the official grandma of the team,” Becca tells her.

  “Sounds good to me. Now, someone pass me a baby!” she says to everyone at the table, and we all laugh.

  Chapter Twenty

  Beckett

  “Good job today,” Matt tells me when we leave the ice from practice. “You’ve improved so much since we started working together this summer.”

  “Thanks, Coach,” I tell him, dumping some cold water down my neck before squeezing some into my mouth.

  “You keep playing like this and you’ll be starting more and more games this season.”

  “That’s my goal. Not that I want to put Tyler out of a job or anything, but that’s the ultimate goal.”

  “I understand that sentiment,” he agrees. “Well, hit the showers and I’ll see you tomorrow for morning skate. I can’t believe tomorrow night is already the home opener of the season.”

  “You and me both,” I tell him as I start removing all my pads and hanging them up in my locker.

  Once showered and changed, I leave the rink and stop at a coffee shop to pick up something to drink and eat before heading to my condo I share with Johnathan Camps, one of the more veteran players on the team.

  I pull into the parking lot and head inside. The place is pretty packed for the middle of the day on a weekday. I stand in line, looking over the menu and minding my own business, when I hear my name being called from somewhere behind me. I don’t really know many people in town yet, outside of my teammates and other people associated with the team.

  “Beckett? Is that you?”

  Her. I turn toward the voice that has haunted my dreams since I first heard it all those weeks ago. The one I’ve dreamed of, and gotten off to, many nights. The one girl I can never touch because of who she is.

  “Hi, Julia,” I greet, turning to find my coach’s bombshell of a daughter standing behind me in line. I do my best to discreetly gaze down her curvy body. The one I’d love to get my hands on, and under me. Fuck, I can’t go there, I tell myself, willing my cock not to harden in my shorts. “How are you?” I finally ask and she smiles up at me.

  “Good, how are you? How’s the knee been?”

  “It’s been great, no more issues. Just a fluke incident,” I tell her as I move up to the register and order. “Can I buy you a drink?”

  “Oh, that’s okay,” she says, waving me off.

  “I insist,” I reply. “Think of it as a thank you for making sure I didn’t mess up my knee.”

  “Okay,” she concedes and tells the barista her order.

  With our drinks and pastries in hand, we find a table in the corner.

  “Are you ready for the home opener tomorrow night?” she asks after taking a bite of her cake pop.

  “Yep. I’m not playing, just riding the bench as of now.”

  “Does that bother you?”

  “Sometimes it can get in my head. I’ve been the starting goalie in Champaign for the last two seasons, but this is the ultimate goal, to be in the NHL. Even if that means riding the bench for a good percentage of the season. And Tyler is a badass goalie, and he’s earned the starting position. I just hope to be as good as him one day,” I tell her honestly. I’m a little shocked how easy it is to talk to her; I’ve never found that with the girls who want to be around me.

  “I can understand that predicament. You don’t want your friend to mess up bad enough that you get to play, but at the same time, you want to make a name for yourself and get the playing time you deserve.”

  “Exactly,” I agree as I finish off my coffee. “How’s work going for you?”

  “So busy. I was worried when I first started that it would take a while to get a full load of clients, but that’s the benefit of working at one of the busiest clinics in the city. They just assign clients to me as they call in based on what their injuries and therapy needs are. We’ve got therapists that specialize in every kind of therapy, so we can see a good range of different patients.”

  “And you specialize in what?”

  “General rehabilitation. I get a lot of post-surgery patients.”

  “What made you want to become a physical therapist?”

  “Growing up with a dad who played professional sports, I saw firsthand the injuries all the players dealt with, and how important the therapy staff was for them. At first, I thought of applying with some sports teams, but decided I wanted to come back home and have the steadiness of a clinic job. I love traveling, but the thought of doing so with a sports team, most likely a men’s team of some kind, doesn’t sound all that appealing to me. I had enough of that, being assigned to the men’s football team in college. I’ve seen the inside of a locker room enough already to know I have no desire to work inside one all the time. No offense, but they’re kind of disgusting.”

  “None taken,” I tell her, laughing at the face she’s making. “And I agree, they can be quite disgusting.”

  “How do you deal with it?” she asks.

  “It’s just part of the game. No locker room, no team. They just go hand-in-hand.”

  “Yeah, I get that. Are you enjoying the group that makes up the Eagles for this season?”

  “Yes, they’re all great guys. Mark is a great captain so far, and Brian and Austin are adjusting well to being the assistant captains. I think they’ll make a good leadership team as the season moves forward.”

  “I noticed that for the preseason games. Even with the losses, you guys looked great out there. Must have felt good to be in net for the only preseason win?”

  “You watch the games?” I ask in shock.

  “I wouldn’t miss one,” she tells me. “It’s ingrained in me. Even when the team is on the road, I do my best to catch every game. Once I was old enough to stay up for the later games, it became a tradition for my mom and me. We’d watch the games together, eating our junk food or takeout.”

  “Do you come to the home games?”

  “Most of the time. I like to sit down in the stands rather than the family suite. I like being amongst the fans. I just use my dad’s tickets since my mom prefers to be up in the suite with all the other wives and girlfriends.”

  “Nice.”

  “Yeah, Dad’s seats have been the same as long as I can remember, so I know most of the people who have seats around them since they’re all season ticket holders. We definitely have a good time each game.”

  “My parents are looking forward to getting to a few games this season
.”

  “Do they still live in Sweden?” she asks.

  “They do,” I confirm, a little shocked she knows where I’m from.

  “Do you miss it?”

  “Of course. It’s home. I usually go back in the summer, but had to forgo this summer, so it’s been over a year since I’ve been home. My mom wasn’t too happy about that, but also understood I had to stay, to work on conditioning myself and secure that roster spot.”

  “How long have you lived in the States?” she asks as she finishes off her drink.

  “I moved here when I was seventeen to play in the juniors, so, five years ago.”

  “We’re the same age.”

  “Is that so?” I muse.

  “Beckett, I’m going to be straightforward here. Would you like to grab some dinner sometime?”

  Her question catches me off guard for a second. “I’d love that,” I finally tell her.

  The smile that lights up her face tells me I made the right call and that this feeling of attraction probably isn’t one-sided. I just have to figure out how to convince her we have to keep this relationship platonic, and in the friend zone. There’s no way I can fuck up my chances of getting a starting position with the Eagles, and the fastest way to do that is to sleep with my coach’s daughter.

  THE END

  Stay tuned for Beckett & Julia’s story in

  The Hardest Shot, coming fall 2019!

  Add on Goodreads today!

  Afterword

  I hope you have enjoyed this book, and you would consider leaving a review on your favorite retailer.

  If you would like to connect more with Samantha, please join her reader group on Facebook!

  Coming Soon

  Drunk Girl

  Lyrics & Love Series Book 2

  Summer 2019

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