Balls: The Complete Players Collection (Sports Romance Box Set)

by Teagan Kade

  Like always, Scott knew precisely how to help me unwind. We’d done it, brought home the trifecta as planned, but we both knew something was still missing. We found it in Havana, named after our whirlwind honeymoon to Cuba where, Cormac had told us, you could find some of the happiest people on the planet. He wasn’t wrong.

  Since then we’ve travelled and skated, played until our fingers, quite literally, bled. Scott planned to be back to it next season, such was the demand, but I’d be taking time off. I knew my body could certainly do with a break, and I wanted to be in the best possible shape for Havi.

  Scott smiled as he rocked Havana to sleep. “How did I get so lucky?”

  I recalled he’d said the same thing after he’d proposed, but if anyone was the lucky one, it was me. It hadn’t been easy being the only female player in the league, but Scott has always been there by my side fighting off the naysayers, fighting for equality. He even helped me set up a special camp for women players looking to break in. We had so many attendees last year I had to start a second camp further south.

  But it’s that little girl, the one who approaches you outside the stadium with nervous eyes. It’s that little girl who says you’re their hero, the one who says they want to be just like you when they grow up, because you taught them girls can do anything. That was what has really made the whole thing worthwhile. Next year there’s not one, but two female players entering the NHL. It’s a small start, one we’ve been petitioning for, but it’s a start nonetheless.

  “Luck has nothing to do with it,” I told Scott, pulling tight to his side, Havana’s lips lightly parted. “We’ve worked hard for this.” It was true. There had been tough, dark times where even getting up seemed impossible, where I’d be so broken and beaten it felt like I’d never skate again, but Scott was there… always there.

  We were a team. It really was that simple. As they say, team work makes the dream work.

  Back inside, Scott placed Havana into her crib and quietly closed the door in the ninja-esque way we’d both become accustomed to.

  He pushed me against the wall and kissed me. I leaned forward for more and he drew back, eyes flicking towards the door to the master bedroom. “Shall we, Mrs. Bausch?”

  I drew up my foot and kicked the door open. “Bring that babymaker of yours and I guess we’ll find out.”

  He smiled, hand on my cheek. “Yes, ma’am.”

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