Offside Hearts (Love and Hockey Book 1)

Two weeks later, I’m at the airport getting ready to board the flight to Seattle. The rest of my teammates are already filing onto the plane, but I pace the tarmac, talking to Margo on the phone.

“I just hate traveling without you,” I murmur, raking a hand through my hair as a chilly wind picks up.

“You used to travel without me all the time before we met.”

I make a face. “Don’t remind me of that dark time. I don’t like to think of a world in which we don’t know each other.”

I know I’m being a little melodramatic, but I can’t help it. Ever since our relationship went public, Margo and I haven’t spent much time apart, and now I’m going to be gone from her for two whole days. She’s sick with a bad cold, so she can’t come with the team to our away game, and that’s another reason I don’t want to leave her behind in Denver. She needs someone here to make sure she’s okay.

“You know, there’s still time,” I tell Margo. “I could leave right now and be back at your apartment in less than an hour.”

“You have to go,” she chides me gently. “The Aces need you. You’re on a winning streak, and you don’t want to mess that up just because I was stupid enough to babysit April even after Heather warned me that she had been a bit stuffed up.”

“But who’s going to take care of you while I’m gone?”

“I can take care of myself. I’m really not that sick, I’m just highly contagious. Seriously, I’m going to be totally fine on my own. I’m not at death’s door or anything, and by the time you get back to town, I’ll be all better, and we can spend the whole weekend together.”

I open my mouth to make some point about how she could take a turn for the worse while I’m away, but then I feel the weight of a hand on my shoulder, and Theo appears at my side.

“Dude, we gotta get on the plane.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I grouse.

“Is that Theo?” Margo asks. “Is he telling you to get on the plane? Theo! If you can hear me, don’t let him leave the airport!”

I pull the phone away from my ear and wince as she yells from the other side of the call. Theo smirks and calls back, “Roger that.” Then he gives me a warning look. “The rest of the team is going to board now, and if you’re not in your seat in two minutes, I will come out here and physically put you in your seat.”

I roll my eyes and give him a light shove, and he walks away. Sighing, I put the phone back to my ear and mutter, “I’d just rather be by your side, taking care of you, that’s all.”

“That’s sweet.” Margo’s voice softens. “But I would rather you be with the rest of your team, helping them win another game, and keeping this streak going. In fact, if you’re really not gonna get on the plane because you’ll miss me too much, then you leave me no choice.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“I’m getting out of bed,” she informs me. “Against doctor’s orders, I’m going to get in my car and drive to the airport, infecting any number of people along the way. I’m dragging my sniffly ass out of the house, risking pneumonia, and I’ll be on the plane next to you as soon as I can.”

“No, no! Don’t do that. Get back in bed. I don’t want you to get any sicker.”

“I’ll go back to bed if you promise to get on the plane.”

“Fine,” I groan. “I promise.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Reese standing by the stairs that lead up to the plane doors, also talking on the phone to his girlfriend. I used to give him shit about how much time he spent texting and calling Sienna, and now I feel like a huge hypocrite.

But who cares? At least I’m happy.

Hauling my duffle bag higher up on my shoulder, I head for the stairs. “I’ll call you when we land, okay? Take care of yourself and get some rest.”

“I will,” she promises. “Have a good flight. I love you.”

I smile, my body literally aching a little from how much I miss her. “I love you too, Sunflower.”

Reese and I are the last to board the plane, and we settle in next to each other. As the flight attendants come around to check the overhead bins and go over safety protocol, I skip my usual pre-flight routine. Instead, I pull up an app on my cell and start ordering various things to be delivered to Margo’s apartment. First, I put in an order for a bouquet of sunflowers, then I order fresh soup and warm bread to be delivered from the cafe around the corner from her building.

“Oh, is that for Margo?” Reese asks, glancing over at my phone.

“Yeah, she’s got a pretty bad cold.”

“Ouch. You should send her a fluffy blanket or slippers or something,” he suggests. “Sienna always gets super chilly when she’s sick, so I make sure she has warm stuff to wear whenever she has to get out of bed to eat or take medicine.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I say thoughtfully. “She already has a fuzzy robe, but I should send her one of those wearable blanket things.”

I do a quick search and find one online that can be delivered by tomorrow morning. It’s pink with red hearts all over it, and is arguably one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. But it’s also advertised as being ‘out of this world soft’ and ‘warmer than a fleece sweater’ so I add it to the cart and check out. If anything, Margo will get a kick out of the horrible pattern, and I figure she could use a laugh.

Soon, the pilot’s voice comes over the intercom to say we’re ready for take-off, so I put my phone in airplane mode and buckle up. Reese sends one last text message, presumably to Sienna, and then puts his device away as well.

“So, things must be getting pretty serious with you and Sienna,” I say, curling my fingers around the ends of the armrests. I’m feeling a little anxious about the flight, and I could use a distraction.

Reese smiles. “Yeah, they are. I actually just hooked her up with a job in the legal department for the Aces. And I’m thinking about asking her to move in with me.”

“Wow.” I probably sound more shocked than I mean to, but I had no idea they were that serious. “Really? That’s a pretty big deal.”

“It is.” He shrugs, reaching into the seat-back pocket in front of him to pull out his headphones. “But we’ve been dating for nine months. It feels like it’s time. I want to settle down, you know? And I think she’s the one.”

I’m not so sure about that, but that’s something I would never say to Reese. He’s one of my best friends, and I trust him implicitly, on and off the ice. But I’m not about to start offering him unsolicited opinions on his love life, especially since things between him and Sienna seem to be fine.

It’s just that there’s a big difference between fine and knock you off your feet incredible. I didn’t know that until I met Margo, but she opened up a part of my heart I didn’t even know existed.

The plane engines kick on, and I pull out my headphones too, sliding them over my ears. I play some music and close my eyes, breathing through the takeoff, and thankfully there’s no turbulence. I don’t sleep—my fear of flying would never allow me to fall asleep on a plane—but I manage to relax into my seat, and soon enough, we’re starting our descent.

The wheels hit the ground, and the captain announces that we can now use approved electronic devices. The minute I take my phone off airplane mode, a barrage of texts from Margo come through, thanking me for everything I sent and teasing me a little for going overboard.

The last text is a picture of her sitting on the couch with the bouquet of sunflowers in front of her, holding up her hands to make a heart shape.

She’s smiling, and even though her nose is a bit red and her eyes are sleepy, she looks so fucking adorable that I immediately make this picture the background on my phone. I send her a text to let her know I’ll call her soon, then de-board the plane with the rest of the Aces.

I call Margo twice over the afternoon, and on the second call, she sounds like she’s feeling a little better. She tells me to play hard and lets me know that she’s going to take some NyQuil, so she might not be awake when the game ends.

I tell her to get all the rest she can, and that we can talk in the morning, then it’s time for me to head to the arena.

The game goes well, and we win with a Hail Mary goal in the third period. Afterward, the Aces are riding high, and the guys are all planning to hit the bars, but I tell them I’m tired and am heading back to my hotel room instead. I expect some pushback, and Theo does give me a knowing smirk, but that’s it. It would seem my teammates are finally coming around to the fact that I’m a changed man, and that I have different priorities now. I’m no longer the wild playboy I once was—and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Back in my room, I send Margo a text.

ME: Hopefully this doesn’t wake you up. I just wanted to say that we won, and that I love you. Goodnight!

To my surprise, she texts back almost right away.

MARGO: I’m up! The medicine I found in my bathroom cabinet is expired, so I don’t think it’s really doing anything. Definitely not making me sleepy.

Before I send anything back, I put in an order for three different types of cold medicine, and give the delivery person an extra large tip, hoping that will ensure they get to Margo as soon as possible. Then I go back to our text thread.

I’m about to ask her how she’s feeling when my phone rings. Without even really looking at the screen, I accept the call, thinking it must be Margo.

But it’s not.

And as soon as I hear the voice on the other end of the line, the smile slips right off my face.

My grip on the phone tightens, and I stare at the dark screen of the hotel room TV, not really seeing it.

“What do you want?” I ask, my voice hard.