success in his favor. “I’ll need to get their numbers from you so I can invite them.”
“I can do it.”
“No,” he insisted, his manhood and manners jumping in. “I’d like to.” The stupid guy-code was kicking in on this one. He needed to show her brothers this was his doing, not hers.
“Okay.” Her kiss tempered the laugh in her voice.
He could do this. Her family and his made-up one. He could create his own and surround himself with it. Too bad he had no idea what he was doing.
He wrapped her in close, cheek resting on her head, slow breaths banking the doubts. But the questions crawled into the knot in his shoulder blade to screw it tighter, along with the lingering belief that this was all too good to last.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Holy fuck, Roller.” Colin slapped Henrik on the back, gaping at the rink and surrounding setup. “This is awesome.”
Henrik let the pride fill him until it shoved his ten days of festering doubts aside. “It works.”
“Sure,” Finn nodded, sarcasm heavy. “It works.”
He hoped it did. He’d had men working steadily to get the walls secured and the layers of ice down. With waist-high boards, the pro-sized rink was more than overboard for his use alone. But then, he hadn’t really built it for himself. The gaggle of neighborhood kids clustered around the rink, eyes wide at the parade of Glaciers players who’d already streamed by, was a testament to that. He’d told them they could watch as long as they kept their fandom to a minimum.
This was supposed to be a low-key fun event. Supposed to be...
The set of bleachers he’d rented for the day were already filling with spectators that varied from extended family members of Jacqui’s, wives and kids of his teammates, friends of Jacqui’s brothers and parents of the neighborhood kids. Maybe he should’ve gotten more bleachers. Damn.
“There’s a warming house around the side of the garage and a path down to the lower level where people are changing.”
Finn shook his head, hefting his bag higher as he walked off. “A warming house... Christ.”
“Ignore him,” Colin said. “He’s a dick in general.” He turned to take in Henrik’s house and property. “Thanks for setting this up.”
Henrik shrugged, resisting the urge to duck his head. He wasn’t a fucking teenager no matter how high-strung his nerves were currently running. “No problem. It’ll be fun,” he nudged Colin. “If you guys can keep up.”
“Fuck you.” He grinned around his scowl. “We might not be pro, but we’ve been playing our whole lives.”
“Are you prepared to back that cockiness with a bet?” They both turned to see Rylie approach, his own cocky grin in place.
Henrik laughed, extending his hand to the man to welcome him before succumbing to the hug from his girlfriend, Samantha. “Thanks for coming.”
“Are you kidding me?” Samantha beamed. “This is going to rock.”
Henrik made introductions, the conversational banter continuing as the three headed around the side of the house. He stayed where he was, spotting more cars pulling into his drive. Damn. His simple idea had quickly exploded into an event that consisted of two full teams made up of teammates, family, cousins, friends, friends of friends and God knows who else.
It was good though. All good. Right?
He could play hockey. Laugh and joke with everyone. Pretend his stomach wasn’t trying to eat its way out of his insides.
A couple of guys entered the ice to warm up as he welcomed more people to his house. This wasn’t the first time he’d been grateful for his years of forced socializing and informal training on surviving large events, especially since Jacqui had been hauled inside to help with the food setup. His intention of catering the event had been staunchly overruled once her mother had caught wind of his plans.
“Hey, Roller,” Hauke said, clasping his hand in a bro-shake. “Are we the last ones here?”
“We’re still early,” Vanessa corrected, leaning in to place a brief kiss on Henrik’s cheek, an act that dumbfounded him. The woman had been his PR rep for six years, and never once had she extended more than a handshake to him. “This is a great idea. No PR or media. Just a fun community event, but everyone still needs to be conscious of camera phones and videos.” She was already scanning the crowd, her work hat firmly in place.
Hauke tugged her in for a one-armed hug. “We always are.”
“Right.” She shot him a non-threatening glare. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”