hand pounding the man’s back in a controlled attempt to keep his emotions in check. “Damn, it’s good to see you.”
“Easy, Roller.” Walters laughed. “I only have one good leg here.”
Right. Right. Henrik backed up, smile wide as he took the man in. “I thought you couldn’t make it.” He’d texted an invite in case Walters was in town for the long Thanksgiving week. It really sucked that he was in Atlanta now.
“We changed some things around to get here early.” He motioned to his girlfriend, Rachel, who stood back from the overwhelming group.
“It is you,” Cutter exclaimed, bounding up the stairs behind Henrik. He was followed by the rest of the Glaciers players, all of them tumbling up the steps to greet their retired captain.
Henrik moved back, the coldness easing away now that Walters was here. Scott knew him better than anyone there. His gaze cut to Jacqui, who sat on the piano bench, a bemused smile on her lips. She was watching him though, not the rounds of back-slapping and man-hug greetings going on with his teammates.
She knew him too. Knew him too well maybe. Enough to hurt him deeply.
He went to her, heart beating harder the closer he came. Had she told Finn that he played? Did it matter if she had?
“I had nothing to do with it,” she said, reading his mind. “I swear. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
He stopped at the bench, assessing everything about her. Her eyes were back to the deep brown, cheeks rosy warm like her smile. Was his earlier declaration forgotten, or was she warming to it? In the end, it really didn’t matter. He loved her and couldn’t change it. But could he survive it?
He cupped her cheek, kissed her with a soft touch that held all his confusion and none of the force that threatened to crush him. Her eyes were closed when he lifted away. Intentional or reflexive? Would she ever let him all the way in? Was he strong enough to handle it if she did?
He turned away, shoved his turmoil aside and focused his thoughts on the immediate task. He had something to prove to his family. The one who thought they knew him so well when they really didn’t know him at all.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“That one’s mine,” Henrik told Finn, pointing to the electric guitar the man was holding.
“No problem, dude.” Finn handed it over, swinging around to eye up the other guitars. “I’ll do bass even though it annoys me.”
“I’ll take that one,” Isaac said. Jacqui’s cousin lifted the bass guitar from its stand before her brother could grab it.
Jacqui watched the negotiation and transfer of instruments with a distracted sense of seeing the world shift around her. Being a part of it but not belonging. It was her own doing. A distance she put between herself and everyone else.
She couldn’t think about Henrik’s declaration of love without her hands shaking, her pulse racing. The worsening pain in her stomach told her exactly how much of a fool she’d been to get involved with him. How she was only going to hurt him.
Plucking notes pinged through the room as the guys tuned their guitars, tweaking the strings to their satisfaction. Finn had ended up with the acoustic guitar, his smile saying he was good with it. She had no idea how Finn had known Henrik played. Probably just a lucky guess based on the number of guitars he owned. It was good though. Henrik was really, really talented. These people deserved to know that.
He deserved to be recognized for his skills. Not ashamed of them, which was how it seemed.
He looked at her over the length of the piano, a confident smile quirking his lips. He had this, she could see it. He was going to blow these guys away after hiding it from them for years.
She smiled back, pride blooming for no reason other than she was proud of him. Proud to be with him no matter what his teammates and their wives or girlfriends thought. So damn proud. Did he know that? Would it matter?
He conferred with Finn and Isaac before strumming out the opening bars of one of the songs they’d played together that day in the practice room. He nodded to her, picking through the chords without looking. So damn handsome.
Her heart hitched, squeezed and ached for everything she was going to lose. But she smiled back and started in at the second bridge, along with Finn and Isaac. It