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“Thank you for giving me another chance,” he murmurs into me.

“I’m not sure if that’s what I’m doing, but maybe it is. My gut is telling me that I’m not ready to sign those papers, and I’m still trying to figure out if I can trust that bitch.”

He laughs as he pulls back, and he presses his lips to mine. It’s soft, it’s tender and loving, and it’s everything I’ve been missing about him.

I sigh into him as I kiss him back, and even though I think it’ll take some time to rebuild the trust between us, I’m hopeful for the first time that someday we’ll get there.

CHAPTER 48: Cash Maddox

Centering the Center

Relief filters through me as my lips land on hers.

She asked for a divorce in the four days we were apart…and now she’s not sure she wants that.

It’s a step in the right direction.

When everyone kept telling me I already knew what I needed to do, I think maybe they were right. I needed to show up. I needed her to know that it wasn’t just words when I said I love her. I do, but love isn’t just saying the words. It’s more than showing up, too. It’s holding her hand in the hard moments and smiling together in the good ones. It’s being here with her and her entire family.

And today? Today was one of the hard ones, but I got to be here for her. It was a risk coming here, and not just because I’m missing practice. Like Coach said, I’m a captain. That means the rest of the team looks to me to be a leader.

Apart from getting Ivy back, that’s part of the reason why I needed to come today.

Coach was right when he said I needed to figure my shit out, and I realized that Ivy complements me in ways I never realized I needed. She centers me, ironic since I am the center, and she makes me strive to be better.

I can’t be the best version of me on the ice when I’ve fucked up my personal life.

Centering the center. Who would’ve thought?

We head out into the hallway, and Madden’s on the phone. We all stand around for a moment, and then he says, “They’re setting up a table for fourteen at the Millhouse as we speak,” he says. “It’s a tavern only a few blocks away.”

A few blocks away is walking distance, but I’d like a minute alone with my wife before we head out.

“I need to use the restroom,” I lie to Ivy, and she nods.

“I’ll wait with you.”

“Walk safely,” Everleigh says to me with a wink. “We’ll meet you there.” She’s cheering us on. Imagine that, the woman who called out my reputation in her office the day I walked in is actually rooting for her sister and me to make up now.

I wait until everyone leaves before I head to the restroom, and Ivy is waiting for me on a bench when I walk out. “Hey,” I say.

“Hi,” she says kind of shyly.

“I was hoping we could talk a little more. You doing okay after all that?”

We start walking toward the exit as she answers. “Ten years isn’t as bad as I thought he’d get, so yeah. I’m okay. It’s weird, you know? Some days it feels surreal that my mom is gone, and in a lot of ways, he is, too. But lunches like the one we’re heading to, where I get to be with all of my siblings? Those are the things I really love, you know?”

I nod. “I get it. Dex stopped by the other day, and I couldn’t help but think how he feels like a brother I never got to have.”

She stops in her tracks. “Dex stopped by? You’re just casually dropping that nugget into a conversation?”

I laugh. “He told me to fight to get you back, and that’s what I’m here trying to do.”

“Ah, so that’s how you knew where I was.”

I nod. “Yeah. Your family is rooting for us.” I chuckle. “Against all odds.”

She laughs as she starts walking again. “Clearly.”