Chapter 43

Now that Aurora is willing to give me another chance, I find myself very motivated—and not just where she’s concerned. Although I’m realizing all parts of my life include her, or at least I want them to. And that means I have some shit to take care of. I meet with my agent to discuss options, including early retirement if my knee can’t handle another season on the ice. I tell him I need to start planning my life beyond the ice, because that day is coming eventually, and I want clear direction on where I’m going when it arrives.

He nods. “I’ll have a list of possible options for you within the week.”

“I want to stay in Toronto. I understand that narrows things down.” Roman is here, and Aurora has a solid friend group and is loved by the team. I don’t want her to have to choose between me and her support system.

He arches a brow. “This have to do with that interview you gave?”

I bounce my fist on the arm of my chair. “Yup.”

He nods slowly. “You know I’ve got an inbox full of requests now.”

“I’m not giving a follow-up interview.”

He grins. “If you change your mind on that, let me know.”

“I won’t.” I pause halfway out of the chair. “Unless Aurora wants me to.”

“Noted.”

With that conversation taken care of, I make a stop at Hemi’s office, crossing my fingers that she’s in the building. I find her at her desk with Shilpa. “Hey, sorry to interrupt,” I say in greeting. “Are you around later, Hemi?”

“I’m around right now. What do you need?” She removes a pair of glasses, folds them, and sets them on her desk. “Apart from some media training. I’ve already signed you up for a refresher course, FYI.” Her smile is pinched.

“Uh… Thanks for that.” I realize now that I basically handed our team issues to our competition on a silver fucking platter. A media refresher course sounds awful, but I need Hemi’s help, so I’ll take it to appease her. “I, uh…I can come back later, when you’re not busy.”

Shilpa gathers her things and crosses the room, patting me on the shoulder as she passes. “We were literally talking about how long it would take you to get your head out of your ass. I now owe Hemi a pair of Louboutins.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Don’t be. I’m glad she’s right in this instance.”

She leaves, and I turn back to Hemi. “You’re placing bets on me?”

“Yup.” She leans back in her chair, apparently unapologetic. “How are you?”

“Getting my shit together.”

“Does this mean you’re in fix-things-with-Hammer mode?”

“That’s my plan, yeah.”

She puts her hands to her chest. Then makes a heart with them. “I am fully on team Hamollis.”

“That’s a horrible merging of our names, but I’m very glad to hear I have your support.”

“Hollimer? Horora?”

“I don’t think either of those are much better. But I am looking for some assistance.”

She props her chin on her heart-shaped hands. “In what department?”

“First question, have I ruined Aurora’s chances of getting the job with that stunt I pulled?”

Hemi flips her pen between her fingers. “If you’d pulled it before the gala, it would have been more problematic. People are always going to speculate. Especially under circumstances like these. But I have the receipts to prove that she pulled that event off on her own, with very little help from me. So aside from watercooler gossip, which she already dealt with during her internship, she’ll be fine.”

I nod. “Do I need to speak to upper management about my relationship with her?”

“Aside from what you broadcasted to the world, it doesn’t hurt to go through the proper channels, and we can pull in Shilps to make it all official once the posting goes up.”

“Whatever I can do to make it smoother.”

“Does this mean you two are back together?” She arches a brow.

“I’m working on that. Which brings me to the next favor. I’d like to take Aurora on a date. I know her favorite restaurants, but I’d like to take her somewhere special.”

Hemi grins. “You want to wine and dine her?”

“Exactly. I’d like to treat her the way she deserves, right down to the dress and the shoes.” And going public with her is another way I can show Aurora how important she is to me. I don’t want to hide her or my feelings. Not anymore and not ever again.

“You have come to exactly the right person.” Hemi shuts down her computer, pushes her chair back, and grabs her purse. “Let’s pick the perfect date outfit for Hammer.”

“Right now?”

“Do you have somewhere else to be?”

“I guess not.” I have things being delivered to the penthouse, but I’ve already messaged Rix, should they arrive while I’m not there.

“She had her eye on three dresses for the gala,” Hemi reports as she heads for the door. “She walked away from her favorite because of the price tag. Since you’re in deep-grovel territory, dropping a couple grand on a dress won’t be a problem.”

“I’d buy her a fucking unicorn, if it would make her happy.”

Hemi grins. “Excellent. Let’s do this.”

On the way, I message Aurora. I feel like I’m asking her to prom. There’s real irony in the fact that I took pictures of her with her dad and her date when she attended her high school prom. I also spent most of the night assuring Roman that she could take care of herself. I gave her pepper spray after Roman took her for self-defense lessons beforehand to ensure that.

Hollis

Would you go on a date with me?

It only takes a minute for her to respond.

Princess

Like the one we had in your penthouse?

Hollis

I was thinking out. Unless you’re opposed to being seen with me.

Princess

I’m not opposed.

Hollis

Are you available tomorrow night?

I should have enough time to pull this off. We also don’t have a game tomorrow night, so it works with my schedule.

She takes longer to respond this time.

Princess

Tomorrow night is good.

Hollis

Excellent. I promise you won’t regret it.

Princess

We’ll see.

Hemi takes me to Aurora’s favorite store and shows me the dress she passed up. It’s gorgeous, but I spot another one I think she would love more.

“She didn’t even try that one on, though,” Hemi argues.

I check the price tag. It’s more than the one she walked away from. “Did she pause to look at it?”

“For like, two seconds, maybe?” Hemi hedges.

If she looked at the price tag, I guarantee that’s the reason she never bothered to try it on. It’s everything Aurora loves in a dress, from the color, to the cut, to the fit. She’ll look amazing in it. “It’s the one.”

Three hours and several thousand dollars later, I have everything I need for a date with Aurora, and Hemi has a new handbag as a thank you. She insisted I didn’t need to buy it for her; I insisted I did.

Aurora is still at school when I arrive home. I stop by her apartment on the way up to mine. Rix answers the door.

She takes me in, arms laden with bags. “Oh, we are deep in woo-the-woman mode, aren’t we?”

“Very deep. Aurora agreed to a date tomorrow night. Did the flowers arrive?” I ordered a bouquet of yellow and blue flowers for her while I was shopping.

“About half an hour ago. I put them in her bedroom.” She steps aside so I can come in.

“And the cake? Does it look good?” It’s a pre-final exam treat.

“It is… Well, you should see for yourself.”

“Did it not turn out?” I ask, suddenly panicked.

Rix holds up her hand. “Oh, it turned out. Let me show you, and then we can unload all your bags.”

I set them on the floor and follow her to the kitchen. Rix opens the fridge and carefully retrieves the Just Desserts box, placing it on the counter before she opens the top.

“It’s really fucking corny, isn’t it?” I stare down at the elaborate design and the words printed across the top.

“Oh yeah, it is, but it’s perfect.” She gives my arm a reassuring squeeze. “She’s going to love it. This is how you show Hammer that you know her. That you pay attention, and you are exactly the right person for her.”

“A cake won’t fix what I fucked up,” I grumble.

She rolls her eyes. “Why are you guys so damn literal all the time? The cake isn’t the thing, Hollis. It’s a freaking banana cake with coconut frosting and freaking banana ducks on it that reads I’m bananas over you. Is it ridiculous? Ten out of ten, yes. But Hammer is obsessed with things that smell and taste like bananas. And she has an unreasonable number of banana-duck-inspired things, which shows that you know what she loves. If you weren’t obsessed with her, you wouldn’t know that.”

“I’m not obsessed.”

“You steal her scrunchies, Hollis. You’re obsessed.” She pats my shoulder. “And it’s okay. That’s how it should be.” She puts the cake back in the fridge. “Now let’s get everything set up for mission Woo Hammer.”

“Sounds good.” I’d rather do that than find out how Rix knows about the scrunchies.

I follow Rix to Aurora’s bedroom and stand at the threshold, feeling like I don’t have a right to step inside until I’m invited by Aurora.

Rix gives me a knowing, empathetic smile. “You’re okay. She won’t be upset with either of us when she sees how much thought you’re putting into this.”

I cross the room and set everything on her bed. Where I made love to her for the first time. That was so much more than sex. The connection was life altering, but I’d been too afraid to voice it. “I want Aurora to know I’m serious about her, and not just by throwing money around.”

“If you bought her a gift card, it would be one thing, but you went shopping for her. It’s like when Tristan sends me ice cream, or orders groceries while he’s on an away series. It’s a small thing, but it means a lot.” She motions to the array of items. “You know what makes her happy; you know what she needs. Spoiling her is lovely, but by doing all of this, you’re showing her she’s yours and you’re hers.”

“Thanks for your help. I appreciate it,” I say as we lay everything out.

“I’m glad I can do something other than eat garbage snacks and watch terrible reality shows with her,” Rix replies.

“She really does love them, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, she does.” She gives me a soft smile. “I know you’ve had a lot of people giving you their opinion, Hollis. If I let what everyone else thought interfere with my relationship with Tristan, he and I wouldn’t be where we are. We wouldn’t have worked on the things we needed to be better for each other. You love her; we can all see it. So just love her. Fuck everyone else. Except maybe Roman—his opinion counts, so don’t fuck his.” She cringes. “You know what I mean. Anyway, that’s my unrequested two cents.”

I nod. “You’re a good friend, Rix. Thank you for being there for Aurora when I was over here fucking shit up.”

She shrugs. “She’s done the same for me.”

With the pre-date stuff taken care of, I head up to my penthouse to start my next project. I glance at Roman’s door as I step off the elevator. I’ve given him space, but I don’t want to move forward without talking to him first. So I hit the buzzer.

His voice comes through the intercom. “What?”

“Can we talk?”

Silence follows for several seconds before he finally says, “Talk.”

I prop my hand against the wall and make eye contact with the camera. “Face to face.”

“I might punch yours.”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

The intercom goes silent, and a handful of seconds later, Roman opens the door. He crosses his arms and leans against the jamb. “You have two minutes. I suggest you use them wisely.”

“I messed up, and I betrayed our friendship.”

He blinks at me.

“I’m sorry. I should have gotten over myself and been honest from the start. But more than that, I should never have backed down, and I should never have let Aurora walk away in the first place. You can hate what I’ve done—and me if you need to—but I won’t let her go without a fight. I’m in love with your daughter, Roman. She is it for me. I’ve made the mistake of not putting her ahead of everyone and everything else once. It won’t happen again. You should know I’m pursuing Aurora. I would love to have your blessing, but I won’t wait for it. And I understand that might make this relationship impossible to repair.” I take a breath. “But she is absolutely worth that risk.”

He cocks a brow. “And if she doesn’t want anything to do with you?”

“Then I’ll back off, but I have to try, Roman. I’ve asked her to go on a date with me tomorrow night, and she said yes. I don’t want to come between you. But I can’t let the love of my life go without making a fucking effort, and I hope you respect that.” I wait for him to punch me.

He stares me down for a few long seconds. “It’s about fucking time.” He rubs his bottom lip. “I’m still really pissed at you.”

“I know.”

“Just keep showing up for her, and I’ll get over it, eventually,” he grumbles.

“I won’t walk away again unless she asks me to,” I promise.