Lucas had thought they would sweep Winnipeg like they had the Hawks. Winnipeg was the second wild card, and also, they weren’t playing as well as they had at the beginning of the series. But those buggers pushed the Assassins to six games. And damn it, Lucas was pretty sure his hip would never be the same after a nasty hit from one of Winnipeg’s giant defensemen.

But he scored, his first goal of the play-offs.

And that dulled the pain a bit.

A small bit.

“Babe, can you bring me a soda?”

Tate laughed beside him, shaking his head. “Still can’t move?”

Lucas nodded down to the ice pack on his hip. “Don’t laugh at me. This was you the other day when I was at your house.”

“Touché.”

Aiden chuckled from the oversize chair before popping up and heading toward the kitchen. “I’ll get it, Dad.”

“You’re my favorite.”

“Don’t let the girls hear you say that,” he teased, and Lucas laughed as the TV took his attention. The Islanders and Capitals were battling in game seven for the chance to play the Assassins. If Lucas had his choice, he’d rather have the Islanders since their play wasn’t consistent, but he was pretty sure the Capitals were going to take it. Which meant the Assassins had some work to do and lots of tape to watch.

Yay.

When Aiden came back with the soda, he handed it to Lucas and then one to Tate before falling back into the chair, his legs folding against his chest, which made Lucas roll his eyes. The kid was huge, but he balled up like a cat.

“Uncle Tate, do you think this is good?”

Lucas looked over to Asher, who was on his computer, playing around with the logo of Audrey’s cupcakery, per her request. The kid had done some awesome work with Fallon’s logo, and now Audrey wanted the same thing. His little computer genius, who would have thought it? Especially when he sucked ass on computers—and all electronics.

Yeah, Asher was Fallon’s kid.

“I love it.”

“Cool. I’m gonna go show her.”

When he got up, the period had just ended, and Tate looked over to Aiden. “Things good, Aiden? With the college?”

Aiden beamed over as he nodded, excitement filling his face. “Yeah. They are sending my transcripts, and I’ve already started my classes for the summer. Since I had enough credits to graduate, minus these two, they are thinking it will be a breeze for me. Guidance is awesome at my school.”

“Which is why the school costs a lot,” Lucas added, and Aiden nodded.

“Basically.”

“But you’re still in the rink every day, right? No slacking for school?”

Lucas glared over at his best friend. “Hey, I need the kid to be smart too.”

“Yeah, but that’s already done. He needs to stay on his training.”

Aiden nodded. “I am, Uncle Tate.”

“Good, don’t get weak.”

Tate might be hanging his skates up, which scared the shit out of Lucas, but he sure as hell didn’t want him scaring his son. “He’s good, bro.”

“I know. I worry.”

“We all do,” Lucas added as he cringed, shifting his weight over. “Don’t get old either, kid. It hurts.”

Aiden laughed as Tate nodded. “This is very true.”

“Duly noted.”

They watched the highlights of the first and second periods. The Caps were up by two, which in any sport would be a shoo-in for them. But this was hockey, and in hockey, anything could change within a second. Emery came running into the living room, jumping over the back of the couch and to the spot between Lucas and Tate, and they both looked down at her as she announced, “I want to be a gymnast.”

Tate only blinked, while Lucas shook his head. “I thought you wanted to be a winery owner like Momma?”

“No, I don’t want to drink wine. I want to do flips for money.”

“That’s a monkey, sis. Not a gymnast,” Aiden called to her, and she stuck her tongue out.

“Daddy, please?”

Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her nose. “What do I tell you?”

“I can be anything I wanna be as long as I work for it.”

“Exactly.”

“Then I’m gonna work for it,” she said before flipping off the back of the couch with flair. That was, until she landed very heavily on the hardwood floor, and the screaming started.

“Aiden, can you make sure she didn’t break anything?” Lucas asked with his eyes on the TV, hoping all the hollering was just his sweet girl being her overdramatic self.

“What is going on?” Fallon yelled from the kitchen. “Why is she screaming like that?”

“Not sure yet,” he called as Aiden hopped up, and when his eyes widened, Lucas heaved a deep sigh.

“Um, I don’t think her arm is supposed to be bent like that.”

An hour later, Lucas held Emery in his arms as the doctors decided she needed surgery to fix the snap in her arm. As she leaned her head on his chest, she let out a long breath while Fallon stood by the door on the phone with Aiden and Audrey. “Daddy.”

“Yeah, love bug?”

“When my arm is better, can I still be a gymnast?”

He smiled. “Yeah, baby.”

“This is just a small setback,” she decided, and he chuckled.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. I’m going to do great things.”

Or she’d burn the world down. One of the two. He held his baby to his chest, and he kissed her softly as he whispered, “You sure are.”

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, love?”

“Can you not leave anymore?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want you to leave me anymore.”

“Baby, I have to, it’s my job.”

“But not today?”

“Not today. Today, I’m here with you.”

“Okay,” she said softly, and the guilt ate away at him. That was the worst part of his job. Leaving his family, especially when they were little and broken like Emery was. A part of him wished he didn’t have to leave. But then, what would he do? He had to leave for hockey. That was a given. No, she’d be okay, just like the other kids had been over the years.

Hanging up the phone, Fallon met his gaze and shook her head. “The kids are in bed, and Audrey just left.”

“Good.”

“You still have that meeting in the morning, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, any chance you can push it back?”

“I’ll text Elli once Emery goes back.”

“Okay,” Fallon said, and he knew she was losing her shit inside. She didn’t do broken bones or injuries well. As he sat there watching her, a grin on his face, he remembered the time he hit Aiden in the arm with a puck. She flipped her ever-loving shit, and he swore he had never seen a woman love her child the way Fallon loved Aiden. But then he got to watch her love Asher, Stella, and Emery, and he was convinced he would never love anyone the way he loved her.

“I love you, baby,” he called to her, and she looked over at him, a smile pulling at her lips.

“I love you too,” she answered, coming to him and kissing his lips before kissing Emery’s head. “Oh, the Caps won.”

Sucking in a breath, he nodded as his lips dusted the top of Emery’s head.

So it was the Caps.

In the finals.

The Assassins had this.

He hoped.

* * *

“Thanks for letting me push this back until after lunch.”

Elli nodded, her lips curved as she sat down behind her desk. “No problem at all. How’s Emery?”

“Good, the surgery was quick and easy, and she’s all casted up. Fallon should be taking her home in a bit,” he said, shaking his head. The night had been eventful, for sure. He was dead on his feet, which sucked because, after this meeting with his boss and his agent, he had a team meeting. He was excited to get this series started, but he hated watching the tapes and attending the meetings. He was ready to hit the ice, even though his hip was still aching and he was worried for his baby girl. Emery wasn’t one to sit still, and that made him nervous. He just hoped that cast was good and strong. He actually asked for them to wrap her up twice. They’d just laughed, but he was serious.

“God, that girl…”

He laughed as Elli shook her head. “She’s her daddy made over. I broke more bones than I care to admit. My mom was laughing on the phone, but I think she’s gonna come in to help while I’m gone. Since Aiden is going to be busy and all.”

Elli beamed. “I heard. I’m so proud of him. I think we should throw him a big shindig at the end of the summer for his graduation.”

His heart skipped a beat. Elli loved his kids like her own, but then, that was Elli. She loved everyone. With her whole soul. “He would love that, thank you.”

“I’ll get on that,” she promised. Lucas nodded as she folded her hands together and looked back up at him. “But let’s get down to business, shall we?”

He nodded. “Sounds good. Where do I sign?”

Elli bit into her lip as she let out a deep sigh. “You’re not.” He could only blink, completely confused, as she held his gaze. “You know I love you, more than a lot of the players I have on my team, and I’m going to try to say this without crying… Nope, not gonna happen.” She paused, sucking in a breath before wiping her eyes and looking back to him. “Lucas, I can’t re-sign you.”

“Excuse me?”

* * *

“Fallon!”

Fallon was a little taken aback by the tone of her husband’s voice as she popped her head out of the kitchen when he came rushing into the house. “Yeah?”

His face was red, his shoulders taut, and she knew that something was wrong right off the bat. As he came toward her, he asked, “Where are the kids?”

“Upstairs. They’re lying down with Emery. What’s wrong?”

“Is Emery okay?”

“She’s good. What’s wrong?”

“Elli isn’t re-signing me.” Fallon’s jaw dropped, and all she could do was blink. “She isn’t fucking re-signing me. I’m done with the Assassins after this series. Done. I’ve been with them for almost ten years, and I’m done. I have to go to another team. But my agent doesn’t even know if anyone will want to pick me up because I’m too fucking old.”

Her heart jumped up into her throat. “That’s not true. You’re experienced, you’re a damn good, gritty player. Someone will want you.”

“Fuck. Damn it, Fal. I don’t want to go anywhere else. We’re happy here. We have a life here. The kids are happy, Aiden is going to Bellevue, and…fuck.” She only nodded, her heart pounding so hard. “Fuck, you have the winery in the arena. Fuck. I fucked this all up. I didn’t play hard enough, I didn’t train hard enough, I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, I don’t know. Damn it.” His shoulders fell as he leaned into the counter, his neck unable to hold his head up as he shook it.

Coming up to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, nuzzling her nose in his back as her heart went wild in her chest. “You did everything right, Lucas. It isn’t your fault you’re getting older. That’s the beautiful thing about life…while, right now, I know it doesn’t seem that way.”

“No. It doesn’t.”

“I know, I’m sorry. But, baby, it’s okay. Someone will want you. You’re amazing and so damn good. Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.”

“I don’t want to uproot us,” he whispered, and her heart broke. She didn’t want that either. Everything was here. The kids’ schools, Aiden was going to college here, her business, Audrey and the kids and Tate. Her friends, their friends, the kids’ friends. They had a life here. A great life.

But that didn’t matter.

“We’ll be fine. As long as we’re together. Don’t worry.”

Turning, he looked down at her. “Fallon, don’t lie to me. You don’t want to leave.”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Not even in the least. But when I married you, I promised to follow you to the ends of the earth and more, and I will because I love you, Lucas Brooks, and I believe in you. Does it scare the living fuck out of me? Yes. But I will go for you. Though, I have to tell you, I’ll be coming home on the weekends to check on Aiden and my business because Rob can’t do it without me., And your momma might need to move in with us to watch the kids when I have to fly back, but I will do it for you—”

“Fallon, stop.” She snapped her mouth shut. “All that, you’d do for me?”

“Over and over again,” she promised. “You’re my everything, my husband, Lucas. And as long as we’re together, we are strong.”

“But it won’t be easy.”

“But we’ll be together.”

Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her nose and then the side of her mouth, letting his lips linger as he drew in a deep breath. “I’m scared, Fal.”

She closed her eyes as she nodded. “Me too. So scared.”

“But you had a plan in ten seconds flat.”

“Because one of us has to stay on our toes, and you have so much going on—”

“You do too, though.”

“I’m used to it. And the thing is, Lucas,” she said, pulling back to grasp his face, “I’ve got us, the kids, the house, the family. I’ve got that part. You just need to love us and kick ass on the ice, and I promise we’ll be fine.”

His eyes filled with love as he sighed. “You shouldn’t have to do it all yourself, though.”

She shrugged. “I’ve been doing it like this for nearly ten years. Don’t you worry about me, worry about your career.”

Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her lips hard as her heart steadied in her chest, though she was internally freaking the fuck out. “I love you, Fallon Brooks.”

Leaning her head into his nose, she closed her eyes. “I love you more.”

“I don’t want to tell the kids about this yet.”

“Let’s wait till we know more.”

“Okay,” he said, kissing her once more. “I’m going to go lie down with them.”

“Okay,” she said as she kissed his jaw.

“Thank you, baby.”

“Always,” she said as he kissed her again before turning and hobbling away. His damn hip was still giving him a problem.

Before he could turn the corner though, she said, “Babe, you could retire.”

He paused, looking back at her. “What?”

She held her hands up. “Now, I say this with love, but, Lucas, you’re falling apart. You’re always in pain, baby. And you said it yourself, you don’t want to uproot us.”

“But you just said we’d be fine.”

“And we will be. But what I mean is that you’ve had a good twenty years in this sport. That’s a great, long run, and I’m so proud of you. I am. But maybe you should think about retiring.”

“I don’t want to retire,” he said simply, holding her gaze. “I want to play.”

“Okay.”

“That’s all I am, a hockey player. I have nothing to fall back on.”

She held her hands up once more. “That’s a fucking lie, and you know it.”

“Huh?”

“You are a great dad, for one, a wonderful and supportive husband, for two. You could run my business with both hands tied behind your back—not that I’d let you because I love my business—but you could. You could coach, you could scout, I bet Elli would give you a job in a heartbeat. There are options.”

He held her gaze and then shrugged. “But I still want to play.”

Her shoulders dropped. But then, what did she expect? He was a hockey player, through and through. It was his life, his dream, and she’d known that going in. As much as she didn’t want to uproot her family and move to wherever he was signed to, that’s what she signed up for. “Then play, babe.”

Turning, she went to the sink, needing to get the dishes in the dishwasher so they had something to eat on. The silence stretched between them. He hadn’t moved. He was thinking, and she knew this wasn’t something to decide lightly. He really needed to think this through, and she had to trust his decision. If there was one thing she knew about Lucas, it was that he wouldn’t do anything that would hurt his family in the long run. He might be a hockey player to the bottom of his soul, but she and the kids were his life.

“Would you still love me? If I retired and I wasn’t the hotshot anymore?”

Her lips slowly curved before she glanced over at him. “I’ll always love you, Lucas. You’ll always be my hotshot.”

“I don’t have to decide now, though.”

“No. Not at all.”

“Okay. I’m going to go lie with the kids.”

“I’ll do the dishes.”

Coming to her, he kissed the back of her head as he held her close to him. “I’d be empty without you.”

Smiling gently, she leaned into him. “Same here, big guy.”

Kissing her once more, he whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you.”

As he walked away, she knew that would always be a fact.

But her future…that was up in the air.

And it scared the hell out of her.