Page 101 of Saving Forever
Tears fill my eyes, but I don’t have time to get emotional or to deal with the way Viktor goes hot and cold. Everything is too raw at the moment.
And sadly, my husband just isn’t my priority.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Viktor
I’m definitely distracted.
We take a loss for game four and this time it’s my fault. I want to pretend I’m some kind of machine who can put everything out of my mind and just focus on hockey but it appears that I’m only human. And the scope of what Holly is going through is weighing on me. Kelly has been keeping me updated and I’m equal parts pissed off and heartbroken.
I don’t know much about the birds, but even my father got emotional when I told him what happened. If I didn’t know better, I would say his eyes got misty when I told him about the male peacock being killed.
“We must help,” he says emphatically. “Your friends, the team, they can send money.”
I nod, surprised that this has impacted him so much. I was already planning to ask my teammates to make donations to the sanctuary, but I want to run it past Coach Teller first, just in case it’s inappropriate.
“Of course,” he says when I bring it up the next day. “Whatever you need. Also, if you’re worried about her safety in the aftermath, I think I can help with that as well.”
“Yes?” I look up in surprise.
“My son’s mother is remarried to a man named Darryl, and he used to own one of the most elite security and bodyguard companies in the country. He sold it when we all decided to move to Atlanta so we wouldn’t have to separate the kids, but he still does consulting. I’ll bet he would be willing to help out for a while, until the police find who did this.”
“I will pay,” I say quickly.
He shakes his head. “No, this is a gift from me, so to speak. For someone to do something like that to a non-profit animal sanctuary, that’s bullshit. Let me give him a call and then you can give me Holly’s information so he can reach out to her.”
“Thank you,” I say solemnly. “And I am sorry for last night’s game.”
“You didn’t lose it by yourself,” he says. “But we’ll rally next game. I have faith in you guys. You didn’t think a tough team like Alaska was just going to fold, did you?”
I chuckle, though I’m not nearly as optimistic as he is. “No.”
“Trust me,” he says quietly. “I’ll handle the team—and you just have to let me help out with your wife. Okay?”
I nod again, though I’m sure he can tell my heart isn’t in it.
“Let me ask you a question,” he says after a moment. “What does being on a team mean to you?”
I frown. The nuances of these types of questions sometimes get lost in translation, so to speak. I’ve gotten a lot better with basic English words but idioms and slang still confuse me. “I don’t…understand,” I admit.
“The Thunder is currently a team. Yes, we’ve all played elsewhere. Most of us know we could get traded or fired at any given time, but right now, in this era of the championship, we are a team. A unit. What does that mean to you?”
“Everything,” I reply honestly. “Of course, not more than my family or something serious like health, but in this moment, the team is everything.”
He nods. “Right. Do you support your teammates?”
“Of course.”
“Do you support me?”
“Yes.” I have a feeling I know where this is going.
“So trust me, and the rest of the team, to have your back while your wife is going through something at home. I can’t fix it, and I know it’s going to be hard as hell for you to focus, but I’m able to take one small thing off your plate—her safety. Does that help?”
A rush of gratitude fills me and for the first time in my career, I feel like I’m part of something that goes beyond hockey. That’s what brought us together but this inaugural season has been so much more.
Camaraderie. Friendship. A sense of belonging. In spite of the language barrier.
