Yet here was Emmersyn, recognizing in some way the work, the sacrifice, the dedication involved in all of it to get to that part.

“I think if you stripped away our moneys, you’d find we’re even more alike.”

“Yeah?” She smiled as sweat beaded at her temples, dots of it slid down her cleavage.

“Yeah. Like you said, we were raised right. To respect and leave the world a better place than when you found it and take care of everyone you meet, regardless of what that looks like. You come from good stock, Emmersyn. And your grandparents would be proud of you.”

It might have been sweat. Might have been tears. She wiped her eyes and sniffed and smiled at me, a smile so blinding with her bright white teeth and pillowy lips I was lost in it.

“Thanks, Kane. That means a lot.”

“Right. Now, how about we shower off this sweat and nastiness and get to bed?”

Come and eat lunch with us. We’re headed to Carbone’s at noon.

Our team started a tradition years ago. On game days, after our morning skate, media meetings, and then team meetings, we went to lunch at Carbone’s within Aria’s Resort and Casino. We have a team chef who prepares meals for our dinners, but those are always high protein and lighter so we’re not weighed down. We’d been going there so often now, the restaurant had our schedule, knew when to expect us, and would have our favorite meals prepared so we didn’t need to wait long.

It was only a couple minutes before Emmersyn texted back. Are you sure?

Far as I knew, wives had never been invited. I was breaking protocol. Who gave a shit. I’d woken up with my arms around Emmersyn this morning and had to slink out of there without waking her. We hadn’t even done anything last night. I was so tired after the sauna and shower that I simply pulled her into my bed, tucked her in close, and turned on the television, where she forced me to watch Dirty Dancing.

Hell yeah, I’m sure. I’ll send you the menu. Text me your order. Grab an Uber ride and I’ll drive us back home after.

This time, her reply was instant. Okay. Since I have nothing better to do ;-)

I’d give her something better to do. Me. After lunch. I’d make sure she wore me out nice and slow so I could take a nap before I had to come back to the arena for the game.

See you soon.

“Ready, slowpoke?”

I pretended to chuck my phone at Ryder’s face and laughed when he flinched. “Yeah. Come on.” I threw my arm around his shoulder, slapping him once, and we followed the rest of the team from the media area to the team’s meeting room. We fell into leather chairs, and like we were automated, all of us grabbed the tablets in front of us, unlocked them, and waited for Coach Vik to get done with the media briefings so we could run through last-minute videos.