Lucky Hit (Swift Hat-Trick Trilogy Book 1)

Vancouver sports reporters are waiting for me at the airport. The moment I grab my luggage, they swarm, shouting and taking pictures. My grip on my bag tightens as I toss it over my shoulder and head for the exit. The questions follow me, but just like Dougie told me to before I got on the plane, I ignore them all.

“Can you confirm your relationship with the Minnesota Woodmen?”

“Harvey Anderson told The Hockey Catch-up show in an interview this morning that you were considering all of your options, is that true?”

“Who is Octavia Layton?”

My head snaps up at her name. I find the reporter at the front of the pack, a tiny recorder in his fingers held out in my direction. My jaw pops.

“She’s not your concern,” I grit out, picking up my pace.

“How does she feel about your blooming relationship with Veronica?” he shouts.

My tongue burns as I bite down on it, hating that I can’t say anything yet without seeing Dougie face to face and creating an official statement. My silence feels like a confirmation for every asshole out there who has taken the time to spiel bullshit about my relationship, and it looks like it, too. Twitter has had too much to say about the entire situation. Some bad, some alright, and some downright awful. I fell down the rabbit hole this morning while waiting to board my plane, and I saw a side of social media that made me sick to my stomach.

Sellout, spoiled brat, arrogant prick. I know they’re all untrue and that it’s mostly the fans’ way of expressing their frustration, but it’s a hard pill to swallow, feeling like you’re public enemy number one over a scheme you had no part in.

I don’t know how everything got so goddamn messy, but I’m struggling to stumble my way to clear ground. For the thousandth time today, my chest tightens.

Ava’s sudden silence told me everything I needed to know once I finally got back to my hotel room last night. Seeing her missed calls and unanswered text when I plugged my dead phone into the charger was alcohol on a fresh wound, but her denying my calls since? Fuck.

I don’t blame her for taking space, but it still feels wrong. This entire situation does. It only frustrates me more knowing that Dougie is waiting for me outside to take me home and that she can’t be my first stop, regardless of how badly I want to run to her.

For the first time in my life, I don’t think my future in the NHL is my top priority, and I’m not as terrified of that as I thought I would be.

Fuck it.

I bump shoulders with someone as I quicken my pace and start to slip through the travellers hanging around the airport. The hurried footsteps behind me have dulled a bit, which I hope means I’ve lost some of my entourage.

Relief washes over me when I see Dougie waiting by the sliding doors. He’s sliding an arm across my back and pulling me outside as soon as I reach him.

“Bad?” he asks gruffly, not sparing a backward glance.

“Define bad.”

“Right. Never mind. Just get in the car.”

His new Audi sparkles beneath the sun as he unlocks the doors and jogs to the driver’s side. I toss my bag into the back seat before slipping into the passenger side and finally letting the tension leak from my muscles.

I run a hand over my face as he peels away from the pickup lane and takes off. The GPS on the dash is set for his penthouse, and panic runs through me.

“I need to go somewhere before we start to figure this mess out,” I tell him.

His laugh is rough. “No. This is top priority. I know you want to see your girl, but your career comes first.”

“Does it?”

He whips his head in my direction long enough to show his surprise before saying, “It always has.”

“Things changed.”

He scoffs a laugh. “Apparently. I didn’t know it was that serious.”

“I love her. Have for a long time. Probably since the second I saw her.” I tap my fingers on my knee. “Having a chance to explain this mess to her right now, before anything, that feels right. Everything else can wait.”

He nods slowly. “You’re sure? The longer you take to nip this in the bud, the worse it’s going to get and the more rumours are going to pop up. This shit will spread like weeds in the wind if you don’t put out a statement.”

I know I’ve made the right decision when I still don’t waver. “You want my girl’s address now?”

Dougie shakes his head and laughs incredulously. “Yeah, now’s good.”

AVA

Rebecca is supposed to meet me at a coffee shop I’ve never been to before in twenty minutes. Maybe it’s petty, but when I decided on a whim this morning to see her and called to invite her to coffee, the last thing I wanted was to taint one of my favourite places with her memory. My coffee shop is a sacred space for Adam and me. It’s not for her.

Meeting her now in the mindset that I’ve been in since last night probably isn’t the best idea, but it’s now or never. She wants me to hear her out, and I plan to, but my mind is pretty much made up. I need to lay this to rest and move on with my life.

Tyler was right. I’m not someone who can just be thrown away and picked back up again at any time. I’m worth more than that.

I make it to the coffee shop with ten minutes to spare, so I take my time ordering a black coffee and then find a table in a more secluded area to wait.

An older couple sits at the table across from me, sipping their giant, steaming white cups while staring at each other with warm eyes. The man sets down his drink and takes his wife’s hands in his before raising them to his lips, a sight that makes me think about all of the times Oakley has done the same.

The invisible hands around my heart squeeze. I should text him back, even just to say I’m happy he made it home safely, but I decide against it just like I have every single time I’ve thought about doing the same thing.

I just need some space. Some breathing room to find my bearings. Oakley is a man who has the world at his fingertips, and I’m a woman who knows exactly what my future should look like. Or I did, before we met.

I was supposed to focus on my schooling, graduate with great grades, and then find my dream job. Finding someone along the way wasn’t the plan. But that’s not how it worked out, and now I have to navigate a road that I didn’t imagine driving. One that seems to be scarier than all the others.

I don’t doubt Oakley’s devotion to me and to our relationship. He would do anything it takes for us to succeed, but I’m stuck between wanting to let him and telling him that he’s better off without the stress of it.

The screech of a chair being pulled across the hardwood floor snaps me out of my thoughts.

“Hello, Ava. You look beautiful,” Rebecca says as she drops into the seat across from me. She sets her designer handbag on the table and smiles.

“Thanks. So do you.” It’s true. She looks like a million dollars.

Her long brown hair is twisted into a neat knot at the back of her head, and her makeup is glowy, looking almost airbrushed. The tight jeans cupping her narrow hips are tucked inside a pair of ankle-height brown boots with little gold charms dangling from the zippers.

She looks surprised by my compliment but hides it well. I gulp my coffee. Questions nip at me, one after the other until my head is swelling with them.

I tap the rim of my coffee cup and decide to get on with it. There’s no point in small talk. “Did you ever leave Vancouver, or have you been here this entire time?”

She doesn’t hesitate. “Well, after your father left, everything is a bit of a blur. Shortly after I . . . well, I moved from place to place for a few years. I had a few boyfriends before I found Link, the man I’ve been with for a while. He has a house here in Vancouver that I’ve been staying at.”

Ah, Link. The rich guy she’s taking advantage of has a name.

I nod. “How long have you been clean?”

“Since I came to see you for the first time.”

Her blazing green eyes burn into mine, and for a moment, I vaguely wonder what features I get from my birth father.

“Why come back now?”

She fights off a shiver, but I see it. The way her gaze flits around the room has my gut screaming at me to get up and leave.

“Can’t a mother just want to see her daughter?” Her voice cracks, shakes.

“Daughter?” I echo incredulously. “I’m not sure who you think you are, but you are not my mom. You’re nothing more than the woman who dumped me in the system before I was out of diapers,” I hiss through my teeth, and I take a deep breath before continuing. “Do you have any idea what my life was like growing up? Do you ever think of the damage you’ve done? Do you even care?”

“Ava, can we please go—”

“Outside? Sure.” I make a beeline for the door. Her heeled boots click against the tiled floor as she tries to keep up with me. I rush out to the side of the building and whirl on her.

“You have to understand, Ava. I wasn’t ready to be a mom back then.”

I laugh humourlessly and cross my arms. “And that was my fault? Because I was the one who was punished. Not you.”

She flinches, her mouth agape.

I take a breath, grappling with the hold I have on my anger as it starts to slip away. “Look, if you came here with hopes of being a parent, you’re too late. I already have a mom—a mom who took me in and loved me when you abandoned me. Lily and Derek gave me everything I always wanted. They cleaned up your mess for you. You’re too late.”

A wall of guilt hits me. I shouldn’t even have spent a minute of my time on this woman. Especially not when I have a family of my own, one who has done so much for me over the years. It feels like a slap in the face to them now.

“I know. But I’m here now, and even if you can’t give me that place in your life, I want to at least have something. We’re family, and I really want you to meet Link. Both you and your boyfriend. We can have dinner together or something!”

“I don’t want to meet your boyfriend. I don’t want to have dinners together as if we’re some kind of family when we’re the furthest thing from it. You might be happy with your life now, Rebecca, and I’m happy for you, I really am. But I don’t want to be a part of it.”

It’s like she’s not listening because she reaches for my hands as if to cradle them in hers, but I pull them back before she can.

“Please just give it a chance. What does Oakley think about this? Wouldn’t he want you to give me a shot? Don’t be hasty here, Ava, please.”

I freeze, my muscles turning to lead. Pain flares in my chest as I take a step back and stare at the woman in front of me. She swallows hard, guilt sparking in her eyes.

“I’ve never told you Oakley’s name before” is all I say.

“Now, honey—”

I throw a hand in the air, cutting her off. “When did you find out I was with Oakley?”

The pictures of us broke only a few weeks before Rebecca showed up at my mom’s house . . . oh, God. I grab at my chest, wishing I could reach inside and feel for myself the cracks in my heart as they spread.

“Let me guess, you saw the photos of us and figured my relationship with this year’s top NHL prospect would secure you a nice payday?”

Silence.

“How did you realize it was me? I’m not a baby anymore.”

More silence.

“Answer me! Tell me how you got my records from the system and how you even knew I was your daughter in the first place. Tell me what you want from me before I turn around and leave. Because once I do, you’ll never see me again.”

Finally, she parts her lips on a sigh and reaches for me once more. But just like I did the first time, I flinch away.

“Link, my boyfriend . . . he’s a new agent. I met him after he had just signed his first client, some forty-something guy looking for someone cheap. He’s had trouble finding new players for a couple years, but he has money—he grew up with it. He’s been taking care of me, but I was starting to feel like a freeloader, you know? I wanted to pull my weight.”

She pauses, staring at me like she’s hoping I’ll tell her to stop and apologize for demanding answers. Slim chance of that happening. I lift my brows and nod for her to continue, keeping my walls high, impenetrable.

“Link had been talking about Oakley for a while. Said he was going to be a career maker for any agent out there—”

“Oakley already has an agent. He’s been with Dougie for years,” I snap.

“That doesn’t matter, Ava. Not to guys who are as hungry as Link is.”

I ignore that and nod again.

She sighs. “He saw the photos of you online. At first, he didn’t know who you were, but I did. As soon as I saw you, I recognized those eyes. My eyes. And then Link told me your name, and I was sure it wasn’t just a coincidence. So I told him that I knew who you were, and the next day, he was dropping me off in front of a small office building with a purse full of cash. It was easy to get your records then. Everything is easier with money, Ava. You’ll learn that soon.”

I recoil, my lip curling. “You bribed a worker for my records? What the hell is wrong with you?”

She looks surprised by my disgust, and that only makes it worse. “I couldn’t risk not knowing for sure. But what does it matter now? Look at us, baby. We can be a family.”

“What are you talking about? No, we can’t. Do you really have no idea what you’ve done? You were trying to deceive me into letting you back into my life under the pretense of love and family when you only wanted a connection to Oakley. This was all about money to you. Not me. It’s never been about me.”

I’m crying now, and I furiously wipe them away as they cascade down my cheeks. Anger, hurt, betrayal. God, I feel like a cocktail of them all. What was I thinking, letting her back into my life for even a second?

What an idiot.

“It might not have started that way, but once we started talking and I saw you in person, I decided I wanted a chance. A real chance. Oakley potentially meeting with Link and taking him on as his agent was just a bonus,” she defends.

I double blink, genuinely shocked at how ridiculous this entire situation is. “Every single thing coming out of your mouth is disgusting. You don’t even see what you’ve done wrong, and that’s enough for me. Oakley would never, ever leave Dougie to sign with a rookie agent who’s never worked with someone of his calibre before. You wasted your time, Rebecca. It was all for nothing.”

“Ava? Baby? What’s going on?”

Heat hits my back at the same time an arm wraps around me from behind, the hold tight. Relief has my muscles turning to goo as I relax against Oakley’s chest. His breath tickles the back of my ear when he asks, “Are you okay?”

I nod, but it’s a tired effort. “What are you doing here?”

“I came by the apartment, and Morgan said you were here.”

Flutters fill my stomach, and I let them stay. I didn’t know how much I wanted him here with me for this until now. It’s like I can finally take a real breath.

“I want to go home.”

“Soon.” He kisses the side of my head and pulls me closer. “What are you doing with Ava?” he asks the woman watching us with wide, eager eyes.

“Oakley Hutton,” Rebecca gasps, extending her hand out in front of her. “I’m Ava’s mother.”

Oakley stiffens behind me and makes no move to shake her hand. Once she slowly brings it back to her side, he asks, “What did you do?”

“Leave it. It’s not worth it,” I tell him.

“But she hurt you.”

I smile softly, unable to hold it back. He’s so protective. I’ve never felt safer with anyone.

Turning to tuck my face into his chest, I feel him shiver before palming the back of my head and pressing careful fingers into my scalp.

“She did. But she won’t ever hurt me again. Now, please take me home,” I whisper.

“Oakley, we need to go. There’s a fucking reporter over there.” It’s a man. His voice comes from somewhere behind us.

Oakley’s fingers pause their comforting movements as he growls, “Did you call someone here?”

He’s not asking me, which means the question is meant for Rebecca. Bitterness turns my stomach as I let that sink in.

“You called someone here to take pictures of us? Wow. This entire thing was a ploy, wasn’t it?” I ask, spinning out of Oakley’s embrace and pinning Rebecca with my glare.

She drops her eyes to her boots. “Link did.”

“Who the fuck is Link?” Oakley snaps.

“Oakley!” the man calls for a second time. “Now!”

A flash comes from behind a lineup of parked cars along the curb before Oakley sets his arm on my shoulders and pulls me into his side as we turn around and start heading away from Rebecca.

I pick up my pace, trying to keep up with Oakley.

Not once do I turn back to see if she’s still there. Even after I’m ushered into a black car and driven away from the coffee shop, I don’t look back.