Chapter: 1
Theo Lawson
I opened the door.
Knox Callahan stood on my porch.
Beside him was Cole Swift.
Lila’s dad.
I looked at Knox.
Then Cole.
Then back at Knox.
“No.”
Knox’s brow lifted.
“You don’t even know why we’re here.”
“I don’t fucking care.”
Cole laughed.
Actually laughed.
Which somehow made this worse.
I pointed between them.
“The two of you showing up at my house together at almost nine at night is not going to end well for me.”
“He’s smart,” Cole said.
Knox nodded. “That’s why we’re here.”
I stared at them.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
Knox grinned.
“Can we come in?”
I should’ve said no.
Every instinct I had told me to say no.
Instead, I stepped aside.
Because apparently I was a fucking idiot.
They strolled in and sat at my kitchen table.
I looked between the two.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Sit down, son,” Knox said.
I sighed and sat down.
Cole was kind of glaring at me.
Great.
I’d avoided Uncle Cole as much as possible.
Especially after Lila and I split.
That was fucking awkward.
We’d both hurt each other.
There was no doubt about that.
But we’d both gone about it the wrong way.
I probably said some hateful things.
No.
I knew I did.
I still felt horrible about them.
We’d been young.
Heartbroken.
Angry.
And instead of admitting that neither one of us wanted to lose the other, we’d said shit meant to make leaving easier.
It hadn’t.
Seeing her at the Legacy event had damn near stopped my heart.
She was so fucking stunning.
I’d spoken first.
“Hey, Li.”
The nickname I’d always called her.
Then she’d looked at me and said—
“Hey, Theo.”
Fuck.
I missed Lila.
But missing her didn’t mean she wanted me back in her life.
“So,” Knox said.
I blinked.
Right.
Two former Blades members were sitting at my kitchen table.
One of whom was my ex-girlfriend’s father.
Probably shouldn’t mentally spiral about said ex-girlfriend right now.
“What?” I asked.
Knox looked at Cole.
Cole looked at Knox.
I frowned.
“Did you two rehearse this?”
“No,” Cole said.
“Clearly,” Knox muttered.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Knox leaned back.
“I’m going back to the Blades.”
My brows pulled together.
“For what?”
“Head coach.”
I stared at him.
Then laughed.
Neither of them joined me.
My laughter died.
“You’re serious?”
“Yep.”
“Holy shit.”
Knox nodded.
“Pretty much everyone’s reaction.”
I sat back.
“Coach Alan?”
“Staying on as assistant. His idea.”
Well.
Fuck.
I thought about what I’d seen at the Legacy event.
Knox stepping onto that ice.
The players responding to him.
Knight responding to him.
The more I thought about it—
“That makes a lot of fucking sense.”
Knox narrowed his eyes.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
Cole grinned.
“Because you’re apparently the only dumbass who didn’t see it.”
“Fuck you, Swift.”
I laughed.
“Congrats, Uncle Knox.”
“Thanks, kid.”
I smiled.
Then slowly frowned.
“Wait.”
They both looked at me.
“What the hell does this have to do with me?”
Cole leaned back.
Knox rubbed his jaw.
Oh no.
There it was again.
That fucking feeling.
“Beyond the Blades,” Knox said.
I waited.
“I’m not going to be able to do it every week anymore.”
Oh.
That sucked.
Uncle Knox and Cole had been doing that podcast for as long as I could remember.
Hell, we’d all grown up around it.
I remembered being a kid sitting outside the studio while Dad talked shit through the glass and tried to make them laugh.
“So you’re quitting?”
“Not completely. I’ll come on when I can. But coaching has to come first.”
“Obviously.”
“So Cole needs someone else.”
I nodded.
“Okay.”
Silence.
I looked at Knox.
Then Cole.
Then Knox again.
Why were they looking at me like that?
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
Knox grinned.
There was that fucking grin again.
“You still don’t know what I’m asking.”
“Yeah, I fucking do.”
Cole’s mouth twitched.
I pointed at Knox.
“Absolutely not.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re insane.”
“Probably.”
“You want me to replace you?”
“Not replace me.”
“Sit in your chair?”
“Basically.”
“Beside him?”
I pointed at Cole.
Cole’s brow lifted.
“What the fuck is wrong with sitting beside me?”
“Nothing.”
“Didn’t sound like nothing.”
“You’re Lila’s dad.”
There.
I’d said it.
The room went quiet.
Cole’s expression changed.
Knox rubbed a hand over his mouth.
Probably hiding a fucking smile.
I glared at him.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Bullshit.”
Cole leaned forward.
“This isn’t about Lila.”
I looked at him.
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
His voice was firm.
And for the first time since he’d walked in, he wasn’t glaring at me.
“This is about the podcast.”
I swallowed.
“Okay.”
“Knox thinks you’d be good.”
“And you?”
Cole didn’t answer immediately.
Fuck.
Then he nodded.
“I think you’d be damn good.”
That caught me off guard.
“Really?”
“Don’t make me fucking repeat it.”
I laughed quietly.
There was the Uncle Cole I remembered.
Before everything had gotten complicated.
Knox leaned forward.
“You know hockey.”
“I never played professionally.”
“Neither do half the assholes talking about it on TV.”
Cole snorted.
Knox continued.
“You grew up around the Blades. You know the history. You know the current team. You’ve got broadcasting experience.”
“I haven’t done anything this big.”
“Yet.”
I stared at him.
Fuck.
This wasn’t some stupid favor.
They were serious.
Beyond the Blades was huge.
It wasn’t just some podcast Knox and Cole recorded in an old media room in the arena.
Players came on.
Coaches.
Analysts.
Former teammates.
People actually gave a shit about what these two had to say.
And they wanted me.
“Why me?”
Knox shrugged.
“Because you’re good.”
Simple.
Like there wasn’t anything else to say.
I looked at Cole.
He nodded.
“He’s right.”
Fuck.
I ran a hand through my hair.
“This would mean staying here.”
Knox’s brow furrowed.
“Were you planning on leaving?”
“I don’t know.”
That was the truth.
I’d been bouncing around for work.
Taking opportunities where I could get them.
Aurora had always been home.
But staying permanently?
I hadn’t decided.
Then another thought hit me.
Lila.
She was staying too.
I knew that much.
Mom had mentioned she wasn’t leaving Aurora again anytime soon.
If I took this job—
Fuck.
Cole must’ve seen exactly where my head went.
“Theo.”
I looked at him.
“Lila isn’t part of this offer.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
I swallowed.
“Yeah.”
He watched me for a long moment.
Then his voice lowered.
“I don’t hate you, kid.”
Fuck.
I looked away.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
I didn’t answer.
Cole sighed.
“You and my daughter broke each other’s hearts.”
My chest tightened.
“I said shit to her I shouldn’t have.”
“I know.”
Of course he fucking knew.
“She probably told you.”
“Some.”
I rubbed my palms against my jeans.
“I was an asshole.”
“Yeah.”
Well.
Fuck.
Knox coughed into his fist.
I glared at him.
Cole’s mouth twitched.
Then he sobered.
“But you were also what? Nineteen?”
“Yeah.”
“And hurt?”
“Yeah.”
“So was she.”
“I know.”
Cole leaned forward.
“That doesn’t make what either of you said okay.”
“No.”
“But I’m not going to hold something you did at nineteen over your head for the rest of your fucking life.”
I stared at him.
I hadn’t expected that.
At all.
Cole leaned back.
“I watched my daughter cry over you.”
Fuck.
My stomach twisted.
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
I looked down.
“Probably not.”
“And I’m her dad. So yeah, part of me wanted to be pissed at you.”
Fair.
“But I also knew she loved you.”
Loved.
Past tense.
It shouldn’t have fucking hurt.
It did.
“And I knew you loved her.”
My eyes lifted to his.
I didn’t correct him.
Because that part wasn’t past tense.
Cole studied me.
For one terrifying fucking second, I wondered if he knew.
Then Knox broke the silence.
“So.”
I looked at him.
“Are you interested?”
I blew out a breath.
Beyond the Blades.
Working beside Cole Swift.
Talking about the team I’d grown up loving.
Actually getting a chance to build something in broadcasting instead of taking whatever fucking job came next.
It was everything I’d wanted.
Almost.
“Yeah.”
Knox smiled.
“Yeah?”
“I’m interested.”
Cole nodded.
“Good.”
“But I want to think about it.”
“Fair,” Knox said.
I looked at Cole.
“And…”
His brow lifted.
“If Lila has a problem with it, I don’t do it.”
Cole stared at me.
Knox went quiet.
I meant it.
“This is her home too.”
“Theo—”
“I’m serious.”
I shook my head.
“I’m not walking back into her life and making her uncomfortable because somebody offered me a job.”
Cole’s expression softened.
“You don’t have to ask my daughter for permission to have a career.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“I know.”
He stared at me for another second.
Then—
“But maybe you should talk to her.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Cole stood.
“You heard me.”
I stared at Lila Swift’s father.
Had the world fucking ended?
Knox started laughing.
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No. What the fuck is funny?”
He stood too.
“Just didn’t expect Cole to be the one telling you to go talk to Lila.”
“Neither fucking did I.”
Cole glared at both of us.
“I said talk. Don’t make it fucking weird.”
Knox clapped him on the shoulder.
“Way too late for that, buddy.”
Cole shoved his hand off.
“Fuck you.”
They headed toward the door.
I followed them.
Knox stepped outside.
Cole stopped.
He looked at me.
“Theo.”
“Yeah?”
His expression was serious.
“If you take the job, you earned the fucking job.”
I swallowed.
“Thanks, Uncle Cole.”
Something shifted in his face at that.
Maybe because I hadn’t called him that in eighteen months.
He nodded.
“Think about it.”
“I will.”
Then he walked out.
I closed the door behind them.
And stood there.
Beyond the Blades.
Holy fuck.
I should’ve been thinking about the opportunity.
The career.
The fact that Knox Callahan and Cole Swift had just shown up at my fucking house because they thought I was good enough to take Knox’s seat.
Instead, there was only one thing running through my head.
Maybe you should talk to her.
I pulled out my phone.
Opened my contacts.
And stared at a name I hadn’t called in eighteen months.
Li.
I had never changed it.
Fuck.
