Score Her Heart: A Marriage of Convenience Hockey Romance (Philadelphia Bulldogs Book 2) by Danica Flynn (free novels .TXT) 📕

there since before I made it in the league. She knows how important hockey is to me, how important my career is.”

Benny clapped me on the shoulder. “Maybe you should talk to her before we leave for the road,” he suggested.

I sighed. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. Anyway, how are things with Stephanie?”

He gave me an annoyed look, and I held my hands up in surrender. He’d talk about it when he wanted, which was definitely not right now.

I couldn’t badger him anyway because we had arrived at the practice rink, and it was time to get to business. I pushed all thoughts of my wife out of my head as we got down to practice, team meetings, and reviewing game tape. I had to be ready to defend Metz in this upcoming stretch on the road.

I had to be better. I just had to.

Chapter Nine

FIONA

I hadn’t lied to Riley when I said that Katie was going to pick me up from the airport, but she was doing it because her brother still wasn’t out of my apartment yet. I was planning on crashing on Katie’s couch in the meantime because I was pretty sure my husband would not be happy if he found out I was staying in my one-bedroom apartment with my ex. I was kind of miffed about it, but I also hadn’t given Eric a lot of time to get out. I knew I shouldn’t let him walk all over me, especially considering that the apartment was in my name. At the same time, I knew trying to find an apartment in a couple days in this city was hard. So maybe I wasn’t exactly being fair.

I dropped down into the passenger seat of Katie’s car, and she drove off to her place in Mt. Airy. It was technically still Philly, but outside enough that only suburbanites lived there to say that they still lived in Philly. Her place was small, but the rent was cheap. Once we got to her apartment, I dumped my bags on her floor and sunk into her couch.

She sat on the loveseat next to me. “I tried to get my brother to come here while he looked for a new place, but no go,” she explained with a sad smile. “I’m sorry. I always knew my brother was an asshole, but I never knew how much.”

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. It was all tangled from having slept with it a little damp last night. But also probably from the way Riley had manhandled me while we fucked last night. Not that I was complaining about that; Riley and I seemed to be on the same level when it came to that. I pulled my hair on top of my head and found a hair tie in my bag to secure it in a messy bun.

“Thanks for trying,” I told her, and honestly, I was thankful that she was trying. Katie was a good friend.

She eyed my left hand, where I still wore the plain silver wedding band. “So, what’s going on?” she asked.

“I don’t even know. I asked him for a divorce.”

She looked surprised at that. “Really? Why?”

I gave her a dirty look. “Why? We got married on a whim after your brother, who I dated for five years, left me at the altar!”

“You know I don’t approve of what he did. He told me you talked, and I think maybe it was better you didn’t end up together. He never was supportive of your work, and that always pissed me off.”

I nodded and was reminded again of how in two days, my new husband was already more supportive of my writing than my ex of half a decade had been. Was that because Riley and I had been friends since before we could talk? We knew a lot about each other, so maybe that was why he was so supportive. I mean, I had a freaking Google alert set for him. I wanted him to succeed. He worked so hard to be good at hockey, and I always kept tabs on him. I think my heart had soared with pride when he signed his big contract with the Bulldogs.

“So, are you gonna get divorced?” she asked with a cock of her eyebrow. “I would think no since you’re still wearing that ring. By the way, sorry I got you the plainest thing ever.”

I shook my head. “This is fine; you really helped us out. It was a little impulsive, though. I still can’t believe we got married. But he wants to give it a shot.”

She glared at me. “Then what the fuck are you doing here complaining to me about it? I don’t understand why you’re not with him now.”

I sighed again. “I don’t know if this was a good idea. Maybe we should get a clean divorce and go back to being friends.”

“Okay, but you’re still wearing your ring, so I feel like a part of you wants it to be a good idea,” she argued. “You, um…spent your wedding night tonight, right?” She waggled her eyebrows at me.

I put my hands over my face. “Um…yeah, you could say that,” I said between my fingers.

She barked out a laugh. “Oh my God, how many times?”

I squinted at her. “Like the night of our wedding? Or since we’ve been married?”

Her eyes were wide. “Oh my God, are you admitting that Aaron Riley has enough stamina to go more than once in a night? Okay, girl, I need details.”

I laughed at her. “Um…yeah, we had sex like three times on our wedding night. And twice yesterday.”

She howled with laughter. “Get it, girl! Damn, does he have any single teammates? I could use a man who can go all night. So...I’m guessing it was good, huh?”

“Really good,” I admitted.

She laughed again. “Feel free to not answer this, but what’s a big guy like him like between the sheets?”

I glared at her but