Pucking Strong: An MM Workplace Hockey Romance (Jacksonville Rays Book 4)

The Present

My phone buzzes as the coffee cart barista hands me my latte. “Thanks, Kelly.”

“Good to see you again, Teddy,” she chimes. “We sure missed you around here.”

Smiling, I take a sip of my coffee and check my phone. It’s my sister. Again. She’s been pestering me all morning.

I groan, quickly shooting her a message back.

There’s a long pause before she replies.

I sigh. Well, it was worth a shot. As the baby and only boy of the family, it’s been difficult to shift the impression they all have of me as helpless and hopeless, constantly in need of saving. It’s so frustrating. They have to let me grow up sometime.

She’s right though. I do need to update my mail.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in!”

I spin away from the coffee cart to see Brad Brady crossing the atrium towards me. With his pale skin, square-framed glasses, and Clark Kent haircut, Brady looks like he belongs in a vintage comic bookstore. Instead, he earns a living making grown men cry on a PT table.

“Hey there, Doctor O’Connor.” He wraps me in a hug. “It’s so great to see you!”

I hold my coffee out to the side, returning his hug with one arm. “You too. It’s been, what, four years? How’s Dylan?”

“Retired, thank god. He sells motorcycles now.”

His husband Dylan is a former MMA fighter. The last time I was in town was to attend their wedding. They’re the cutest, odd couple. Brady is this sweet, unassuming comic book nerd. While Dylan is a 6’4” hairy bear, covered in tattoos. He’s got a lip ring and gives off total leather daddy vibes. That he’s now selling motorcycles feels almost too on brand.

Brady gives me a once-over. “Got your java? Ready to go sign some paperwork?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

He leads the way towards the admin wing of the practice center. “It was a stroke of luck you finished your DPT in time. They weren’t going to let me hire you back without it.”

“Totally,” I reply.

I only just finished my doctorate of physical therapy degree in the spring. I always hoped to stay in the pro sports world, but the job market is tight. I snagged an hourly position assisting at a rehab hospital, where I worked with injured kids, and felt lucky to get even that. When Brady called me a week ago, asking if I could send him a reference letter, I literally cried into my lunch.

It turns out Rachel Price is going on maternity leave earlier than expected, and the team needs a few PTs to help fill in the gaps. They offered me a ten-month contract as an assistant rehabilitation therapist. I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough. Now I’m here, walking through the hallowed halls of the Rays practice center.

Brady presses his thumb to the elevator button. “I’ll take you up to see Vicki, but then I’ve gotta head back over to the gym. Come find me when you’re done, yeah? I’m sure the guys will be excited to see you.”

“Oh, I’m sure there are no guys who even remember me left.”

God, I’m such a liar. As if I didn’t pull up the team roster the second I got off the phone with him last week. I know exactly who’s on the team. I know who I’m dying to see.

Brady leans against the silvery wall of the elevator. “You’d be surprised how many of the guys remember you. Novy’s been bugging us to hire you since you left. I told him you needed to finish your degree first, but he didn’t seem to care.”

I laugh. “God, how is Novy still playing on those busted knees?”

Brady snorts, leading the way out of the elevator. “Are you kidding? They’ll have to drag him off the ice and rip that stick from his hands. He’s assistant captain now, did you know?”

“I bet the refs love hearing that mouth chirping at them from the bench.”

“Eh, he keeps it in check for the most part. He reserves his chirping for the other team … and our rookies. Damn near made a kid cry last week.”

We turn the corner to find Rachel Price standing in the hallway. Her back is turned away from us, her dark hair tied up in a messy bun. She’s chatting with Vicki, the operations manager. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Vicki without that single strand of pearls at her neck … or that unamused look on her face. She points down the hall at us, and Rachel turns, waving in welcome. “Teddy, hi!”

“Oh my god—” I bite back my words, but they’ve already left my mouth. I quickly school my expression, offering her a wide smile.

“Look at me, calling you Teddy,” she calls down the hall. “You’re Doctor O’Connor now.”

“Hey, Doctor Price.” My voice is falsely high as I lean in for a hug, trying to avoid squashing her giant belly. “It’s great to see you again. You look amazing.”

She huffs, patting my back. “Seriously? I practically have my own zip code.”

Oh god, she said it, not me. But yes, this woman is massively pregnant.

“No, you look great,” I assure her. “You’re totally radiant.”

I’m full of so much shit right now. I’m sure everyone in this hallway can smell it. Rachel just rolls her eyes as she steps back, brushing both hands over her bump. “That’s sweet. But we all know I look like a python that swallowed an exercise ball. It’s okay. You can be a little freaked out. It’s a lot of belly.”

Well, at least she can laugh about it, right?noveldrama

“It might help to know there are actually two babies in here.”

I gasp. “Shut up. Twins? That’s so cool. I bet the guys are thrilled.”

She smiles. “Yeah. These two are due after the New Year. So, your timing is perfect. With my first two pregnancies, I worked a little longer. Heck, with Jamie, I stayed on staff right up to my due date. But carrying two has been tougher on me, and my guys are being real jerks about me following doctor’s orders. So …”

“We’re thrilled to have you back,” says Brady, patting my shoulder. “No one can replace Rachel. But I think, between the two of us, we can keep the place from burning down until she’s ready to come back to work.”

“Totally,” I assure them. “I’m ready to work. And I’ve really missed you guys,” I can’t help but add. “There’s something special about the Rays. It feels crazy to say it, because I was only an intern, but it sort of feels like coming home, you know?”

Rachel and Brady beam at me. “We do,” she assures me. “We’re glad you’re here, Teddy.”

“Once a Ray, always a Ray,” Brady adds.

“Well, he’s not a Ray until he signs my paperwork,” says Vicki. “Come with me, honey. We’ll see what we can do about getting you an access pass today.”

“We’ll see you over in the gym!” Rachel calls with a wave.

I wave back as the door shuts.

It takes me over an hour to fill out all Vicki’s paperwork, but I leave her office with a new ID card, a facility access pass, and a coupon for two free drinks from the coffee cart. I make my way over to the crowded gym. The first smiling face I see is Ryan Langley, jogging on a treadmill. He gives me a wave. “Teddy, hey!”

I wave back, unable to hide my smile.

In moments, there are calls of welcome as players abandon their workouts to come say hello. Woody and Paulie are defensemen who were rookies back when I was an intern. I think they’re both married now. Paulie has at least one kid. His wife is a supermodel or something. I saw the news of their marriage in a tabloid.

“I’m a little sweaty,” Langley warns, his arms spread wide as he swoops in for a hug.

“’Sfine,” I grunt as he squeezes me.

“Great to see you,” he adds, patting me roughly on the back.

“You too. How’s the family?”

“Thriving, thanks. Emma is five. She starts kindergarten this year.”

“Crazy.”

He chuckles. “Right? We actually leave first thing in the morning for Aruba.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah, the girls are excited. Last little summer trip before the season starts, you know?”

I just smile and nod. I watched his whole whirlwind romance take place six years ago. I was there playing soccer on the beach the day he first met his wife, Tess. I watched them fall in love. Later, Tess and I bonded over an awkward lunch. I was the starving college kid, just there for the food, and she was Doctor Price’s friend, secretly sleeping with a player. I caught her giving Langers “fuck me” eyes, and that was that. Instant friendship. We’ve sent the occasional texts to check in over the years.

“I can’t wait to see Tess again—oof—” All the air leaves my chest as someone slams into me from behind. A pair of thick arms wrap around me, squeezing me tight. I look down to see they’re covered in colorful tattoos. I grin. “Hey, Novy.”

His voice is muffled, his sweaty face pressed in at my neck. “I’m so happy you’re back.”

I pat his forearm. “Good to see you too, Nov.”

He lets me go and spins me around, one hand tight on my shoulder. “See this PT?” he shouts to the crowded gym. “This is my PT. You got that, assholes? I don’t make the rules, but I will enforce them.”

Some of the older guys laugh, while the rookies look ready to take his word as gospel. I pat his hand on my shoulder. “Sorry to sour this little reunion, but I’m actually gonna be working with the injured-list guys. If you’re not injured, I can’t promise any of my magic massages.”

Novy drops his hand away. “The fuck you say?” He looks around the gym. “Who do we have to talk to? Brady? Don’t even worry, bud. I’ll have this settled in five minutes—”

“No—” I pull on his shirt to keep him from storming off. “Come on, man. Don’t get me in trouble on day freaking one.”

He settles down, still frowning.

“Who even is this guy?” one of the new faces asks.

Novy rounds on him. “This guy? How ’bout you watch your fucking tone, Bouch. This is Doctor Teddy O’Connor. We call him Teddy of the Golden Hands, because he’s fucking magical. He gives the best damn leg massages I’ve ever had.”

Langley and a few of the other older guys laugh. “I’m gonna tell Morrow you said that,” Langley teases.

Novy shows no fear. “Go ahead. Hell, I’ll tell him myself. I’ll text him right now. That’ll make my fucking night.”

He pulls out his phone, and my eyes go wide. Fuck me, I am not getting in the middle of those two again. Back when Morrow was a player, he got a little territorial over how much Novy liked my massages. Ever seen a jaguar hunt a caiman while a helpless capybara watches? Yeah, I was the capybara. “Ohgod—don’t,” I hiss, slapping at his phone.

“It’s fine.” He body checks me with his shoulder as his thumbs type. “Besides, it’s my ass, not yours.”

I groan.

“Hey! Are you guys bothering the good doctor?”

We all turn to see Brady walking over between the row of treadmills. My heart fucking stops when I see who is walking at his side. Dressed in a Rays tech shirt and a pair of athletic shorts, Henrik Karlsson looks every inch as beautiful as the first time I saw him. He’s fucking magnetic, with those navy-blue eyes and the soft sweep of sandy-blond hair over his brow. His beard is shorter now, little more than stubble. God, he looks so fucking good.

I swallow, trying to stifle the annoying fluttering that’s currently happening in my chest. This is so embarrassing. It’s been six years. And it’s not like we were ever … anything. That’s the worst part about all this. We were literally nothing. For the whole year I interned for the Rays, I tried to give him as wide a berth as possible, content to torture myself with secret, longing glances from across gyms and hotel breakfast buffets.

I was too much of a coward to ever approach him casually. And when I was forced to work with him as part of my job, I was usually so tongue-tied, I couldn’t even speak. I’d squeak out things like, “Pressure okay?” while I was massaging his calves. And once, while wrapping an ice pack on his shoulder, I swear to god, I said the words, “All set, chilly dog.”

Seriously, somewhere inside this building, they’re already digging a hole for me. When my shame builds high enough, I’ll just lower myself down, and they can bury me. Henrik Karlsson is as untouchable to me now as he was then. Maybe even more so because now I have more to lose. I have it on good authority that Rachel may not be coming back to work after she has those babies. If I play my cards right, this position could become permanent. It’s my literal dream job.

Whatever hand of fate dealt me these cards, I’m in the door. I have the job. And I mean to keep it. That can’t happen if I’m too busy torturing myself, daydreaming over a man who has never looked twice at me. A man I’m not even sure is gay. A man who likely doesn’t remember my goddamn name.

No, this is over. It’s done. Henrik Karlsson is off limits. Frankly, I’m not interested. Do you hear me, Universe? There’s absolutely nothing about him that would ever—

“Hey, Teddy.” He smiles that smile that only reaches his eyes. God, I haven’t seen that smile in six long years. “Good to see you again.”

Well, fuck me. Apparently, the love of my life remembers my name.