Sporting Goods by Roxanne Tully

If I never hear the word hockey again, it will be too soon. That’s why you won’t find a single item in my sporting goods store; no blades, pucks, or sticks. It never existed for all I care. But I care. More than I want to. It still hurts. Not my arm. The pain doesn’t bother me anymore. It's the rage, hostility, humiliation, and of course – the gut-ripping realization of knowing my career with the NHL is over. Only two years after it started. Until Rayne—and Jax, her seven-year-old son walk into my store, looking for hockey gear—and lessons. They couldn’t possibly have come to a worse place for that. But try saying no to a gorgeous blue-eyed blonde…oh and his hot mom too… when in a matter of minutes, the two manage to put more smiles on your face than you thought possible. It’s just my damned luck though – that this woman has more of a connection to a world I try every day to forget.