Keep Philly

Keep Philly A Boston Brothers: Second Chance Series Novella (1.5)

The woman at the bar calls herself Bunny, a sly wink at the puck bunny chasers who follow players like me around. But this woman? She's devastating. Confident. The kind of woman who makes you forget you have early practice and a playoff run to focus on.

We don't exchange real names. That's part of the game we play, the one where I'm not Robbie Danson, aging NHL player fighting to prove I've still got it, and she's not the woman who's been holding our life together while I chase one more season.

The night is scorching. The chemistry is off the charts. The morning after is even better.

Then I ask who's with the kids, and the game ends. Because Bunny is Claire, my wife since middle school, mother of our three kids, and the love of my life who just caught me in the lie I've been carrying for weeks.

I signed a contract extension. Without telling her. And she's done.

Done being a hockey widow. Done with our five-year-old daughter starting kindergarten without me there. Done with our twin boys only seeing "fun daddy" who shows up between road trips while she handles real life in the cracks and quiet moments. Done with me making decisions about our future without her.

She makes her case before my game, tearful, raw, and completely right. Then she walks out of the arena, and I realize I'm about to lose the only thing that's ever mattered more than hockey.

I've spent my whole career fighting to stay on the ice. Now I have to fight to come home.

One night of pretending. One massive betrayal. And one question that will change everything: can I keep Claire and keep Philly?